Frozen shoulder: the three stages, and what helps in each.

Frozen shoulder is a condition in which the capsule around the shoulder joint thickens and tightens, so the shoulder becomes painful and then stiff. Its medical name is adhesive capsulitis. The stiffness is there even when a doctor moves the arm for you, which helps tell it apart from other shoulder problems. It passes through three stages, called freezing, frozen and thawing. Treatment is matched to the stage, and much of it comes down to managing pain and keeping gentle movement going.

The first signs tend to be everyday reaches that catch, and broken sleep

Reaching back for a seatbelt suddenly hurts. A hand no longer travels round to a back pocket, and fastening anything behind you becomes a job for the other arm. In hot, humid weather you change shirts more often, and every damp one has to come off over your head. A scooter helmet starts going on one-handed.

Nights can be harder than days. Rolling onto the sore side wakes you with a deep ache, and lying on the other side lets the arm fall forward across your chest, which drags on the shoulder. Plenty of people end up on their back with a pillow under the forearm, because that position asks the least of the shoulder.

A doctor confirms the diagnosis, because other shoulder problems can start the same way

Imaging may be arranged to rule other causes out, since a rotator cuff problem, arthritis in the joint and pain referred from the neck can all begin as a sore shoulder that is reluctant to move, and each is managed differently. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) notes that frozen shoulder most often affects people between 40 and 60, and women more often than men. The AAOS also links it with diabetes, and with a spell of keeping the shoulder still, such as weeks in a sling after a fracture or surgery.

The freezing stage is the painful one, and forcing movement tends to aggravate it

Pain builds gradually and is often worst at night, while the range of movement shrinks a little at a time. The AAOS gives this stage anywhere from six weeks to nine months. An unguarded movement, like grabbing a bag as it slides off a scooter seat, can bring a sharp pain that takes a while to settle.

Movement still matters. NHS guidance is to keep the shoulder moving, because holding it still can make the pain worse, so the aim is gentle movement within the range it allows, little and often. Hanging stretches and a friend pushing the arm up for you both go past that range, and the NHS names gym equipment as something that can make the pain worse.

Pain relief is worth discussing with a doctor or pharmacist. Keeping everyday things between waist and chest height saves a lot of painful reaches.

In the frozen stage the pain often eases, but the stiffness stays

The AAOS puts this stage at four to six months and warns that daily activities can be very difficult during it. The arm meets a firm stop in the same places every day, so getting dressed or washing your hair can stay hard even when the pain is quiet.

To get the arm higher, the natural move is to hitch the whole shoulder blade up toward the ear, so the muscles between neck and shoulder take on work that is not theirs. Long laptop days add to that load, and a slumped upper back leaves any arm less room to rise. How that kind of neck pain is assessed has its own page, as does how posture is measured.

What helps here is unglamorous: use the range you have for ordinary life, and leave the stop alone, because forcing it is more likely to stir the pain back up than to gain anything. This is the stage when people lose heart, since nothing seems to change from one week to the next. Judge progress by the month instead.

Thawing brings movement back slowly, so load should come back slowly too

Reaches return unevenly, one well before another, and confidence often lags behind the range. According to the AAOS, getting back to normal or close to normal strength and motion takes anywhere from six months to two years, and full recovery can take up to three years.

The risk now is a good week. It tempts people straight back to lifting a suitcase into an overhead locker or paddling out for a long surf, and the ache afterwards can last for days. Building back in small steps gives the shoulder time to adjust to each one, and a doctor or physiotherapist is the right person to guide the strengthening.

Injections, hydrodilatation and surgery are a specialist's decision

The AAOS lists the medical options. Anti-inflammatory medication and steroid injections are used to manage pain, and hydrodilatation means injecting sterile fluid into the joint to stretch the capsule. Physiotherapy guides movement and strengthening. Where stiffness has not changed despite these, a specialist may discuss manipulation under anaesthetic or keyhole surgery to release the tight capsule. Which suits a particular shoulder depends on the stage and on the rest of that person's health, so it is a conversation with a doctor rather than a menu to choose from.

The Sync records shoulder range over time and does not force a stiff joint

Care here starts with an assessment, and measuring shoulder range again as the months pass puts a slow change on record when progress is too gradual to feel. The work is aimed at comfort and movement around the joint: SpinalSync for the neck and upper back, which carry extra load while the arm is stiff, and MyoSync for the soft tissue around the shoulder blade, both explained on our methods page. Nothing pushes the shoulder past the range it allows, and our FAQ covers how gentle the care is. No one here injects, prescribes or operates, and the diagnosis comes from a doctor. Where the next step is medical, a Sync specialist says so early, and what to expect at a first visit is set out separately.

Common questions about frozen shoulder

Written by the Aphyx Content team, reviewed by the clinical team at The Sync. Published 21 September 2026. Last updated 21 September 2026.