After several months of denial and ignoring my pain, I went to see an orthopedist about my fucked up shoulder. He took two x-rays, did some strength tests, and quickly diagnosed me with frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis).
He immediately gave me a cortisone injection, which I briefly tried to decline, because have you met me?? And they'll follow up with my insurance and schedule me for weeks of physical therapy.
In my defense, I haven't been completely ignoring it. My physical therapist friend has been routinely looking at it and doing something or other that hurts immensely and then helps. And my massage therapist has also been working on it. Besides that, I did all kinds of research and saw that it can eventually resolve on its own. But it kept changing where it hurt (I guess during the beginning freezing stage), and I got a little concerned that it might be something other than what I self-diagnosed with no medical training. So I finally capitulated and went to the doc. He confirmed everything I had read. Unknown cause. Possibly hormonal. Possibly autoimmune.
Interestingly, he said that more people than usual have been getting diagnosed with frozen shoulder since the pandemic.
Side note: that fucking cortisone injection has helped immensely. My shoulder is still limited by range of motion, but it doesn't incapacitate me with nerve pain each time I try to push it.
Fun fact: My friend from China says they call it "50s shoulder."
I currently know three people who have similar situations. Neither of the men have seen a doc.
