Is your elderly loved one having more and more problems moving one of her shoulders? Perhaps she finds it difficult to reach up and grab items from the top kitchen shelf, or she might even struggle to be able to put on her clothes, take a bath/shower, or turn her body in the car to look over her shoulder. She might be suffering from frozen shoulder. Personal care at home providers can assist with these issues.
What is Frozen Shoulder
Frozen shoulder is a common condition where the muscles around the shoulder become inflamed and begin to squeeze the joint, causing it to be painful whenever it is used. The shoulder is made up of many connective tissues, so when one part becomes inflamed, it affects all of the rest.
This condition often starts slowly with a restriction in movement, but if not addressed with proper therapy, it can result in the entire shoulder area becoming frozen, making many daily living activities impossible to do without help.
Who is Most Likely to Have Frozen Shoulder
While it’s not clear why it happens to some people and not others, frozen shoulder is generally caused by a long-term lack of movement in the shoulder area. That restricted movement can be due to several factors, such as a stroke, recovering from a broken arm, or a rotator cuff injury.
Some diseases also seem to increase the likelihood of someone getting frozen shoulder, such as diabetes, thyroid problems (either overactive or underactive), cardiovascular diseases, and Parkinson’s disease.
Finally, women over the age of 40 are the most at risk for the condition, especially if they also have any of the other risk factors.
Frozen Shoulder Symptoms
Frozen shoulder usually occurs over three stages – freezing, frozen, and thawing. Your loved one may progress through any of them at her own speed, but it can often take years to go from freezing to frozen, and then years again to regain movement by leaving the frozen stage and going through thawing.
If your loved one is in the freezing to frozen stage, she might have to deal with symptoms, such as:
- Stiff shoulder muscles
- A persistent dull and achy pain in the outer shoulder or upper arm.
- Difficulty in moving the shoulder
- Pain that interrupts sleep
- Eventually lack of the ability to move the shoulder at all
Thawing out from Frozen Shoulder
If your loved one has noticed that she’s getting less and less able to move her shoulder, talk to her doctor about the frozen shoulder condition, especially if she has any of the other risk factors or just recently had a spell where she couldn’t move her shoulder much due to recovery or injury.
Once the cause is determined, your loved one’s doctor will work with her to develop a treatment plan that will help her recover movement in her shoulder. In the meantime, if she is having problems managing her home because of the lack of movement, a personal care at home provider can help.
Personal care at home providers can often assist with many of the chores that require shoulder movement, like putting away dishes, cleaning areas that are elevated in the home, bathing, dressing, and even help with driving if a loved one can’t move comfortably enough to drive. A personal care at home aide can help your loved one manage her home while she focuses on getting better.