Adhesive capsulitis, commonly known as frozen shoulder, is a condition characterized by the stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint. This occurs when the connective tissue surrounding the joint becomes inflamed and thickens, limiting motion and causing significant discomfort. Early intervention with targeted stretches is crucial in managing and potentially reversing this debilitating condition. These stretches work by progressively enhancing the range of motion, maintaining the elasticity of the joint capsule, and reducing scar tissue formation. When initiated early, stretching exercises can prevent the shoulder from becoming further immobilized, thus mitigating the severity of the condition. Additionally, these exercises improve blood flow to the affected area, promoting faster healing and reducing inflammation. Regular practice of these stretches not only helps in maintaining shoulder mobility but also alleviates pain and stiffness, contributing to a quicker recovery process. By incorporating these preventive strategies, individuals can manage symptoms more effectively and enhance their overall shoulder function, thereby improving their quality of life.
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00:00There are millions and millions of people worldwide who have shoulder issues, but here's
00:06the tricky part.
00:08Many of them, many of us, don't realize there's a problem because you're not in pain, but
00:14you have limitation of motion, meaning that if I ask you right now, lift your arm up,
00:19go ahead, lift it up, all the way up.
00:21Can you lift it comfortably where it goes over your head, up high to the sky?
00:27Can you lift it outwards?
00:28Okay, right here is where I'm feeling my problem.
00:31When I use the other arm, no problem here.
00:34But this wasn't killing me until I get to that point.
00:37So the purpose of these stretches is to get mobilization in the shoulder joint because
00:45a frozen shoulder called adhesive capsulitis is a capsule that starts to get thickened.
00:52You start developing scar tissue, fibrous tissue.
00:55You have the rotator cuff in there, you have the tendons, the ligaments, the nerves, as
00:59well as inflammation.
01:02And whenever we have something that's not working correctly in the shoulder, other areas
01:07surrounding that area, the neck and the shoulder blade, other parts of the body will compensate.
01:16So therefore you may be having headaches coming from your shoulder.
01:20You may notice that your motion in your neck is limited because you have limitation in
01:24your shoulder because a lot of these muscles that affect our neck and mid-back affect our
01:29shoulder as well.
01:30The shoulder is very, very complex.
01:33So I like you to follow along with these simple exercises and stretches.
01:38They're safe, they're effective.
01:41There's lots of other strengthening things you can do later, but if you can gain your
01:45mobility back, then you're on your way to getting well again.
01:51Without mobility, without function, you're going to always have those particular problems.
01:55Remember, the longer the problem sticks around, the worse it's going to get and harder it's
02:01going to be to correct.
02:02It always makes sense to try to correct it as early as possible so you can gain those
02:08benefits and get that freedom back in your shoulder once again.
02:12One of my favorite exercises for all shoulder problems is called the finger walk.
02:17All you do is walk up to a wall like this and take your bad shoulder that you're working
02:22on and walk it up just like this.
02:25You'll notice you get to a point to where, ah, it hurts.
02:28Hold it.
02:29Let the muscles ease up a little bit and work your way up the best you can.
02:33This is safe.
02:35Just walk it up to where you can tolerate it.
02:37Just as far as you can go, then you're going to walk it down again.
02:41You're going to do about 10 repetitions and as you proceed daily, as you walk it up, you'll
02:46notice you'll be able to go farther and farther and farther.
02:49Remember that once you get that motion, it's yours, you've got to get that mobility.
02:53It's very important.
02:55It's also a great thing to get in the habit of doing some light shoulder rolls.
03:00As you do these shoulder rolls, you're going to start isolating different muscles because
03:05you have surrounding muscles in the shoulder that are compensating from that limitation.
03:10So really get that rotation backwards.
03:14I'm not concerned about you going forwards.
03:16I'd like you to go backwards because most people who have shoulder issues, you're going
03:21to notice you're having rounding of the shoulders, pronation of the shoulders.
03:26Realize this could have came from sleeping incorrectly, could have been from an old injury,
03:30a fall, or just poor posture.
03:33Now one of the greatest exercises we can do for our shoulder is a pendulum.
03:38That's right.
03:39As it moves all around just like this.
03:41Now you can use a table, a chair, a couch, whatever you like.
