Adhesive Capsulitis, aka Frozen Shoulder

It's been a long year. Last December I noticed considerable pain in my shoulder. In January I had been working on a push-up challenge and I knew I had to back off. I was going to the chiropractor trying different therapy to make it tolerable. But soon it was clear I needed to see a Doctor. I went to a local Orthopedist. He said I had torn my Teres Minor and got me set up with Physical Therapy. I did that for most of March and April. My mobility was better and I had lingering pain, but I figured I could keep working on it, so that's what I did. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Come July It was clearly NOT better. I went to the chiropractor, we tried scraping, acupuncture and adjustments but it was actually getting worse. I had an MRI and it was clear...not labrum or rotator cuff tear. That's great, but why does it hurt so bad??? I went to See Dr. Brustein on Sept 8th. And within minutes he diagnosed me with frozen shoulder. Is that even a real thing??? Apparently it is, and its a biological condition. I started another round of Physical Therapy but after 6 weeks it was clear the only way to move forward was to have my shoulder scoped. So that's what we did. On October 24th, I had the adhesions and scar tissue cleaned out of my joint. And I had no idea what would follow. I had therapy 5 days a week for a few weeks, pain so intense I couldn't sleep, just getting dressed was a struggle. Eventually I went down to 3 days a week, and finally I'm at a place where I'm going 2 days a week. About two weeks ago I got the all clear to start some lifting. At times it seemed like an uphill battle, but I have to win. You don't realize how much you rely on your shoulder for everyday things. It feels good to not be "frozen" anymore, but I'm still battling. Here's to hoping that I'm back to 100% early on in 2018. I want my girls to remember how I pushed and persevered through this injury and certainly didn't let it hold me back!