my husabnd, who is diabetic, has been doing physical therapy for the
last two months for a frozen shoulder with very little success, and has
recently been considering surgery — no guarantees as to whether it will
be successful either
anyone have any experience with this surgery? any advice? – Thanks!
Subject: FROZEN SHOULDER
From: Marcia L. Gerwig, mg…@andrew.cmu.edu
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:50:26 -0500
In article <8jH_v2i00Uh_M2d…@andrew.cmu.edu> Marcia L. Gerwig,
mg…@andrew.cmu.edu writes:
>my husabnd, who is diabetic, has been doing physical therapy for the
>last two months for a frozen shoulder with very little success, and has
>recently been considering surgery — no guarantees as to whether it will
>be successful either
>anyone have any experience with this surgery? any advice? – Thanks!
I have had surgery on both shoulders – the right one 4 years ago, and the
left just last year. The right is completely healed, the left is
progressing slowly. In addition to frozen shoulder, or adhesive
encapsulitis (I can’t begin to spell any medical terms correctly) I had
an impengement syndrome – resulting in tendonitis. In the impengment
syndrome, the acromium and the shoulder joint don’t allow enough space
for one of the tendons to pass through. The tendon gets inflamed, swells
and the whole problem is exacerbated. In my surgery, they removed part
of the acromium, cleaned up some bone spurs and tried to increase the
range of motion. My experience has been that it takes a long time to
recover from the surgery – on the order of a year to really get full
range of motion.
By the way – I also went through a lot of therapy before the surgery –
also to no avail. My brother, also a diabetic, had the same problem and
his went away with therapy – after about a year to a year and a half.
One last side note. During one of my bouts the doctor talked me into a
shot of cortisone, assuring me that it would not effect my diabetes.
Well my blood sugar went through the roof, and even though most
orthopedists deny a relationship between the cortisone and high blood
sugar – be very careful. If he does resort to cortisone – keep a close
eye on glucose levels.
Patrick
>anyone have any experience with this surgery? any advice? – Thanks!
Hi!
i don’t have the experience but some i know has. Her shoulder was froze
for a long time before she went to the dr. The Dr. asked her to come to
treatment twice a week. the first 6 months she felt like it wasn’t working.
The Dr. put her on small dose of cortizone. And she continued to see the
Dr. twicwe a week. After 8 months total her shoulder feel much better.
She tries to swim once a week plus the treatmnts. Its not 100% but it took
may years for her to develope it.
Keep in mind if he wants surgery it may take more work than it takes now.
and as you said no saying if it will help.
In reply to: Patrick Cheatham <p…@merrimac.aero.org>
I had shoulder problems also which lasted about 1.5 years.
This was treated by a chiropractor – until my insurance
coverage ran out for the year. At that point, he ‘referred’
me to specialist in sports medicine. (I didn’t know that
being a couch potato is considered a sport!) He put me
on a perscription (a muscle relaxant) which did nothing.
He then recommended a shot of cortisone. I wasn’t aware
of the effect on BGs, but I sure am now! It was one of
the most difficult times I’ve ever had managing my DM.
Out of desperation, I went to the library to look up info
about cortisone. So I found out by myself what was happening.
When I mentioned it to the specialist, he shrugged and said
that "yeah, that can happen". THANKS!!!
I found no relief from the cortisone, but avoided the
recommendation for surgery. The pain finally went away
(probably because the chiropractor wasn’t yanking on me
anymore!). I now have no pain and full range of motion.
At no time did either the chiropractor or the specialist
indicate that the shoulder problem could be related to DM.
It wasn’t until I got involved with this group that I learned
more about it. Even my endo didn’t seem to know about or
comment on the relationship of shoulder problems and DM.
Good luck to you.
Several posters within the year described spontaneous remissions
of this condition. Perhaps it’s in the FAQ. I would not go into’
surgery until I had heard from those folks. Could one of the
Wise Persons comment on this? Might save this person some useless
agony. Lydick? Reid? Garcia? Where are these folks when you need
them?
In a previous article, p…@merrimac.aero.org (Patrick Cheatham) says:
>I have had surgery on both shoulders – the right one 4 years ago, and the
>left just last year. The right is completely healed, the left is
>progressing slowly.
