Can Acupuncture Help With Frozen Shoulder?
Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that causes stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint. Severity extends from discomfort to significant loss of motion. It can impact daily tasks such as putting on a coat or brushing one's hair. The cause of frozen shoulder isn’t fully understood. It is, however, more likely to occur in people with diabetes or after a period of having to immobilize the arm such as post surgical procedures, mastectomy or injury.
There are 3 main stages of frozen shoulder:
Freezing Stage: At this stage pain occurs with movement of the shoulder and range of motion is starting to diminish
Frozen Stage: Stiffness and diminished range of motion are the main attributes of this stage
Thawing Stage: Range of movement starts to increase
Acupuncture is very effective in helping with Frozen Shoulder. How quickly it helps is largely determined by the severity of the situation and how long it’s been a problem. Treatment that begins at the first stage can usually be resolved much quicker than shoulders that are completely locked up at stage 2. That isn’t to say that acupuncture won’t help stage 2 shoulders, because usually it will. It just may take more treatments than coming in at the earliest sign of shoulder discomfort.
The following is a case study that is a good representation of a standard course of treatment for a person whose shoulder is at the Frozen Stage *
A 62 year old woman came into the office for treatment of left sided Frozen Shoulder. She wasn’t able to lift her arm more than several inches, nor could she put her hand behind her back. This impacted every aspect of her daily life as she wasn’t able to take her coat on or off, reach the kitchen shelves or dress herself. Additionally the pain in her shoulder was waking her several times a night.
The onset had no known cause. She started getting pain in the shoulder joint that increased over time. She noticed some decrease in her range of motion but nothing that caused any distress. Then one morning she “woke up and couldn’t use” her arm. After several months she decided to try acupuncture at the urging of a friend.
Initially she came in twice a week for the first two weeks. After these four treatments she was able to get her coat on/off without assistance, and raise her arms so that she was able to wear shirts that could be put on over her head. We continued acupuncture weekly and at week 6 we added in an herbal formula to accelerate recovery.
At week 7 we switched treatment frequency to every other week and she continued taking the herbal formula. Her range of motion was such that she was able to start gentle stretching each day. She measured her progress by marking on a door frame how far she was able to reach above her head. She also reported that she was no longer waking during the night due to discomfort and that all pain had dissipated.
At treatment 10 her range of motion had almost returned to normal. She was instructed to discontinue the herbal formula as it was no longer needed. She followed up with acupuncture treatments once a month for two additional months. At this point she was fully recovered and no longer needed acupuncture.
*Case details printed with permission