Frozen shoulder.
Untreated, adhesive capsulitis can take up to three years to resolve — and doesn't always recover fully. With physiotherapy matched to your stage, most patients see meaningful improvement in months, not years.
Symptoms we treat.
Most frozen shoulders look like one of these. If you recognise several, don't wait — early treatment shortens everything.
- 01Restricted shoulder movement (lifting, reaching, rotation)
- 02Constant aching, worse at night
- 03Pain when reaching behind your back
- 04Difficulty dressing, washing hair, or reaching overhead
- 05Shoulder stiffness that has been worsening for months
- 06Post-surgical or post-fracture shoulder stiffness
- 07Shoulder stiffness with diabetes
- 08Pain that started gradually with no injury
Why treatment stage matters.
Frozen shoulder is one of the most mismanaged conditions in physiotherapy. The wrong treatment in the wrong stage can make it worse.
Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) develops when the shoulder joint capsule becomes inflamed, thickens, and forms adhesions that progressively restrict movement. It's one of the most mismanaged conditions in physiotherapy — not because it's difficult to treat, but because the wrong treatment in the wrong stage can make it significantly worse.
In the Freezing stage (6 weeks to 9 months), the priority is pain management and gentle movement preservation — aggressive stretching here is counterproductive. In the Frozen stage (4–9 months), pain eases but stiffness is at its worst — this is when progressive mobilisation and dry needling are most effective. In the Thawing stage (5–26 months), the focus shifts to restoring full strength and range of motion.
Felicia assesses which stage you're in on your first visit and designs treatment around it. If you'd like to understand the condition in depth before your appointment, the full guide is linked below.
Frequently asked.
Straight answers. If anything else comes up, message us on WhatsApp.
Untreated, frozen shoulder can take 1.5 to 3 years to resolve — and it doesn't always resolve fully. With early physiotherapy, most patients see significant functional recovery within 3–6 months. The key is starting treatment in the right stage and matching the approach to where you are in the condition's progression.
Frozen shoulder progresses through three stages: the Freezing stage (6 weeks to 9 months) where pain is constant and movement begins to restrict; the Frozen stage (4–9 months) where pain eases slightly but stiffness is at its worst; and the Thawing stage (5–26 months) where movement gradually returns. Treatment differs significantly between stages — what helps in one stage can aggravate in another.
Yes — physiotherapy significantly accelerates recovery when treatment is matched to the current stage. In the Freezing stage, pain management and gentle movement preservation are the priority. In the Frozen and Thawing stages, progressive mobilisation and strengthening restore range of motion. Dry needling addresses the muscle tension that compounds the stiffness throughout all stages.
Yes. The muscles surrounding a frozen shoulder — the rotator cuff, deltoid, pectoralis minor, and upper trapezius — develop significant trigger points from guarding and disuse. Dry needling these muscles reduces referred pain, improves local blood flow, and makes manual mobilisation more effective. It's a core part of Felicia's frozen shoulder treatment approach.
What patients actually say.
Verbatim, from Google reviews.
Super nice and patient therapist! Finally helped fix my knee problem after 10 years. Will definitely keep coming back.
Book a first assessment.
60 minutes. One-to-one with Felicia. We reply on WhatsApp within a few hours — usually sooner.
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