Physical Therapy

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This was originally posted to my blog, Diabetes Odyssey.

Today I had my first physical therapy appointment for my frozen shoulder. I was a bit worried because I had very little idea of what to expect for the first visit. Would it involve a lot of pain?

Some background information: I have suffered from a frozen shoulder for a little over two years now. It all started just after I had open heart surgery. I have been doing stretching and movement exercises on my own, which have helped, but I hit a threshold and have made very little progress over the past several months. So I decided I need professional help.

I arrived about thirty minutes early and expected to have to wait a bit, but the therapist was already ready for me and more than happy to jump right in. He had a newb working with him and asked if I minded her taking the lead under his observation. I agreed. I love helping others to gain experience.

She asked me a lot of questions about my shoulder; when did it all start? How much pain? Do I ice it? Take pain meds?, etc. She then asked me to demonstrate movements to see my range of motion and limits before pain set in. Then she did a physical examination of my shoulder (poking, prodding, etc.) and asked me to let her know when it hurt.

I was very happy to find out that my condition does not require ongoing in-house therapy. The therapist instructed me to do a series of specific exercises twice a day on my own at home. As long as I keep up with it my shoulder should get back to normal within a few weeks.

Most of the exercises I was shown I have already been doing on my own, but there were a couple that I never would have thought would help my shoulder. When she showed me how to do them I could immediately feel the benefit to my shoulder.

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They also provided me with a stretch band to use for most of the exercises.

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I am very pleased with the news I was given, especially since I was expecting to need in-house therapy, or even the worst case scenario, surgery!

Here’s to soon being able to do simple things again, like putting my hair up in a pony tail!

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I have just recovered from a frozen shoulder that I had for a little over two years. I wasted a lot of time doing things that weren’t really helpful either. I wasted a ton of time and money on physical therapy, and dry needling, of which the latter doesn’t even make sense for frozen shoulder. The two things that helped me the most that I would definitely recommend to anyone are: 1, a prescription for Meloxicam. It’s an anti-inflammatory medicine that helped me tremendously. It probably helped me get rid of 50% of my pain. The second thing can be expensive, but it really helped me. I went to a medical clinic that had a massage therapist. I would go once every one to two weeks and she would break up the scar tissue in my shoulder. It was extremely painful, but extremely beneficial. I wish you the best of luck, hope you get better soon!

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Hi Tamra,

Glad that you are making progress with your shoulder!

And thanks for posting the picture of the exercises!

Best wishes,

marty1492