Frozen Shoulder: Why It Happens, What It Feels Like, and How to Treat It

It often starts quietly. Maybe your shoulder just feels stiff in the morning. You think you slept funny, or maybe it’s just age catching up. But as the weeks go by, you realize it’s not getting better — it’s getting worse. Suddenly, reaching behind your back to tuck in a shirt or stretching to grab something from a high shelf feels nearly impossible.

If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with frozen shoulder — a condition that’s more common than people realize, and far more frustrating than most expect.

At Adam Vital Hospital, we see many patients who come in believing they’ve simply pulled a muscle or strained a tendon. But what they’re actually experiencing is adhesive capsulitis — the medical name for frozen shoulder. And what makes it challenging is not just the pain, but the loss of motion that follows.

What Is Frozen Shoulder, Really?

Frozen shoulder is a condition where the shoulder joint becomes stiff and painful due to inflammation and tightening of the capsule — the connective tissue that surrounds the joint.

Over time, this capsule thickens and tightens, restricting movement. The condition goes through three main stages, and each one can last several months:

Freezing stage – Pain begins gradually, and range of motion starts to decrease. This phase can last 6 to 9 months.

Frozen stage – The pain may reduce slightly, but stiffness gets worse. Daily tasks become difficult. This phase can last another 4 to 6 months.

Thawing stage – Range of motion slowly starts to improve, and stiffness eases. This stage can stretch out over 6 months to 2 years.

In total, the condition can take anywhere from 1 to 3 years to fully resolve — sometimes longer if left untreated.

Who Gets Frozen Shoulder — and Why?

Frozen shoulder doesn’t discriminate, but it most commonly affects people between the ages of 40 and 60. Women tend to experience it more often than men. It also shows up more frequently in people who:

Have had shoulder injuries or surgeries

Have diabetes or thyroid disorders

Lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle

Have experienced prolonged immobility due to illness or trauma

One of the most common patterns we see at Adam Vital Hospital is people developing frozen shoulder after recovering from another injury or surgery — where the arm wasn’t used much for a while. The lack of movement allows the joint capsule to tighten.

What Does Frozen Shoulder Feel Like?

The hallmark of frozen shoulder is stiffness. But before that, most patients feel a dull ache or a deep soreness that seems to sit right in the joint — not the muscle.

Here’s what people typically describe:

A constant, nagging pain that feels deep inside the shoulder

Pain at night that makes it hard to sleep on the affected side

Difficulty lifting the arm or reaching across the body

Trouble with everyday actions like putting on a bra, tying an apron, or reaching into the back seat of a car

The key difference between frozen shoulder and other shoulder problems is the progressive and dramatic loss of motion. With other issues like rotator cuff injuries, movement may be painful — but with frozen shoulder, it’s physically restricted, as if something inside just won’t budge.

How Is It Diagnosed?

Frozen shoulder is mostly diagnosed through a clinical exam. At Adam Vital Hospital, we begin by asking detailed questions about how the pain started, how it's affecting your life, and whether you’ve had any recent illnesses, injuries, or surgeries.

We then do a physical exam to check both active and passive range of motion — in simple terms, what movements you can do yourself, and what movements we can do for you. With frozen shoulder, both types of movement are significantly limited.

Treatment: It Takes Time, But There Is a Way Through

There’s no overnight fix for frozen shoulder. But the right combination of treatment can dramatically improve both pain and mobility over time.

At Adam Vital Hospital, we create personalized treatment plans based on how far along the condition is and how much it’s interfering with your daily life.

Here’s what that may include:

Physiotherapy: This is the foundation of treatment. Guided exercises can help stretch the joint capsule and gradually restore motion.

Pain management: Anti-inflammatory medication and hot/cold therapy can help reduce discomfort.

Corticosteroid injections: In some cases, a steroid injection into the joint can reduce inflammation enough to allow for more effective therapy.

Hydrodilatation: This is a non-surgical procedure where saline and steroids are injected into the joint to stretch the capsule and improve mobility.

Minimally invasive surgery: If months of conservative treatment don’t work, arthroscopic surgery might be considered to release the tight joint capsule.

Final Thoughts

Frozen shoulder is frustrating — not just because of the pain, but because of how long it can take to heal. It limits your independence, affects your sleep, and makes simple daily tasks feel like a struggle.

But here’s the good news: it’s treatable. And with early diagnosis, structured physiotherapy, and the right support system, you can absolutely get back to full function.

At Adam Vital Hospital, we’re here to walk you through that journey — step by step, stretch by stretch. It’s not just about treating a frozen shoulder; it’s about restoring your ability to move freely again.

Don’t wait for it to get worse. Let’s take care of it now — before the freeze sets in any deeper.