This may occur in the shoulder following trauma or may develop slowly over many weeks for no apparent reason in middle aged and older people. The capsular ligaments surrounding the shoulder joint become tight and lose their extensibility resulting in shoulder pain at the end of the available range of movement. The movements limited involve turning the arm away from the body (whilst keeping the elbow by the side of the body), reaching out sideways from the body to an overhead position and reaching the hand up behind the back.

Treatment requires exercises and manual therapy to help regain the normal extensibility of the contracted ligaments of the joint capsule. The pain will be produced each time you move to your limit and should subside within minutes after completion of the set of ten to fifteen repetitions. Over several weeks the movement in the shoulder should be regained, but occasionally injection or further manipulation may supplement the treatment.

Failure to improve requires further assessment by a Chartered Physiotherapist to establish if there are other factors requiring treatment that may be hampering your recovery.