If it’s become hard to lift your arm you may have a “frozen shoulder.”

The muscles around the shoulder joint can go into spasm and prevent the natural movement of your arm.  That’s why it’s called “frozen shoulder.”

If you didn’t hurt to lift your arm yesterday but it suddenly does today–or if you became unable to raise your arm following an injury or fall–there’s a good chance that muscles are causing the restriction in your range of motion (rather than the joint itself).

The deltoid muscle is a common culprit.  It is at the top of your arm.  It is the cap muscle.  You can treat it by seeking tender areas of muscle and pressing, massage or pinching them.

The subscapularis is another common culprit.  It can be treated by pressing into it.   It is sandwiched between your ribs and your shoulder blade so the pressure has to go between the back ribs and the shoulder blade.  It’s usually accessed near the armpit.

The subscap (for short) is not easy to press into yourself but you can still do some self-help like this:

Get down on all fours and pretend you are a lion and lift and roll your shoulder blades as you ‘walk’ like a lion.  Doing this will help stretch the subscap.  Roll those shoulder blades!

When I fell backward years ago (before I got into this field and know what I know now) I woke the next morning and was unable to lift my arm.

I went to physical therapy for my frozen shoulder.  They used an ultrasound treatment on my shoulder.  It is supposed to warm the deep tissue.  I did NOT feel that it did anything.

Then a technician rubbed gently on the cap part of my shoulder.  It was waaaaay too light to warm the muscles below the skin.

And then the physical therapist would come in and wrench my arm upward and bring tears to my eyes.  This went on for several sessions until I had most of my range of motion back.

Never were the deltoid or subscap muscles touched.   🙁

Strange.

Alternately, sometimes frozen shoulders are released under total anesthesia.  The doctor forces the arm to move and I understand it’s pretty uncomfortable afterward compared to having a skilled manual therapist releasing the muscle manually while the client is awake.

Quite a few years after my shoulder injury, I learned about the subscapularis muscle and how to address it.

That allowed me to help many clients get rid of their frozen shoulders by treating one or both of the muscles I mentioned here.

It usually takes only one or two sessions when a therapist understands how bodies work and has the appropriate training and experience.

When someone presses into the subscapularis, it can be uncomfortable.  But the discomfort of pressing into a tight muscle usually lasts only while the pressure is applied.  And then there is relief and range of motion is improved.

To wrap it up:  The most common cause of frozen shoulders is muscle and muscles can be treated naturally.

Also, frozen shoulders tend to relax on their own over the course of a year or two even without treatment.

My mother had a frozen shoulder which went away after about two years and that often happens.

Another client, whose surgeon forgot to send to physical therapy, healed her frozen shoulder by bowling again.  The surgeon was amazed that her frozen shoulder was healed without treatment!