
An inability to move her right arm to reach for her purse on the backseat as she was driving, was followed by severe shoulder pain and stiffness that worsened through the week.
By the end of the week, Clare’s* right shoulder was so stiff, with such little range of motion in the joint that simple everyday actions like combing her hair, reaching for something on a shelf etc. were excruciating.
She was diagnosed with Frozen Shoulder, started going to physiotherapy and also sought massage therapy with me for pain relief, for an effective long term solution toward improving her range of motion and to regain freedom of movement.
‘Frozen shoulder’ aka adhesive capsulitis is the condition that develops when the synovial joint capsule of the shoulder develops scar tissue or adhesions. This causes the joint to be ‘stuck’ or immobilized making movement very painful.

In the human body, the shoulder joint is the most movable as well as one of the most complex joints.
The muscles that make the shoulder joint move smoothly (Deltoids, Supra& Infraspinatus, Teres minor, Subscapularis, Teres major, Trapezius, Rhomboids, Levator scapula and Pectorals) are the same muscles that are most impacted by ‘Frozen Shoulder’.
Additionally, when the shoulder joint is in such pain affecting everyday activities, the body develops compensatory patterns using the lumbar and/ or thoracic spine and scapula.
Additional Notes from my assessment:
- The brain develops a guarding response observed primarily in the elevation of scapula and contraction of the upper trapezius.
How I worked:
My objective was first to calm the nervous system down, to communicate a sense of safety to the brain so that it could start to let go of some of the holding in the muscles –
I focused treatment on gently creating length in the muscles with techniques that use isometric contractions. The intention was not to alarm the nervous system- to slowly encourage length in the surrounding muscles and to warm up the joint capsule.
Among other techniques, I used gentle PNF to the shoulder and arm muscles, positional release to the muscles of the upper back, Myofascial release along the pectorals and upper back, introducing safe load into the muscles and joint capsule and frictioning techniques to eliminate adhesions.
As part of the treatment plan, I suggested specific daily exercises to increase ROM, followed by once-a-week targeted sessions for an initial period of 6 consecutive weeks to warm up and break down fibrotic tissue in the joint capsule and to continue to create length in the muscles.
After 3 sessions alongwith home work exercises she was able to start feeling a difference and after 6 sessions there was noticeable improvement in ROM.
*Name changed to protect identity
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