Chapter 3: Frozen Shoulder Management and Manual Treatment Strategies 2 Contact Hours Expiration Date : June 30, 2027 Learning outcomes
Review evidence-based Treatment Options. Develop a practical progression for mobilization. Create treatment Goals and Discharge Criteria for Shoulder Stiffness. Investigate Treatment Plateaus and Strategies.
After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Define the pathophysiology of shoulder stiffness. Classify the Time-Phased Progression of Frozen Shoulder Dysfunction. List Determinants of Effective Shoulder Joint Mobilization. Course overview Shoulder dysfunctions causing painful stiffness are endemic issues, causing clinical challenges and conflicting treatment guidelines. Common terminology of frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis share significant and long duration impairments. This advanced course reviews pathophysiology of these conditions, the natural history associated with idiopathic frozen shoulder and essential assessment findings. Based on updated scientific evidence, a review and compilation of available interventions of conservative, medical and invasive options is presented. The role of
manual therapy methodology is featured. Due to variability in patient progress and manual therapy approaches, specific guidelines on type, timing, position and amplitude are investigated to standardize joint mobilization efforts. Finally, treatment program principles of patient education, suggested number of visits, daily clinical visit structure, management of plateaus and beneficial integration with medical/invasive procedures are discussed. The purpose of this course is to provide clinicians with an evidenced- based approach on treating frozen shoulder and associated conditions.
INTRODUCTION
Despite advances in medical technology and research design, aspects of early assertions still apply to today’s management of frozen shoulders. Studies by early practitioners of orthopedic medicine emphasized manual techniques as primary treatment method for the resolution of frozen shoulder, particularly the idiopathic type. Since these studies, an extensive level of additional research has investigated shoulder stiffness. A recent meta-analysis reviewed 5,411 studies in their meta-analysis of targeted interventions (Zreik 2016). This course will define the terminology of frozen shoulder and related mobility limitations, list the variable etiologies and concomitant dysfunctions, review the scope of the problem and identify the time-phased spectrum of shoulder stiffness. Therapists will learn to understand treatment options using manual therapy principles and techniques and will present a practical sequence of guidelines aimed at restoring function.
The shoulder joint complex is a biomechanical system that functions on a delicate balance between mobility and stability. Multiple activities of daily living, work tasks and recreational/ sports pursuits are dependent on mobility in multi-planar directions. The shoulder joint typically functions to elevate the position of the hands in space. For this discussion, the term elevation will include the cardinal planes of flexion and abduction and the essential intermediate functional plane, called the plane of the scapula. The disorder labeled frozen shoulder was first described in the literature as an indistinct condition with a longstanding dysfunction of up to two years, which posed a challenging treatment demand (Codman, 1934) Currently, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons defines it as: “Condition of uncertain etiology characterized by significant restriction of both active and passive shoulder motion that occurs in the absence of a known intrinsic shoulder disorder. ” (D’Orsi et., 2012, pg. 70)
TERMINOLOGY AND INCIDENCE
2022; Kelley, 2009) and that number is projected to increase over the next several decades. These dysfunctions in daily activities have led to a loss of work productivity that estimated at about twelve billion dollars in costs in 2000 (Johnson, 2005). It is noted that women are more prone to shoulder stiffness problems, particularly idiopathic frozen shoulder. This could be related to women having a higher degree of capsular hyper-mobility and decreased protective upper body strength (Sheridan 2006). These conflicting presentations eventual lead to inflammation changes and capsular micro-traumas in older women, specifically women around sixty years old. Frozen shoulder and additional shoulder stiffness problems typically appear between ages forty to sixty. Unfortunately, treatments for these problems are less effective in people over sixty years old. The occurrence of frozen shoulder increases the likelihood of the problem in the contralateral shoulder by 5-34%.
Frozen Shoulder (FS) is a condition in which insidious and spontaneous anterior shoulder pain gradually worsens. This pain causes loss of active and passive mobility, and progressive limitations of common daily functions. Individuals with frozen shoulder tend to protect the shoulder from elevation motions which leads to them self-immobilizing the shoulder toward a sling position. Part of the conflicting nature of shoulder stiffness is the way scientific literature uses several interchangeable terms such as; frozen shoulder, idiopathic shoulder stiffness, adhesive capsulitis, and arthro-fibrosis of the capsular-ligament- complex. Bunker (2009) has subsequently re-defined this group of dysfunctions with the term, contracted capsule, which encompasses the long-term treatment challenges. Multiple frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis studies show the societal prevalence is between 2%-5% (Pandey
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