03:46You got to lean over a little bit.
03:48As you lean over, you're going to let your bad arm hang.
03:50First, depending upon how bad your shoulder is, you're going to just do it just like this,
03:56the best you can with nothing in.
03:58So you're going to go in and out this way, then you go up and down, then you go a little
04:03diagonal, then you go the other diagonal.
04:07You'll just do this for a couple of minutes.
04:09Here you'll go clockwise, get that rotation of the joint, and then you'll go counterclockwise.
04:16You just spend a couple of minutes going through those motions.
04:19Now what I like about a light weight, here's a pound, okay, this is 16 ounces of water.
04:27You can hold the pound.
04:28What this does is opens the joint up in the shoulder, and now you can go front to back,
04:35side to side, angle to angle, and you can also go clockwise, and you'll feel a lot different
04:42in here with that little bit of weight, but start out really light, you don't need a lot
04:45of weight, and you're going to do that for a few minutes as well.
04:49This is extremely good to break down that scar tissue in that shoulder capsule.
04:55A towel can really come in handy to increase mobility, that if I can't lift this shoulder
05:00up, you can use a longer towel, you can use a shirt or anything that's long, that's convenient
05:05for you, but I'm going to take my good arm from behind and grab that towel, and I'm going
05:12to pull this towel back as it lifts this shoulder up.
05:18My shoulder is not working, in other words, I'm not actively using the muscles.
05:23I can let it come back down again and pull back again, okay?
05:27So don't be afraid to use a towel, you can take this bad shoulder here, and you can pull
05:33it, if you can't get as far with your hand, you can pull it out with a towel, you can
05:38pull it upwards, you can be creative.
05:41And if you have a broom or a long stick laying around, there's a few things you can do.
05:46With the shoulder joint, we want to get this mobility outwards and inwards, it's a really
05:53important motion to put back into the shoulder joint area, so we can take the stick behind
05:58us and grab it out here, use the good arm, and push outwards, and pull inwards, just
06:06like this, right against your buttocks, if I turn around, this is what it looks like,
06:11taking the good arm on my right side and pushing opposite, left and right, and you get that
06:18nice movement in there.
06:19Also, you can take the stick with your good hand, because now we're going to go in flexion,
06:25and put them close together, and you're going to take your good arm, which is my right arm
06:29here, my shoulder I can't lift up, and you're going to use this as like a partner, so as
06:35you're pushing up, look what's happening, this is just going up without you contracting
06:41the muscle, try to hold it up there best you can, let it back down.
06:45The object here is to try to get more mobility each time, don't push it, if this is all you
06:51can go, that's where you go today, but you'll notice as the days go on, before you know
06:56it, you'll be able to get it nice and high.
06:59Remember, when you get the motion, it's yours, and have that shoulder limitation that we
07:06can't lift it up or lift it out, get a chair, get on your knees, use a couch, whatever's
07:12easy for you, pull back away with your knees, try to keep your elbows as straight as possible,
07:20and what I'd like you to do is drop your body down, this is my bad shoulder, this is all
07:24you're able to go right now, but notice as your body goes down, you're going to increase
07:30mobility.
07:31So right here you're saying, this is all I can go, but challenge it lightly, and as you
07:36drop your body down, you start opening up the shoulder area, all within the joint, stretch
07:42in the tendons, stretch in the muscles, you just hold it there.
07:47What you can also do, you can lean away from it, just getting a different angle, and you
07:53can lean in the opposite direction, because every angle you lean or move is a different
08:00angle you're going to shift and stretch in your shoulder joint.
08:04We don't really appreciate our shoulders until we start having a problem, so I'd like you
08:11to start utilizing these stretches.
08:14You can pick and choose whatever works best for you, but I promise you, these stretches
08:19are extremely beneficial, and if you're having significant pain, problem, inflammation, or
08:26it's getting worse, I always recommend a follow-up with your doctor or specialist to further
08:34examine it and find out why, if it's an MRI scan, if it's other testing, whatever's medically
08:39necessary.
08:40I hope that you found this video informative.
08:43Please share it with your friends and family.
08:46Leave your comments below, and most important, make it a great day.
08:51I'm Dr. Alan Mandel.