Adhesive Capsulitis

Adhesive Capsulitis

If you can't move your shoulder around like you used to, you could have adhesive capsulitis (say: add-he-sive cap-sool-eye-tis). When it hurts to move your shoulder or you don't have as much movement in your shoulder as before, your shoulder may become "frozen." Because of this, doctors sometimes refer to this problem as "frozen shoulder."

You should be able to move your shoulder in all directions without pain. To test yourself, do these things:

• Reach up toward the sky with both arms.
• Reach your arms out straight in front of you.
• Raise your arms out to the sides of your body.
• Pretend that you are trying to unzip the back of your dress or pull your wallet from the back pocket of your pants.

If you have pain or stiffness in your shoulder when you do these things, you may have adhesive capsulitis. Your doctor may be able to tell you have adhesive capsulitis just by talking to you and watching you move. Your doctor may press on parts of your shoulder to see what might be causing the pain. Sometimes, your doctor may want to take an x-ray of your shoulder to look for other problems.