Frozen Shoulder
Slow, painful, and eventually self-limiting. Treatment manages pain and protects range, and anyone promising a quick fix is not being straight with you.
Common symptoms
- , Progressive loss of movement in all directions
- , Severe pain, often worst at night
- , Difficulty reaching behind your back or overhead
- , Movement restricted even when someone else moves the arm
Common causes
- , Often no identifiable trigger
- , Diabetes markedly increases the risk
- , A period of immobility after injury or surgery
- , Thyroid disorders
Three stages, and knowing which you are in
Freezing. Pain builds, often severe at night, and movement gradually reduces. Pain dominates here rather than stiffness, and forcing range makes things worse.
Frozen. Pain eases considerably but the shoulder is markedly stiff. This is when stretching earns its place and real progress becomes possible.
Thawing. Movement returns slowly, usually across several months.
Knowing your stage changes what should be done to you. Being stretched hard during the freezing stage is a common and counterproductive experience.
What honesty is worth here
Frozen shoulder is the condition where the most useful thing a physiotherapist does is set expectations correctly. Patients who understand they are twelve months into a biological process, and know which stage they occupy, cope far better than patients told it will clear up soon and left wondering why it has not.
We will treat what is treatable at each stage and say plainly what cannot be hurried. If that is not what you want to hear, it is at least what will save you money on treatments that cannot deliver it.
How we treat it
- , Pain management through the painful stage
- , Maintaining available range without forcing
- , Graded stretching once the painful phase settles
- , Strengthening during recovery
- , Referral for injection or specialist opinion where appropriate
Typical recovery: 12–18 months through its natural course, sometimes longer
See a doctor urgently if you have
- !Shoulder stiffness after significant trauma
- !Fever with a hot, swollen shoulder
- !Sudden loss of movement with marked weakness
These are not physiotherapy problems. Go to a doctor or hospital rather than booking with us.
Treatments that help
Common questions
Why is nobody able to fix this quickly?
Because frozen shoulder runs a biological course that treatment can support but not shortcut. What good treatment does is control pain, protect the range you still have, and get you moving properly once the stiff phase eases. That is worth a great deal, but it is not a cure in six sessions.
Should I push into the pain?
Not during the painful freezing stage; aggressive stretching then usually worsens inflammation. Once you reach the stiff-but-less-painful stage, firmer stretching becomes appropriate and productive.
I am diabetic. Does that change things?
It raises the risk of developing frozen shoulder and is associated with a longer, more stubborn course. The treatment is the same; the realistic timeline is longer.
Book a physiotherapist on the coast
Clinic appointments in Nyali, or a physiotherapist at your door from Mtwapa to Diani. Same-week slots.