I too have both shoulders frozen… Gawd, it can be a pain…
>By the way – I also went through a lot of therapy before the surgery –
>also to no avail. My brother, also a diabetic, had the same problem and
>his went away with therapy – after about a year to a year and a half.
I went through three months of physio every second day on my right
shoulder. The physio-terrorist <s> was suprised that my range of motion
was backwards to most people with this problem. While lying on my back,
my are would go up to lie almost flat on the bed next to my head, but I
could barely get it to move down towards my hip.
Anyways…. After the three months of little improvement….
>One last side note. During one of my bouts the doctor talked me into a
>shot of cortisone, assuring me that it would not effect my diabetes.
>Well my blood sugar went through the roof, and even though most
>orthopedists deny a relationship between the cortisone and high blood
>sugar – be very careful. If he does resort to cortisone – keep a close
>eye on glucose levels.
I had a procedure done that was to inject saline solution into the joint
in an effort to unstick the joint. The doc added some cortisone to the
shot. My right shoulder now has about 80% of motion. We haven’t tried
anything on the left one yet. My blood sugars remained normal before,
during and after the corisone shot.
Interesting side note about the shot though… My should was soooo
tight… <How tight was it????> that when the doc started injecting the
saline, and went for another syringe full, everything that was in the
joint shot right back out the needle and covered him, me, and the nurse…
It was hilarious….. Well, I guess you had to be there….
–
Mark C. Barron
ua…@freenet.victoria.bc.ca
In <3j7d0k$…@sun001.spd.dsccc.com> jbuch…@spd.dsccc.com (Jerry Buchheit) writes:
>Out of desperation, I went to the library to look up info
>about cortisone. So I found out by myself what was happening.
I had (still have) tendonitis/bursitis at times so bad that I can’t lift a
soda can by covering the top with my palm and lifting up. That cortisone
shot I had for that was THE most painful experience I’ve ever had. But it
didn’t affect my bG.
However, I had successfully used prednisone for some allergy problems in the
past. 4 years ago I was given a round of that drug and ended up urinating
all night long! Does that to new (read unknowing) diabetics. The PDR
revealed the problem there.
–
Chuck Cronan from Milwaukee
ccro…@mixcom.com
re: various proposals for treating frozen shoulder
I had a frozen shoulder with great pain and immobility for several years
during which I tried a lot of medical stuff, but it ended with 10 Rolfing
sessions, and I haven’t had any pain or immobility since. It may not be
the cure for everyone, but if a good Rolfer is accessible to you, it may
be worth doing before going into surgery or heavy drugs like cortizone.
On 17/3/95 at 12:46 am, AbbyHeyman wrote:
A> the cure for everyone, but if a good Rolfer is accessible to you, it may
A> be worth doing before going into surgery or heavy drugs like cortizone.
Trouble is I don’t know what it is. As I have had similar problems could you
explain a bit more?
Cheers,
Henry
- via BulkRate 2.0
Re: questions about what rolfing is, how much it costs, how to find it
It’s a little hard for me to tell you what Rolfing is, but it feels like
an extremely deep massage. My experience of it was rather like as massage
is to muscles, rolfing is to bones. (That’s not really true, but it’s what
it feels like.) Some people say its very painful, I understand what they
mean but I found it a rather pleasurable kind of pain, like a message,
with a certain pleasure in FEELING that the muscles and bones were getting
straightened out.
As all parts of the body are related, the traditional (and it seemed to
me, logical) way to go about it is a series of 10 sessions, although I
asked my rolfer to emphasize the shoulder that was frozen, he insisted,
and I think rightly so, that my whole body be dealt with as well.
As I recall the 10 sessions were $100 each, that was a few years ago, but
it was NYC and that’s usually more expensive on everything.
For Rolfers in your part of the country, as well as a much more scientific
explanation of the procedure, and other information call the Rolf
Institute, in Boulder CO: 800/ 530-8875. As I understand it, all Rolfers
are trained there, and while they are a smallish group, I suspect they are
spread all over the country. A friend of mine was in touch with them at
one point with the thought of being trained, and while she didn’t do it, I
remember being very impressed with the quality of their thinking about
training, requirements, and so on. It felt like a really good
organization.
Hope it helps you.