Resolution of Frozen Shoulder Following Chiropractic Care

From the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research, December 3, 2015, comes a study documenting the resolution of a case of frozen shoulder following chiropractic care. The study authors point out that shoulder problems are common with up to 67% of the population experiencing some type of shoulder issue over a lifetime.

The study reports that common medical treatment usually consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and/or analgesic drugs in combination with activity modification, manual therapy, and/or physical therapy. If this type of care is ineffective, they report that injection with local anesthetics and corticosteroids are considered.

This case involved a 51-year-old man who sought chiropractic care due to suffering from right shoulder pain and restricted motion. His shoulder pain was of short origin having started only 2 days earlier. He could not move his arm more than 90 degrees due to the pain, and he was having a pinching pain in his lower neck on the opposite side. He rated his pain as 9 out of 10, with 10 being extreme.

After examining the shoulder and neck area, the chiropractor determined that subluxation was present and offered the patient chiropractic care to for correction of subluxation. The patient received a specific neck adjustment and noticed a positive result immediately. The man reported that just seconds after his adjustment, his pain dropped to just 3 out of 10. In addition, he was able to move his shoulder much more than before the adjustment. All this occurred even though no treatment was rendered to the man's shoulder.

By the second visit, the man's shoulder had regained even more movement and his pain had further reduced to only 2 out of 10. On a two week follow up, the patient had reported regaining full shoulder range of motion along with being pain free. As a result of the outcome of his care, the man elected to continue chiropractic on a wellness basis.

In their conclusion the authors wrote, "This case report provides supporting evidence that upper cervical (upper neck) adjustments may benefit patients with sudden insidious shoulder pain and limited range of motion."