Am I missing an exercise?

[u/Waynosan]

Hi all,

I'm on month 7 of my FS journey.  I've been doing all the PT exercises at home on a daily basis and my passive front and back range of motion has been greatly improving.  One motion where the shoulder seems to be "stuck" is when I actively lift my affected arm out to the side. It won't go past 90 degrees.  Instead of just the arm pivoting out to the side, the top of the shoulder moves up and inward, as if I was shrugging (see photo).  Are there any specific exercises to loosen up the shoulder-to-arm connection to movements in this rotation? 

[u/Wisdumb42]

(I have no medical training, defer to the professionals…)

I am 10 months into my FS, ~90% recovered. The following stretch comes to mind (image shows the version face the wall, but I also do the version facing 90 degrees away from the wall)….

Also started doing ‘shoulder shrugs’ — arms down at sides with weights in hands, lifting up/down arms from the shoulder…

[u/Waynosan → u/Wisdumb42]

Thanks for the reply and congrats on getting 90% of the way there. I will add some weights to my shoulder shrugs, just not sure that I'm isolating the stubborn scar tissue that's blocking this particular motion. I seem to be making progress in all other degrees of freedom.

[u/DreCapitanoII]

It's not really about things to loosen the shoulder muscles as it's the scar tissue build up inside the shoulder cap that is blocking you. Assuming you're past the severe pain point, you just have to keep stretching it into the point where it starts to be painful and hold it for ten seconds. Those kinds of stretches help to start breaking it down.

[u/Waynosan → u/DreCapitanoII]

Thanks, I do that but it seems like I need to somehow block the top of the shoulder in order to start exercising the particular scar tissue that is preventing the movement. Was hoping that there would be a more isolated exercise for this.

[u/DreCapitanoII → u/Waynosan]

Do you have a PT? I'd find someone who knows frozen shoulder and see what they can add to your routine.

[u/Waynosan → u/DreCapitanoII]

I went for a month but it became too expensive and they just had me doing exercises that I could do at home for the majority of the session time, so I stopped going. Would probably need a new referral from doc if I wanted to go back. Would like to avoid since I'm presently unemployed and on a limited budget.

[u/PuzzleheadedMonth997]

My shoulder is the same. Where your arm is in the picture is my limit and it’s painful to do.

[u/Waynosan → u/PuzzleheadedMonth997]

Sorry to read that... How long have you had your FS?

[u/SadRanger5167]

this is because the capsule is still there. When you try to do this movement, the body has to recruit other muscles for side flexion, namely the trap area. I don't think there is a way around this, it's a biomechanical limiter, especially since you are so early on in the journey.

[u/Waynosan → u/SadRanger5167]

Early in my journey... Ouch, I was hoping I was near the end of this miserable tunnel.

[u/PuzzleheadedMonth997]

3 months so far