01
An arm that won't go up
It's hard to raise your arm above your head,
and you can't reach behind your back.
So that raising your arm over your head
feels like nothing again.
Frozen Shoulder · Shoulder Pain
A day when you can dress yourself, reach your back pocket, and sleep without your shoulder waking you up. Getting that day back is the goal of this care.
Do any of these sound familiar?
Once a shoulder stiffens,
it takes a long time to loosen on its own.
It hurts, so you don't use it, and because you don't use it, it gets stiffer. When sleepless nights drag on, daily life falls apart before the shoulder does.
02
Pain that's worse at night
The pain gets worse when you lie down,
and you can't roll onto the sore side.
03
Limits on daily life
Everyday movements like getting dressed,
washing your hair or driving become hard.
04
Not stiff yet
It hurts only at certain angles,
and your arm still goes up.
The shoulder stiffens itself to keep from getting hurt
Frozen shoulder doesn't come out of nowhere.
Before it, inflammation of the tendons or the shoulder's fluid sacs keeps recurring until the joint capsule stiffens.
When the joint capsule keeps getting injured, the body stiffens that area on its own to keep it from being damaged further.
It's not a breakdown. It's the body trying to protect itself.
The price, though, is that your arm can't go up as far.
That's why it's easiest to catch it before it stiffens.
If it has already stiffened, we don't just loosen the shoulder.
If a rounded back and forward-rolled shoulders are left as they are, it will stiffen again.
Progress varies with each person's condition.
1
The most painful phase
Main Symptoms
- • Pain disturbs your sleep at night
- • It hurts even when you're still
- • Even small movements are painful
Diagnosis Pattern
The inflammation is active
Recommended Treatment
Treatment to manage pain and inflammation
We avoid forcing exercise and bring the pain down first.
→ Fewer nights of waking up from your shoulder when you roll over.
2
The stiff, frozen phase
Main Symptoms
- • The pain has eased, but the arm won't go up
- • Getting dressed is hard
- • A big difference from the other side
Diagnosis Pattern
Adhesions have progressed and the shoulder has stiffened
Recommended Treatment
Treatment and exercise to release adhesions
With pharmacopuncture and manual therapy, we widen your range of motion little by little.
→ A height you couldn't reach yesterday gradually opens up.
3
When your posture has broken down too
Main Symptoms
- • A rounded back and forward-rolled shoulders
- • Your neck is uncomfortable too
- • You sit at work for long hours
Diagnosis Pattern
Body alignment has broken down along with it
Recommended Treatment
Correction combined with exercise therapy
We create room for the shoulder to move and build up the muscles.
→ Dressing and washing get easier, and the loosened shoulder doesn't stiffen up again.
How we treat
We soften what has hardened and build a posture that keeps it from stiffening again.
Hydrodilatation
We inject medicine into the hardened joint capsule
to soften the areas that have stuck together.
to soften the areas that have stuck together.
Chuna correction
We correct a rounded back and forward-rolled shoulders
to make room for the shoulder to move.
to make room for the shoulder to move.
Exercise therapy
We lock in the wider range through real movements
and build a posture that keeps the joint capsule from being injured again.
and build a posture that keeps the joint capsule from being injured again.
Personalized herbal medicine
Manages inflammation and pain
and replenishes your strength to recover.
and replenishes your strength to recover.
Treatment Process
What happens on your first day
1
We measure three movements you can't do
Raising your arm forward, lifting it out to the side, and bending your elbow and rotating it outward. We measure these three.
We also tell you in advance the order they come back in. Raising forward comes back first, and rotating outward comes back last.
2
We rule out other causes
If a tendon tear is suspected, we check it in partnership with the radiology clinic on the 2nd floor of the same building.
3
We see which phase you're in
What needs to be done depends on whether you're in the painful phase or the stiffening phase.
4
We tackle night pain first
Recovery starts with sleep. This is the first thing we address.
Frequently asked questions
Q. I heard frozen shoulder goes away on its own with time.
A. It does sometimes get better on its own, but that can take 1–2 years, and in the meantime the shoulder may stiffen and leave you with limited movement. Treatment aims to shorten that period and reduce the discomfort.
Q. How long does it take?
A. At the quickest, we estimate 3 months. This shoulder didn't get this way suddenly. It built up gradually, so loosening it also happens gradually. We won't give you the short estimate, because an overblown promise turns into an overblown disappointment.
질문 5개 더 보기 접기
Q. My shoulder hurts. Why are you looking at my back and pelvis?
A. When your back is rounded and your shoulders roll forward, the space the shoulder has to move in shrinks. If you keep using it that way, the joint capsule gets injured again, and the body stiffens it again to protect itself. That's why the shoulder stiffens again if you only loosen it and leave the posture as it is.
Q. What is hydrodilatation?
A. It's a method of injecting medicine into a joint capsule that has stuck together and hardened, to widen and soften it. The stiffness has to be released first before exercise can widen your range of motion.
Q. Should I exercise or rest?
A. It depends on the phase. Forcing movement during the most painful phase can actually make the inflammation worse. We'll check which phase you're in now and guide you accordingly.
Q. Does herbal medicine help too?
A. We use it to manage inflammation and pain and replenish your strength to recover. During your visit, we'll also tell you whether that approach is backed by evidence.
Q. I'm getting treatment, but I still can't reach behind my back.
A. Movement comes back in a set order. Raising forward comes first, lifting out to the side next, and bending the elbow and rotating outward last. Not yet being able to reach behind your back means that stage is still to come in the sequence, not that the treatment isn't working.
Frozen Shoulder · Shoulder Pain 건강 칼럼
의료진이 직접 전하는 건강 정보입니다.
Column
Frozen shoulder: once you've had it, is that the end of it? It rarely returns to the same shoulder, but know about the other side
In a study that followed 223 people with frozen shoulder for an average of 4.4 years, no one had it return in the same shoulder, but 1 in 5 also had it in the other shoulder. Here's how people who've been through it once can recognize the early signs and respond.
Column
My shoulder has stiffened. Why are you asking about my blood sugar?
In an analysis of 18 studies, people with diabetes were about 5 times more likely to have frozen shoulder, and about 3 in 10 people with frozen shoulder had diabetes. Here's why we ask about blood sugar in the exam room, four things to know if you have diabetes, and one thing to check today.
Column
Frozen shoulder exercises: do you have to push through the pain to loosen it?
There's no evidence for the idea that you have to grit your teeth and force a frozen shoulder to loosen it. In a study that followed 77 people for two years, the group that exercised within a pain-free range improved more, and faster. Here are exercises for each stage, the rule "up to a pulling feeling, stop at a stabbing pain," and the signs to check before you start.
Health column
Our articles on frozen shoulder and shoulder pain
We've written up the questions we hear most often in practice, one per article.
Feel free to start with whatever you're most curious about.