Frozen shoulder is a common ailment in the 50+ age group, causing stabbing pain and limited range of motion. Acupuncture successfully resolved frozen shoulder. This frozen shoulder research study confirms the results we see in our clinic. Read on to learn more about this fantastic treatment.
Frozen Shoulder Background
Frozen shoulder (a.k.a. adhesive capsulitis) is a prevalent and painful joint disorder affecting 2-5% of adults 40 to 60 years of age. The condition is rare among children, women suffer less than men, and there is no known race or genetic tendency. This disease is more common among patients who have diabetes, both dependent and independent of insulin, and also among pre-diabetes patients.
Frozen shoulder develops with inflammation in the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint accompanied by synovial tissue damage, causing symptoms including pain, joint movement limitations, and muscle weakness. The restriction in movement can affect flexion, extension, and external rotation, but less in abduction and internal rotation.
Two Types of Frozen Shoulder
Generally, diagnosticians divide frozen shoulder into two groups – primary (idiopathic) and secondary (caused by a secondary disease). The disorder often restricts the person’s daily activities. The cause of the disease is unknown, although the diagnosis often includes trauma to the shoulder.
Standard treatment options for frozen shoulder include analgesic and anti-inflammatory medicines, massage therapy, heat therapy, ultrasound wave therapy, chiropractic techniques, stretching, isometric exercises, and physical therapy. Furthermore, surgery and anesthesia manipulation, intra-articular injection of corticosteroids, and neural blocking of the suprascapular nerve are other approaches to healing a frozen shoulder.
None of these methods have proven particularly effective in resolving frozen shoulder. Therefore, investigators in this frozen shoulder research study decided to explore acupuncture’s potential as a treatment method.
Acupuncture Background
People have used acupuncture to treat shoulder pain for the past 5000 years. It is safer than most other medical treatments and has fewer adverse effects. Today acupuncture is used to relieve, and in many cases resolve, many health conditions, including chronic joint pain. Acupuncture involves inserting sterile, single-use needles at specific locations on the body. Numerous reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), and American Medical Association (AMA) declare the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating many types of diseases.
Many studies have evaluated acupuncture’s effectiveness and pain-relief strength, such as a study by Ko Sun et al. in 2001 in Hong Kong, where they concluded that acupuncture accompanied by shoulder exercises was more effective in curing frozen shoulder. In another study in 2008, investigators determined that acupuncture effectively resolved the chronic pain associated with frozen shoulder (12). Based on these positive reports, investigators at the Baghiatallah Hospital in China decided to implement a study examining the effectiveness of acupuncture in remedying patients suffering from frozen shoulder.
Frozen Shoulder Research Study
In this controlled clinical trial, all the patients referred to Baghiatallah hospital with pain in the shoulder were diagnosed with frozen shoulder based on clinical examinations by physicians. All participants had a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks of restrictions in active and inactive movements of the shoulder regarding flexion, extension, and external rotation. Investigators excluded patients diagnosed with renal, hepatic, and hematic disorders or who had undergone previous shoulder surgeries.
Assessment Tools
Evaluation indexes in this frozen shoulder research study included measuring pain intensity in the affected joint, range of movement, and the patient’s life quality. Patients were divided randomly into two groups, with 20 members each. The control group received physical therapy, while the target group received both physical therapy and acupuncture. Participants received physical therapy treatment every other day for ten sessions, while those receiving acupuncture got treatment twice a week for five weeks, totaling ten sessions. Researchers evaluated the participants on three occasions – at the beginning of the study, at the end of treatment, and three months later.
Study Participants
The age range of participants in the study was 44 to 71 years, with the average age being 55. The acupuncture group had eight men and 12 women, while the control group included nine men and 11 women. In addition, 56% of patients in the acupuncture group had frozen shoulder on the right, while the control group had 46% affecting the right side. The average length of frozen shoulder disorder in both groups was four months.
Shoulder movements (flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal and external rotation) were evaluated for the two groups 1.5 and 3 months after starting the investigation using a T-Test statistic test. The results demonstrated that the acupuncture group’s average of flexion and abduction movements was meaningfully higher than the control group. Overall, the implementation of acupuncture caused a tremendous improvement in shoulder movements, with more significant improvement in flexion and abduction. In addition, both groups had reduced pain after the treatment, but the acupuncture group had a more substantial reduction in pain.
Other Frozen Shoulder Research
A 2005 systematic review of the Cochrane database examined the influence of acupuncturing on shoulder pain disorders such as osteoarthritis, adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, and Rotator Cuff Disorder. Among this research, nine clinical trial studies were good enough to be selected and reviewed. One of these trials concluded that a combined treatment of acupuncture and physical therapy saw better results for increasing shoulder joint movement than physical therapy alone.
Conclusion
Generally, acupuncture causes improvement of all movements of the shoulder, with the most improvement in flexion and abduction. In addition, the VAS index showed more progress in the acupuncture group after three months compared to the control group. Therefore, the researchers concluded that acupuncture is an effective treatment to improve shoulder mobility and reduce pain.
Next Steps
Try acupuncture if you or someone you love is struggling with a frozen shoulder. Raleigh Acupuncture has a highly effective protocol for resolving frozen shoulder. See the link below.
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Frozen Shoulder Acupuncture Resources
Video Describing Our Shoulder Pain Treatment.
Raleigh Acupuncture Shoulder Pain Treatment.
Additional Frozen Shoulder Research Study.
Reference
Asheghan, M., Aghda, A. K., Hashemi, E., & Hollisaz, M. (2016). INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACUPUNCTURE IN THE TREATMENT OF FROZEN SHOULDER. Material socio-medica, 28(4), 253–257. https://doi.org/10.5455/msm.2016.28.253-257
Focus keyprase: frozen shoulder research
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What our Clients are Saying
Tennis player with shoulder pain. Getting worse to the point of freezing up. Went to acupuncture. Starting easing immediately. Now back to tennis full force with no shoulder pain. I recommend this practice.
After shoulder surgery following a car accident, my shoulder was always stiff and achy. PT helped, but I suffered every day from shoulder pain. I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and they really helped. I did four treatments and my shoulder pain was completely gone.
I’m a golfer and started having trouble with my left shoulder over a year ago. My doctor wanted to do surgery, but I wanted to try other alternatives first. So I tried acupuncture. The folks at Raleigh Acupuncture were very professional, reasonably priced and did excellent work. They resolved my shoulder pain completely. I use them now for other pains in my post-50 body! Thank you Raleigh Acupuncture.