Onset: older adult, usually 50-60 years of age (rare before 40 years of age)
Phases of the disorder:
(1) initial phase with pain and freezing of shoulder movement
(2) adhesive phase, with stiffness and loss of glenohumeral motion
(3) thawing or resolution phase, with spontaneous improvement in the range of motion
Clinical features:
(1) insidious onset of pain and stiffness, which may be worse at night
(2) inability to sleep on the affected side
(3) atrophy of the spinati
(4) minimal local tenderness
(5) restriction in active and passive movement, especially forward elevation and external rotation
(6) spontaneous resolution after a period of months or a few years
Imaging studies of the shoulder are normal.
Frozen shoulder needs to be distinguished from other conditions causing pain and restricted motion in the shoulder.
