Reaching for a seatbelt. Fastening a bra. Putting on a jacket. For someone with a frozen shoulder, these become the movements you plan your day around — and the pain at night is often worse than anything you feel during the day.
What is frozen shoulder?
Frozen shoulder, known clinically as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition where the capsule surrounding the shoulder joint becomes inflamed, thickened and contracted. As the capsule tightens, it physically restricts how far the joint can move.
The defining feature is a loss of both active and passive range of motion. With many shoulder problems, someone else can move your shoulder further than you can move it yourself, because pain or weakness is the limit. In a true frozen shoulder, the capsule itself has tightened — so the shoulder won’t move further even when someone else moves it for you. External rotation, turning your forearm outward with your elbow at your side, is usually the most restricted direction.
How long does frozen shoulder last?
It typically moves through three stages, though timeframes vary considerably:
- Freezing (painful) stage — Pain builds gradually and is often worse at night. Range of motion begins to reduce. Commonly several months.
- Frozen (adhesive) stage — Pain may settle somewhat, but stiffness dominates and daily activities are most limited. Often several months to around a year.
- Thawing (recovery) stage — Range of motion gradually returns, slowly.
Frozen shoulder is often described as self-limiting, meaning it resolves over time. But “eventually” can mean one to three years, and a meaningful proportion of people are left with some residual restriction. That’s why active management matters rather than simply waiting it out.
Who gets frozen shoulder?
It most commonly appears between 40 and 60, and is more common in women. Recognised associations include:
- Diabetes — a notably strong link, and frozen shoulder in people with diabetes can be more stubborn
- Thyroid conditions
- A period of shoulder immobilisation — after surgery, a fracture, or time in a sling
- Previous frozen shoulder in the other shoulder
Because of the diabetes and thyroid links, a new frozen shoulder with no clear mechanical cause is worth mentioning to your GP, especially if you haven’t had recent bloodwork.
How can a chiropractor help with frozen shoulder?
At BPPC in Carindale, we use Advanced BioStructural Correction™ (ABC™). Rather than focusing solely on the painful joint, ABC™ assesses how the whole structure is positioned and loaded.
That’s relevant to the shoulder for an anatomical reason: the shoulder blade sits on the ribcage, and the ribcage sits on the spine. Where the thoracic spine is held in a rounded, forward-loaded position, the shoulder blade’s resting position changes — and the space available for shoulder movement changes with it. Our aim is to identify and address mechanical and postural factors that may be contributing to how the shoulder is loading and moving.
We want to be clear about scope. Adhesive capsulitis is a genuine pathological process affecting the joint capsule, and no manual approach reverses that process on demand. Care here is generally aimed at supporting comfort, movement and function alongside — not instead of — appropriate medical management, and responses vary considerably between individuals and across the three stages.
Book an assessment in Carindale
If your shoulder is stiffening up and you’d like it properly assessed, Brisbane Posture and Performance Chiropractic on Creek Rd, Carindale is here to help. We see patients from across Brisbane’s southside, including Carina, Camp Hill, Coorparoo, Mount Gravatt and surrounding suburbs.
Book here online or call the clinic to arrange a time.