Homeopathy remedies for Frozen Shoulder
Frozen shoulder is stiffness, pain, and a loss of motion in shoulder joint. Frozen shoulder is also called as Adhesive Capsulitis. It may happen after an injury or overuse or from a disease such as diabetes or a stroke. The tissues around the joint stiffen, scar tissue forms, and shoulder movements become difficult and painful. Shoulder pain begins slowly until you cannot move your shoulder at all. The condition usually comes on slowly, and then goes away slowly over the course of a year or two or more. However can be relieved much early (within 3 to 6 months) with homeopathy treatment. Frozen shoulder occurs in about 2% of the general population. It most commonly affects people between the ages of 40 and 60, and occurs in women more often than men.
Frozen shoulder, medically referred to as adhesive
capsulitis, is a disorder in which the shoulder capsule, the connective tissue
surrounding the gleno-humeral joint of the shoulder, becomes inflamed and
stiff, and grows together with abnormal bands of tissue, called adhesions,
greatly restricting motion and causing chronic pain.
Movement of the shoulder is severely restricted. Pain is
usually constant, worse at night, when the weather is colder. This condition
can last from five months to three years or more and is thought in some cases
to be caused by injury or trauma to the area. It is believed that it may have
an autoimmune component, with the body attacking healthy tissue in the
shoulder. The condition may also cause chronic inflammation. Adhesions grow
between the joints and tissue, greatly restricting motion and causing a number
of painful complications. There is also a lack of fluid in the joint, further
restricting movement.
Symptoms of frozen shoulder
In frozen shoulder, the shoulder capsule thickens and becomes tight. Stiff bands of tissue (adhesions) develop. In many cases, there is less synovial fluid in the joint.The hallmark sign of this condition is being unable to move your shoulder - either on your own or with the help of someone else. Pain from frozen shoulder is usually dull or aching. It is typically worse early in the course of the disease and when you move your arm. The pain is usually located over the outer shoulder area and sometimes the upper arm.
Symptoms
• Onset:
insidious.
• Pain in
shoulder, upper arm.
• Severe aching
pain.
• Restricted
shoulder movement.
• Difficulty in
routine activities, e.g. combing hairs, wearing shirts.
Signs
• Uniform
impairment of all shoulder movements.
• Restricted
flexion, extension, abduction, circumdiction.
Causes of frozen shoulder
The bones, ligaments and tendons that make up your shoulder joint are encased in a capsule of connective tissue. Frozen shoulder occurs when this capsule thickens and tightens around the shoulder joint, restricting its movement. It's more likely to occur in people who have recently experienced prolonged immobilization of their shoulder, such as after surgery or an arm fracture. Frozen shoulder can develop when you stop using the joint normally because of pain, injury, or a chronic health condition, such as diabetes or a stroke. Any shoulder problem can lead to frozen shoulder if you do not work to keep full range of motion.Certain factors may increase your risk of developing frozen shoulder:
Age and sex
People 40 and older are more likely to experience frozen shoulder. Most of the people who develop the condition are women.Immobility or reduced mobility
People who have experienced prolonged immobility or reduced mobility of their shoulder are at higher risk of developing frozen shoulder. Immobility may be the result of many factors, including:- Rotator cuff injury
- Broken arm
- Stroke
- Recovery from surgery
Systemic diseases
People who have certain medical problems appear to be predisposed to develop frozen shoulder. Examples include:- Diabetes
- Overactive thyroid (Hyperthyroidism)
- Underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism)
- Cardiovascular disease
- Tuberculosis
- Parkinson's disease
Diagnosis of frozen shoulder
During the physical examination, you are asked to perform certain actions to check for pain and evaluate your range of motion. These may include:Hands up: Raise both your hands straight up in the air
Opposite shoulder: Reach across your chest to touch your opposite shoulder.
Back scratch: Starting with the back of your hand against the small of your back, reach upward to touch your opposite shoulder blade.
Frozen shoulder can usually be diagnosed from signs and symptoms alone. Frozen shoulder is suspected if a physical examination reveals limited shoulder movement. But imaging tests such as X-rays or an MRI can be done to rule out other structural problems.
Treatment of frozen shoulder
With conventional medicine, frozen shoulder treatment involves controlling shoulder pain and preserving as much range of motion in the shoulder as possible.
Medications
Over-the-counter pain relievers can help reduce pain and inflammation associated with frozen shoulder. In some cases stronger pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed.Physiotherapy
A physical therapist can teach you stretching exercises to help maintain as much mobility in your shoulder as possible.Surgical and other procedures
Frozen shoulder, if not better with above treatment within 12 to 18 months, your doctor may suggest:Steroid injections: Injecting corticosteroids into your shoulder joint may help decrease pain and improve shoulder mobility.
Joint distension: Injecting sterile water into the joint capsule can help stretch the tissue and make it easier to move the joint.
Shoulder manipulation under anesthesia: In this procedure, you receive a general anesthetic so you'll be unconscious and feel no pain. Then the doctor will force your shoulder to move in different directions which causes the capsule and scar tissue to stretch or tear. This releases the tightening and increases range of motion. Depending on the amount of force used, this procedure can cause bone fractures.
Surgery / Shoulder Arthroscopy: If nothing else has helped, you may be a candidate for surgery to remove scar tissue and adhesions from inside your shoulder joint. Doctors usually perform this surgery arthroscopically, with lighted, tubular instruments inserted through small incisions around your joint.
