Ayurvedic Treatment for Frozen Shoulder: Natural, Effective & Safe Methods

Frozen shoulder, also called adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that causes severe shoulder pain and stiffness making it difficult to move the shoulder. Initially it starts with a shoulder pain that lasts for months and increases in severity with time. Ayurvedic treatments for Frozen Shoulder include therapies such as abhyangam, kizhi, pizhichil, nasyam, and basti.

What Causes Frozen Shoulder?

The bones of shoulder are held in place by ligaments that are covered by a capsule. The inflammation of capsule containing ligament tissues and shoulder bone is thought to be the main cause of Frozen Shoulder. An inflamed ligament further thickens and becomes stiff making it hard to move the shoulder. Apart from the inflammation of ligaments some more factors mentioned below can also cause Frozen Shoulder.
Causes of Frozen Shoulder include,

• Inflammation of ligament holding shoulder bones
• Injury to shoulder
• Surgery that makes shoulder immobile for a long time
• Conditions such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson’s disease, and cardiac disease
• Overuse of shoulder joints

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What are the Common Symptoms of Frozen Shoulder?

Frozen shoulder develops over time with main symptom being pain and stiffness in shoulder region. People with Frozen Shoulder also report inability to move the shoulder.
Common symptoms of frozen shoulder,

• Severe pain
• Stiffness in shoulder region
• Pain on moving the shoulder in initial stage
• Restricted movement
• Difficulty moving the shoulder in later stage
• Hormonal changes especially in menopause

Get rid of pain with Frozen Shoulder with massage

Ayurvedic treatment for frozen shoulder

Ayurveda correlates Frozen Shoulder to Apabahuka and considers it as a vata vyadhi. It mainly offers Frozen Shoulder massage to ease the stiffness and also some Detoxification therapies to remove unwanted toxins and vata vitiation from the body. The stiff shoulder pain is thought to be caused by Kapha Dosha. According to Ayurveda Frozen Shoulder is caused due to an injury to the shoulder joint or vata aggravation in the body. The Ayurvedic treatments aim to reduce pain and reduce vata vitiation.

 List of Ayurvedic treatments for frozen shoulder

Abhyangam : A full body massage (Head to Toe) done with medicated herbal oils. It relieves pains and aches in shoulder joints by lubricating the same, improves blood circulation and channelizes nerve ending.

Pizhichil : Pizhichil is the squeezing of warm medicated oil onto the body of the patient from a piece of cloth that is periodically soaked in a vessel containing the medicated oil. Pizhichil literally means squeezing. It helps improve shoulder muscle tone and strengthen them thereby providing the much needed support.

Nasyam : It includes administration of medicated drugs or oils through nostrils. Medicated oils or powders stimulate the some vital centers of brain that reduce pain perception.

Greeva Basti : In Greeva Basti specially prepared warm herbal oil is poured over the neck and retained inside a well, created with black gram paste or whole wheat flour. It reduces pain and stiffness in neck and shoulder region.

Sneha Basti : Sneha Basti involves enema using medicated oil. It reduces vata vitiation and thus reduces pain.

Kashaya Basti : Kashaya Basti involves enema using medicated decoction. It reduces vata vitiation and thus reduces pain.

Effective Frozen Shoulder with massage with warm oils