Frozen Shoulder: Why It Happens, Why It Takes So Long, and When Surgery Helps
Frozen shoulder confuses people more than almost any other shoulder problem, mostly because there's often no injury to point to. No fall, no lifting incident, nothing that obviously explains why the shoulder has quietly stopped moving the way it used to. That's actually one of the clues that it might be frozen shoulder rather than a rotator cuff tear or impingement — the stiffness tends to creep in gradually, sometimes over weeks, and it doesn't let up with rest the way a strain would. In plain terms: frozen shoulder is when the capsule surrounding the shoulder joint thickens and tightens, restricting movement in almost every direction. Most cases eventually improve with time and physiotherapy, though "eventually" can mean over a year. For the minority who stay stuck despite proper treatment, a keyhole procedure called arthroscopic capsular release can restore movement in a single session. What's Actually Happening Inside the Joint The shoulder joint ...