Frozen Shoulder and the effects of Massage Therapy
In my time as a massage therapist, I have treated numerous clients living with frozen should (otherwise known as ‘adhesive capsulitis’). Frozen shoulder happens when the ligamentous structure (called the joint capsule) that surrounds the glenohumeral joint (the shoulder) begins to shorten, thicken, and form scar tissue, causing pain and greatly limiting the amount of movement you have in that joint. In the beginning, there is a lot of inflammation and possibly swelling occurring around the glenohumeral joint. Eventually the inflammatory process stops, but the joint capsule has become thick and shortened with a lot of scar tissue. The shoulder pain may be decreased, but the shoulder joint is still very much limited. Over time the joint capsule may gain more mobility as the ligaments and scar tissue begin to relax.
Frozen shoulder usually happens in adulthood and can effect anybody – especially if you have already had a previous injury to your shoulder. Some clients that I’ve treated recover within several weeks, and some within several months. I have also heard stories from various colleges about clients that have taken several years to recover, which just goes to show you – treating your frozen shoulder is an individual experience. I encourage my clients to utilize the modalities that work best for their bodies – whether it’s with physiotherapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, or a combination of modalities.
Massage therapy can help a client recover from their frozen shoulder by working with the surrounding muscle tissue to help alleviate pain, as well as working directly with the joint itself to help mobilize the ligamentous joint capsule and scar tissue in the frozen stage (when the inflammatory process is over).
A review paper on recent advances in massage therapy is quoted saying – “…combining exercise with electrical therapy
and massage brought an improvement in shoulder flexion, extension, abduction and adduction
active range of motion in patients with frozen shoulder.” ( more info: https://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/3843-3849.pdf )
In this quote from a study done in 2021, consisting of 100 patients in the observation group and 64 in the control group show that the observation group benefited very well from massage therapy. “…patients in the observation group had better recovery of myodynamia than the control group. They also had lower VAS scores, higher life function score and total ASES scores, higher ASIA scores, higher ROM scores, lower VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression, lower complication rate, higher total effective rate, and higher patient satisfaction.” ( more info: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8129293/ )
So if you are living with frozen shoulder, there are numerous treatment plans, including massage, that could be a great help for you. Personally, the massage therapy techniques that I have utilized over the years for a shoulder in a frozen state have been incredibly helpful in all of my clients recoveries. The road back to pain-free range of motion may be long, but the time invested in getting back to enjoying your quality of life is worth every step.
Hope to see you on my table :)!
~Kiri McGuire, RMT