Frozen Shoulder Surgery

Can surgery or surgical treatment help your frozen shoulder?

Is there a surgical treatment option for frozen shoulder - should you consider surgery as an option?

The role of surgery for frozen shoulder
As you now know frozen shoulder is a self limiting condition. The key is to find a way to obtain pain relief while nature gets on with the job of regaining normal movement and function. Nature achieves this in almost every case. That doesn't leave much of a role for surgical treatment!

Operations for frozen shoulder tend to be reserved for those who have failed to gain pain relief from other means or who have ongoing stiffness and loss of function after long months of treatment.

Please don't be tempted to rush into a surgical treatment option until you have really explored all the other treatment choices

What does the frozen shoulder surgeon do?
Modern surgery for frozen shoulder involves going into the joint with an arthroscope (a camera) through a very small incision. The surgeon can see any tight areas in the joint capsule and can free up the joint by separating any stuck sections. Some surgeons previously manipulated the shoulder very aggressively when the patient was under anaesthetic but this technique is now rarely used. It was often effective but carried quite a high risk of damaging the joint or the bones of the shoulder region.

Other Frozen Shoulder Pages on this site:

What is frozen shoulder?
Who gets frozen shoulder pain?
Diabetics and frozen shoulder pain
Diagnosing frozen shoulder
Frozen Shoulder Investigations
Tips for living with shoulder pain and frozen shoulder
Treating frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder injection
Frozen shoulder therapy
Acupuncture for frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder surgery
Alternative treatments for frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder medication
Recovery from frozen shoulder

Index of Painful Shoulder Conditions