Frozen shoulder is different from most shoulder problems, and it is worth knowing which you have, because the timeline and the treatment differ.
The distinguishing feature is that the restriction is in every direction, including when someone else moves your arm for you. Most shoulder pain limits one or two movements. Frozen shoulder limits all of them.
The three phases
- Freezing — increasingly painful, movement starting to reduce. Often the worst phase for pain, and it can last months.
- Frozen — pain often eases, but the shoulder is genuinely stiff and movement is very limited.
- Thawing — movement returns gradually.
It typically resolves eventually, but the whole cycle can run one to three years. That is not a comfortable thing to be told, and it is why an honest answer matters more than an optimistic one.
What treatment can and cannot do
Soft tissue therapy will not shorten the natural course of the condition, and anyone claiming otherwise is overselling.
What it can do is meaningful: reduce the secondary problems. When a shoulder stops moving, the neck, upper back and opposite side compensate and develop their own pain. Keeping those settled, maintaining the movement you do have, and managing pain makes a long process considerably more bearable.
Get this one diagnosed properly — by your GP or a physiotherapist — because it is frequently confused with rotator cuff problems, which are treated completely differently.