In winter, when temperatures drop sharply, everyone needs to pay attention to musculoskeletal health. In cold weather, joint and muscle contraction occurs, increasing tension. This is also why winter shoulder pain develops easily. Among conditions that cause winter shoulder pain is frozen shoulder. The medical term for frozen shoulder is adhesive capsulitis. It's characterized by shoulder pain and limited range of motion, typically occurring around age 40-50, even without a specific cause. Frozen shoulder initially begins with mild shoulder pain like simple muscle soreness, then progresses to cause severe pain. Degenerative changes in the joint capsule surrounding the shoulder joint cause inflammation, and as the condition progresses, chronic shoulder pain is accompanied by joint stiffness.
In severe cases of frozen shoulder, even everyday activities like getting dressed or washing hair become extremely difficult. People with diabetes or thyroid conditions are particularly susceptible to winter shoulder pain with longer treatment periods, so those with these conditions need to take extra care of their shoulders year-round. The foundation of frozen shoulder treatment is to reduce inflammation and restore range of motion through exercise. Non-surgical approaches are prioritized in frozen shoulder treatment. Common methods include physical therapy, medication, injection therapy, manual therapy, and shockwave therapy.
If frozen shoulder has already progressed to a certain degree, general medication and physical therapy alone may not provide significant improvement. When non-surgical treatments fail to show improvement or when shoulder pain is too severe to exercise, hydrodilatation may be considered. Hydrodilatation is the name for an injection treatment that can directly reduce inflammation in the adhesive joint capsule. Under ultrasound guidance, various medications are injected directly into the adhesive capsule to expand the stiffened joint capsule. All frozen shoulder injections must be accurately placed directly into the joint capsule under ultrasound guidance for satisfactory results. After hydrodilatation, you may feel some dull shoulder pain for a day or two, but the shoulder pain and range of motion will subsequently improve. However, just because pain subsides after hydrodilatation doesn't mean the frozen shoulder is completely treated. Once pain is reasonably controlled, active range-of-motion exercises and stretching through manual therapy are essential within a pain-tolerable range. Since frozen shoulder is prone to recurrence and treatment periods can be lengthy, any unusual shoulder discomfort should prompt a proper diagnosis and treatment.
