Treatment for Frozen Shoulder Syndrome in Augusta GA

Treatment for Frozen Shoulder Syndrome in Augusta GA

Is your shoulder freezing, frozen, or thawing? If have suffered from a frozen shoulder, you are all too familiar with these terms. Frozen shoulder syndrome (adhesive capsulitis) is a poorly understood and painful condition.  People between the ages of forty to sixty years old are most likely to develop a frozen shoulder, but no one seems to know why. It may occur after an injury or surgery, but often it appears to start for no reason at all.  

Frozen shoulder syndrome, clinically known as adhesive capsulitis, is a painful and debilitating condition affecting up to 5% of the population. Adhesive capsulitis is considered fibrosis of the glenohumeral joint capsule with a chronic inflammatory response.

Frozen shoulder typically follows a pattern. In the early stages, flexibility and pain get worse. Movement becomes very restricted during the day and pain affects sleep at night. For these reasons, the first stage has been labeled the “freezing” stage. About one third through the process of a typical course of frozen shoulder syndrome, the flexibility loss and pain hit a plateau (“frozen stage”). Finally, both the pain and flexibility start to improve (“thawing stage”). Eventually, most “frozen shoulders” return back to normal, but it takes an average of 30 months! That’s a long time to suffer.

Recently published on National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine Shows Cold Laser Treatments Effective for Frozen Shoulder Syndrome

Sixty-three patients with frozen shoulder were randomly assigned into one of two groups. In the active laser group (n = 31), patients were treated with a 810-nm Ga-Al-As laser with a continuous output of 60 mW applied to eight points on the shoulder for 30 sec each, for a total dose of 1.8 J per point and 14.4 J per session.   Relative to the placebo group, the active laser group had: (1) a significant decrease in overall, night, and activity pain scores at the end of 4 wk and 8 wk of treatment, and at the end of 8 wk additional follow-up (16 wk post-randomization); (2) a significant decrease in shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) scores and Croft shoulder disability questionnaire scores at those same intervals; (3) a significant decrease in disability of arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire (DASH) scores.

Cold Laser Treatments are Safer Than Steriod Shots

Think twice before undergoing steroid shots or a manipulation under anesthesia. There are definite risks with both treatments and a recent study in The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery showed 18 out of 30 patients experiencing tears of the capsule and 4 of 30 had freshly torn cartilage after a manipulation procedure.

Clinical Use of Laser
Adding laser to your treatment for Frozen Shoulder Syndrome can enhance your recovery in mutliple ways:

• Pain reduction or even potential nerve regeneration can occur through altering nerve membrane potentials and reducing inflammatory cytokines, which can be influential in pain management by reducing the heightened nociceptive load.
• Muscle soreness can be decreased, potentially allowing more comfortable adjustments and a faster return to activity.
• Edema reduction may also be achieved by a variety of mechanisms.

As a specialized Augusta GA Chiropractor and Evans GA Chiropractor, Dr. Mark Huntsman can provide specific treatments to address your frozen shoulder, which is most often caused by inflammation (swelling, pain, and irritation) of the tissues surrounding the joint.  As one of the few doctors in the state of Georgia able to customize your chiropractic care with cold laser treatments, Dr. Huntsman has been able to successfully help patients with their frozen shoulder syndrome by greatly reducing the inflammation.