Why You Should Consider Chiropractic if You Suffer from Frozen Shoulder

Although adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder, is most common among 40-70-year-olds, you can develop it as young as your mid-20s, and it dramatically limits your ability to carry out everyday tasks. Fortunately, it’s treatable, and chiropractic care offers the best way to get your shoulder back in action without medication or surgery.

In San Francisco, California, trust Katherine Hipp, DC, at Dr. Hipp’s Chiropractic to diagnose your shoulder problem and restore its function using a holistic approach. You benefit from Dr. Hipp’s extensive experience with advanced techniques and technologies, knowing she prioritizes your safety and overall health. 

When you come to Dr. Hipp with shoulder pain, she evaluates your shoulder, tests its range of motion, discusses your symptoms, and reviews your medical history. She may order imaging tests, such as X-rays or an MRI, to rule out other conditions like a fracture or ruptured ligament. 

If she determines you have adhesive capsulitis, she develops a personalized treatment plan to restore your shoulder’s function and range of motion. Here’s a closer look at frozen shoulder syndrome and how chiropractic care can be integral to your recovery.

Frozen shoulder 101

Your shoulder capsule consists of strong connective tissue surrounding your shoulder joint, where the top of your upper arm bone meets the shallow socket in your shoulder blade. 

When you have adhesive capsulitis, your shoulder capsule thickens, stiffens, and tightens. These changes trigger the development of adhesions, fibrous growths that bind your tissues together and essentially “freeze” your shoulder. Think of adhesions as a network of sticky cobwebs in your shoulder capsule.

Primary adhesive capsulitis has a gradual onset with no known cause. Secondary adhesive capsulitis stems from a known condition, such as an injury or long-term immobilization. Both types of frozen shoulder syndrome typically evolve in three stages:

Stage 1

Often called the “freezing” stage, this is when you first experience shoulder pain. You may be in stage 1 for 1-9 months as the pain increases and your range of motion decreases.

Stage 2

Stage 2 brings some pain relief but leaves your shoulder essentially useless, or “frozen,” for another 4-6 months.

Stage 3

You turn a corner in stage 3 as your shoulder begins “thawing,” and you start to regain your range of motion. 

How chiropractic care helps your frozen shoulder

Dr. Hipp’s goal in frozen shoulder treatment is to break up the adhesions deep within your shoulder capsule and release your muscles so you can recover more quickly. She uses multiple chiropractic techniques to accomplish this.

Spine and joint adjustments

Dr. Hipp assesses your spinal alignment to ensure your skeletal system and posture provide a good foundation for your shoulder to function well. She performs manual adjustments using the state-of-the-art Chiropractic Biophysics® technique to realign your cervical or thoracic spine and other joints if necessary.

Niel Asher Technique™ (NAT)

Simeon Niel-Asher, a renowned osteopath who dedicated his career to creating noninvasive solutions for complex musculoskeletal conditions, developed this technique based on the sequential trigger point therapy principle. 

The NAT involves identifying and manipulating specific trigger points in a particular order to stimulate your body's natural healing processes.

Understanding trigger points is crucial here. These are sensitive areas within your muscle that can cause pain when compressed. They often develop due to overuse, strain, or injury and can contribute to the stiffness and discomfort associated with frozen shoulder syndrome.

Dr. Hipp locates the trigger points in and around your shoulder and treats them sequentially, using a combination of pressure application, massage, and stretching. 

NAT stimulates your body’s natural healing properties and generates new pathways between your nerves and brain. Your brain receives new input from the repeated sequences of pressure and movement and recalibrates its response, resulting in decreased pain and stiffness.

Active Release Technique® (ART)

The Active Release Technique, developed and patented by Dr. Michael Leahy, is a manual soft-tissue therapy that breaks up scar tissue, releases adhesions, and untraps nerves.

With ART, Dr. Hipp uses long, deep-pressure strokes and specific stretches to dislodge the fibrotic tissue in your shoulder capsule. Because this is a hands-on technique, she can feel the adhesions slide under her fingers and eventually break up. She uses varying pressures to shorten and elongate the tissues and coax the adhesions out of hiding. 

Other therapies

Depending on your symptoms and the severity of your adhesive capsulitis, Dr. Hipp may also recommend massage therapy to release trigger points, prevent or relieve muscle spasms in the area, and keep your shoulder loose.

You may also be a good candidate for K-laser therapy, which targets your tissues with specific wavelengths of light. Once the light energy passes through your skin and reaches your cells, it triggers photobiostimulation — your body produces a flood of endorphins and collagen, accelerating the healing process. 

Don’t suffer from a frozen shoulder for months or years; call Dr. Hipp’s Chiropractic, or book online and find out how chiropractic care is just what the doctor ordered for adhesive capsulitis.