A Painful Shoulder

The Story

I have been treating painful shoulders for over twenty years and like most therapist have had success with certain types of treatments and not so with others. Well yesterday a gentleman came in to see me with what I will call a classic frozen shoulder. It was stiff, painful, kept him awake at night and had been bothering him for over six months since he hurt it playing with his grandchildren.

He was desperate, he said to get it right for a holiday he had booked in two months time which would involve a lot of water activities, scuba diving, snorkelling and swimming. After assessing him thoroughly I explained to him that the usual time frame for recovery of a painful shoulder presenting like his could well be into a few months. Surprised and a little shocked he said that it was paramount that I got it right for him in time for this holiday.

No pressure I thought. I have however been in the game long enough to know what I am talking about (or so I thought). It seemed so important to him to get a resolution of the problem that I decided to refer him to an orthopedic surgeon with a view to him having a steroid injection to help things along.

The Treatment

After his first treatment with me the man left saying he had full confidence in the treatment getting him right. Just for the record he was treated very routinely with a session of joint mobilisation, electro-therapy and a home exercise program. Despite my reservations and conviction that this was a classic frozen shoulder that would be no different to any other, the gentleman called early the next morning to report that his shoulder was tremendously better and that he did not need to see the surgeon.

A Possible Explanation

Yes his painful shoulder is markedly better. Much more that I would have predicted after just one treatment. So what is going on? Why should this particular man's shoulder respond so much faster than what I consider to be the norm?

I have absolutely no other opinion than that it is due to this man's holiday deadline being so important to him and his subsequent committed belief in his treatment just having to work.

And the lesson here is? I will leave that for you to glean but for me it is to treat every day as a new experience and to never automatically assume that every situation is the same despite its apparent appearance.

Find out more about how to treat a painful shoulder.