A 50-year-old engineer fell into a car and injured his left shoulder. He dared not move it for 3 months because of the "frozen shoulder" that crept up on him.

A 52-year-old male engineer fell down while riding a bicycle six months ago. He landed on his left side and suffered pain in his left shoulder. However, he did not dare to use his left shoulder after that. Three months ago, he went to see a doctor for severe limitation of movement of his left shoulder and symptoms of frozen shoulder. He underwent physical therapy for three months, but the angle of movement still did not improve. He accepted the doctor's recommendation for ultrasound-guided capsular dilatation, and after 6 weeks of follow-up rehabilitation, the movement of his left shoulder returned to normal.

Dr. Chen Baihong, director of the Department of Rehabilitation at Kwok General Hospital, pointed out that frozen shoulder, commonly known as "frozen shoulder", is medically known as "adhesive capsulitis". Many patients think that they will get better on their own after one or two years of enduring it. Indeed, some patients have recovered on their own. However, long-term follow-up shows that some patients have residual symptoms for more than 10 years. Frozen shoulder is not a disease that "will be cured if you wait"; rather, the waiting period is a long period of suffering in which you cannot sleep well, cannot wear clothes, and cannot lift your hands.

He explained that the identification of frozen shoulder can only be confirmed if one's own hand cannot be raised high, even if others help to lift it. The prevalence rate of this disease is about 2% to 5% of the general population. It usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 60. The incidence rate is higher in women than in men. The incidence rate of diabetics is also five times higher than that of ordinary people. People who dare not move for a long time due to fear of pain after trauma are also high-risk groups, as in the above cases.

Chen Baihong said that the first line of treatment for frozen shoulder is medication and rehabilitation. However, if rehabilitation does not work for a period of time, other interventional options should be evaluated. Dr. Guo provides "health insurance-covered" joint capsule dilatation, which is one of the options at this stage. Under ultrasound guidance, the needle is accurately inserted into the shoulder joint capsule, and normal saline, local anesthetic and a small amount of steroids are injected. Liquid pressure is used to open the contracted and thickened joint capsule. The process only takes about 10 minutes and can be completed in an outpatient clinic without the need for general anesthesia or hospitalization.

However, Chen Baihong emphasized that all clinical studies believe that the treatment of frozen shoulder cannot be solved by a single injection. Capsuloplasty opens the door to treatment, and subsequent rehabilitation therapy can completely solve the problem of frozen shoulder.