About six years ago, I suddenly developed pain in my right shoulder whenever I reached above my head. Thankfully—thankfully!—it didn’t start until after we had finished moving into the new house. I was a good girl, patient, and gave the pain the opportunity to leave on its own. It refused.
And so I found myself at the doctor’s office to figure out what was up. He diagnosed it pretty quickly, said it would probably bother me for about another 7 months, and would eventually resolve. And it might improve a little more quickly if I wanted to do some physical therapy exercises at home.
Frozen shoulder, more technically known as adhesive capsulitis, usually develops more slowly over time, but mine had a much more rapid onset. Shoulder stiffness and pain are the primary symptoms. Keeping the shoulder still for a long time, like after surgery or breaking an arm, increases the risk.[1] (I had done neither of those.)
Treatment most often involves physical therapy exercises at home. Sometimes steroid injections are used; more rarely, surgery. It’s uncommon for frozen shoulder to happen again in the same shoulder, but sometimes it pops up the other shoulder within about five years.[2]
The three stages of frozen shoulder:
The freeze, where any movement causes pain, lasts from 2 to 9 months. The pain may be worse at night.[3] My only pain was reaching above my head.
The frozen stage usually involves stiffness and lasts 4-12 months.
The thaw is marked by slow improvement in the ability to move and lasts 5-12 months.[4]
So I was blessed to only be afflicted for about 9 months total.
Researchers don’t know why it happens, so we don’t know how to prevent it.
RISK FACTORS
TREATMENT
- Medications
- Hot and cold compresses[31]
- Therapy. Most frozen shoulders resolve on their own in 12-18 months. [32] Three physical therapy exercises recommended by the Mayo Clinic and orthopedists:
- 1. Pendulum exercise. Bend over at a 90° angle and let your arm hang down. Gently swing it in circles or back and forth. (I was instructed to swing it in circles one direction and then the other.) Five circles in each direction each day. [33] [34]
- 2. Wall crawl. Standing straight, about 18” from a wall, walk the fingers (like a spider) up the wall, starting at waist level and reaching as high as you can comfortably go. Ten repetitions each day. [35] [36]
- 3. Cross body stretch. Sit or stand with the back straight. Bring the affected arm across the chest. Raise the unaffected arm over the affected arm, bringing the latter in closer to the body and stretching the shoulder. Hold for 15-30 seconds, and then relax. Repeat 10-20 times throughout the day. [37]
- Alternative therapies
[1] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic, 19 August 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frozen-shoulder/symptoms-causes/syc-20372684 (accessed 12 February 2026).
[2] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic, 19 August 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frozen-shoulder/symptoms-causes/syc-20372684 (accessed 12 February 2026).
[3] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic, 30 January 2024, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/frozen-shoulder-adhesive-capsulitis (accessed 12 February 2026).
[4] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic, 19 August 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frozen-shoulder/symptoms-causes/syc-20372684 (accessed 12 February 2026).
[5] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[6] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[7] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[8] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[9] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[10] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[11] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[12] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[13] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[14] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[15] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[16] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[17] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[18] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[19] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[20] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[21] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[22] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[23] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[24] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[25] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[26] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[27] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[28] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[29] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[30] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[31] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[32] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
[33] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[34] Pamela Mehta, Resilience Orthopedics, https://www.resilienceorthopedics.com/shoulder/frozen-shoulder-exercises/ (accessed 12 February 2026).
[35] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[36] Pamela Mehta.
[37] Pamela Mehta.
[38] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[39] Frozen shoulder, Mayo Clinic.
[40] Frozen shoulder, Cleveland Clinic.
