I discovered the BodyBolster when I was searching for tools/methods to help me stretch out this shoulder.  My first stretch (the arm up the wall on a towel) went 2 inches higher than the previous day when I used this bolster.  It was smooth, easy and felt good!  And, the other shoulder stretches definitely challenged my shoulder but it’s adjustible, so I’ve started with some air removed and I can inflate as I gain more flexibility. 

Anyway -I’m running out of time tonight, so I’m putting a link to my Ebay items – look for the BodyBolster.  I swear by it.

This is the frustrating part - everytime I push my shoulder, it pushes back.  That cliche - two steps forward, one step back.   I do need to remember that there is a net one step forward and not take that step back to heart.

• How the shoulder works <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOZjgz18eOQ“>
• A demonstration of how the shoulders should work (a doctor’s examination) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrLbzZzJU8  It’s amazing at how many of these tests I could NOT do. 
• Arthoscopic surgery to release a frozen shoulder (graphic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5To9tcYWrss

There’s more videos – seach on frozen shoulder.

One of the hobbies I’ve had to give up is crocheting.  While I can do most things with both hands (including writing luckily!), I’ve never developed the ability to use a crochet hook with either hand.  I have an afghan with about 8 rows left.  I pulled it out last night to see if I could finish it off and I lasted about 15 minutes before my left elbow and shoulder started to hurt.  Maybe I can try this again AFTER my shoulder has completely healed.

I’m also a classically trained flautist and I haven’t been able to play for over 5 years now, even for my own amusement.  I probably will never be able to play again since the many (MANY) hours of practice in my teens and 20s are probably the beginnings of my tendonitis.   I really miss this.

Tell me what you have had to give up.

I did use my shoulders differently doing this and paid with stiffness and additional pain.  However, I have discovered that I like to hand stencil items!  It uses some different muscles (always a good thing!) and it is something I can do while watching/listening to TV or the radio.  I now have a new hobby that my friends are telling me that they like.  So, I’m also going to see if my hand-stenciled totes (not just the jack o’ lanterns) sell at the farmers market, and if they do, I may start to sell them on etsy.com. 

Has anyone else learned a new skill or hobby as a result of going thru rehab?   I’m trying to come up with new hobbies and skills to replace those that I can’t do anymore. 

On another blog recently, someone was wondering how to tell what stage one’s shoulder was in.  This is how I describe it…

For me the Freezing stage was characterized by excruciating pain (I called them white-outs because I that’s all I would see for several seconds) (my avatar is a photograph from my yard that reminds me of white fireworks) when I moved or jerked my arm outside its current ROM.  I’ve also heard it called “exquisite” pain.  My shoulder slowly locked up, even with stretching exercises.  Tendonitis in both hands and arms hurt.  Except for very mild stretches, I stopped using the affected arm.

Frozen, my arm was stuck, wouldn’t move, would hurt if we tried to move it (but not that sizzling white-out) and the muscles and tendons in my shoulder and upper arm were like lumpy rocks and rubber.  The tendonitis in both hands and arms still hurt.  I wear a wrist brace on my right arm at night because I ended up straining some muscles across the top of my right hand.  It’s amazing how unbalanced we can be when a quarter of our body doesn’t want to move!

Thawing, I could start stretching out that scar tissue and the rigidity in my muscles and tendons started to release.  Pushing past my range of motion causes pain but it’s more like extreme workout pain, muscle cramps or strain.  The tendonitis in my left hand and elbow don’t hurt anymore (probably because that arm didn’t move for months) but my right forearm and sometimes hand does still bother me.

These stages take different times for different people and even for different shoulders.  How do you describe the different stages?

Part of the problem for me in sleeping is that I’m still not moving when I sleep.  I have 2 positions that are comfortable, and I seem to stay in one position until my body screams at me to move (of course, waking me up!). 

When I was in the freezing stage, I slept on my back with a memory foam wedge and pillows to support my arm and to keep from turning over.  Now I sleep on my right side (opposite the frozen shoulder) using a body pillow to position my arm so there’s no drag on the shoulder joint.  Sometimes I even shove another squishy pillow under my shoulder to make sure it doesn’t move. 

How do you manage sleeping?   Even though I’m in the ‘thawing’ stage and pain management is better, I’m still sleep deprived.   I wonder if it’s ever possible to make up the sleep deprivation this condition causes!

I’ve been in IT since 1971 and my thumbs and hands have hurt off and on since I started using a mouse.  I’ve used just about every type of mouse available and trained myself to alternate hands in order to keep the pain down but when I added an on-line MBA (adding another 2-3 hours of computer work a day) to my hands, my body rebelled.  The tendonitis flared into one wrist, switched to my opposite elbow and then back to my entire right arm.  And then it started – the shoulder pain.  It took 3 months to get a diagnosis and by then I had lost about 50% of my range of motion.  That was 5 years ago and there was not as much on the internet about frozen shoulder as there is now.  This was one of the sites that I found with a straightforward description: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/frozen-shoulder/DS00416.

What started your frozen shoulder.  Has anyone out there had this start without a physical trigger?

BTW – I did get that MBA by the help of my school teammates and some computer tools, but I’ll talk about that another day. 

This has been a journey in pain, sleeplessness, frustration, and recovery.  I am not a medical professional but have found processes and tools that have helped me recover.  I’m still looking, still researching, and would like to do this with your help.  I would love to find out how others have coped with this problem.