Update on Adhesive Capsulitis

Back in February this year I started experiencing an excruciating pain in my shoulders accompanied with a severely limited range of motion. This made everything from reaching up to get things from a high kitchen cupboard to putting on a T-shirt impossible. I was diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis, the stabbing pain of which I once heard a woman who had experienced both describe as “worse than childbirth”.

I can’t say for sure that there is a link, but the condition came on right around the time of my father’s death, which hit me really hard. In the weeks leading up to this I felt increasingly tense around the shoulders and I can’t help thinking that ongoing muscle tension caused by emotional stress may have been a factor in my shoulders ceasing up. I persisted in practising playing my guitar anyway, hoping that it would all go away. It didn’t. My father died, my shoulders locked up, and I haven’t been able to play guitar since.

My doctor recommended I get an injection in the shoulder to help fix the problem, and referred me to a physiotherapist who gave me a set of daily exercises to do. I’m not a fan of medical interventions so I skipped the injection and did the exercises instead. Here they are:

The exercises the physiotherapist gave me to do in PhysiApp.

The physiotherapist said it would take months or even years to fully recover, and I may not ever have the full range of motion again. She was impressed with my progress at the last appointment so I’ve kept doing the exercises every weekday since. I take the weekends off because the exercises hurt my shoulders, and that makes it hard to sleep on my side; which is better for my sleep apnea. The exercises include neck stretches which I suspect may improve my obstructive sleep apnea, so I do them each day along with my morning myofunctional therapy exercises.

Here’s a table of the exercises:

Over time, the condition has improved to the point where I don’t notice it much. I can dress myself again, reach up into cupboards, and even put a backpack on now. My right arm is the most badly affected so playing guitar is still awkward. I can’t really swim either so I’ve only been in the ocean once this summer so far. If I got out of my depth, I wouldn’t be able to do a proper swimming stroke.

Nevertheless, the situation is gradually improving; it just takes a long time. Seems to be a theme at the moment.