Long-term outcomes after surgery are generally good. In some cases, however, even after several years, the motion does not return completely and a small amount of stiffness remains. Although uncommon, frozen shoulder can recur, especially if a contributing factor like diabetes is still present.
Homeopathy treatment:
For frozen shoulder, homeopathy should always be tried before corticosteroids injection or before going to surgery because in most of the cases surgery or other procedures can be avoided with homeopathy. With a regular course of 4 to 6 months frozen shoulder can be relieved completely with homeopathy. Homeopathy medicines are even preferable to taking pain killers or anti-inflammatory drugs for long. All homeopathy medicines are very simple to take, effective, and safe and without any side effects.Recovery of a frozen shoulder may take one to two years; however with homeopathy it is much faster. There should be no reason to suffer for months together when it can be cured early with homeopathy. Homeopathy is highly recommended in every case of frozen shoulder.
Homeopathy treats the person as a whole. It means that
homeopathic treatment focuses on the patient as a person, as well as his
pathological condition. The homeopathic medicines are selected after a full
individualizing examination and case-analysis, which includes the medical
history of the patient, physical and mental constitution etc. A miasmatic
tendency (predisposition/susceptibility) is also often taken into account for
the treatment of chronic conditions. The medicines given below indicate the
therapeutic affinity but this is not a complete and definite guide to the
treatment of this condition. The symptoms listed against each medicine may not
be directly related to this disease because in homeopathy general symptoms and
constitutional indications are also taken into account for selecting a remedy.
To study any of the following remedies in more detail, please visit our Materia
Medica section. None of these medicines should be taken without professional
advice.
Homeopathic Remedies
Calc phos.
Rheumatic pains in shoulder and arm, also with swelling of
the diseased part and febrile heat. Ulcerative pain especially in roots of
finger nails of right hand, and in middle finger. Gouty nodosities. Soreness,
torpor, and paralysis of the (left) arm.
Paralysis of the joints of the hand and of the fingers,
especially in the thumbs, sometimes from a chill.
For persons anaemic and dark complexioned, dark hair and
eyes; thin spare subjects, instead of fat. Spine weak, disposed to curvatures,
especially to the left; unable to support body; neck weak, unable to support
head.
Ferrum met.
Shootings and tearings in the joint of the shoulder, and in
the arm, or pullings or paralytic weakness, and heaviness. Cracking in the
shoulder-joint. Nightly tearing and stinging in the arms. Uneasiness in the
arms. Swelling and desquamative of the skin of the hands. Cramps and numbness
in the fingers.
Persons of sanguine temperament; pettish, quarrelsome,
disputative, easily excited, least contradiction angers; >. from mental exertion.
Irritability: slight noises like crackling of paper drive him to despair. Women
who are weak, delicate, chlorotic, yet have a fiery red face. Extreme paleness
of the face, lips and mucous membranes which become red an flushed on the least
pain, emotion or exertion. Worse in winter.
Ferrum phos.
Violent drawing, tearing pain right shoulder and upper arm,
worse violent motion of arm, better gentle motion, so that patient hardly kept
it still at all, somewhat sensitive, deadness in right hand. Acute rheumatism
of right deltoid, unable to wear cloak. In right shoulder-joint acute
rheumatism, red, swollen, very sensitive. Swelling of elbow from sprain.
Rheumatism in wrist. Wrists ache with loss of power to grasp. Palms of hands
hot, with children. Nodule on dorsum of left little finger. Contracted fingers
from acute rheumatism.
Ferrum is used in first stage of inflammation.
Rhus. tox
Swelling, stiffness, and paralysed sensations in joints,
from sprains, over-lifting, or over-stretching. Lameness, stiffness, and pain
on first moving after rest, or on getting up in morning, better by constant
motion. Trembling or sensation of trembling in imbs. The limbs on which he
lies, especially arms, go to sleep. Rheumatic tension, drawing, tearing in
limbs, during rest. Excessively cold hands and feet all day.
Adapted to persons of rheumatic diathesis; bad effects of
getting wet, especially after being over-heated. Ailments: from spraining or
straining a single part, muscle or tendon; overlifting, particularly damp
ground; too much summer bathing in lake or river. affects the fibrous tissue,
especially; the right side more than the left. Pains: as if sprained; as if a
muscle or tendon was torn from its attachment; as if bones were scraped with a
knife; worse after midnight and in wet, rainy weather; affected parts sore to
touch. Lameness, stiffness and pain on first moving after rest, or on getting
up in the morning >. by walking or continued motion. Great restlessness,
anxiety, apprehension; cannot remain in bed, must change position often to
obtain relief from pain.
Ruta g.
Wrenching pain in the shoulder-joint, especially when
permitting arms to hang down or when resting on them. Shocks in arms as if in
bones. Dull tearings in bones of the arm and joints of elbow. Pain as from
contusion in joint of elbow. Pain in forearms as well as in bones and joints of
hands as if they had been beaten. Pressive and spasmodic drawing and tearing in
forearms, hands, and fingers. Paralytic stiffness of wrist. Wrenching pain or
shootings in wrists. Sensation as from a sprain and stiffness in wrist. Bones
of wrist and back of hand painful as if bruised when at rest and when moving.
Pain in wrist (as from a sprain) on lifting a weight. Numbness and tingling in
hands after exertion. Spasmodic contraction of fingers. Swollen veins on hands,
after eating. Warts, with sore pains, flat, smooth, on palms of hands.
Sanguinaria can.