Frozen shoulder – Symptoms and causes

Tier 1: Established: peer-reviewed research or government health authority
Publisher: Mayo Clinic · Published: August 8, 2026 · Accessed: August 8, 2026

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• Frozen shoulder, also called adhesive capsulitis, involves stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint; symptoms typically begin slowly, then get worse, then improve, typically within 1 to 3 years.
• Frozen shoulder develops slowly in three stages: freezing (any movement causes pain and movement becomes limited, typically 2-9 months), frozen (pain may lessen but the shoulder becomes stiffer, 4-12 months), and thawing (movement begins to improve, 5-24 months).
• For some people, frozen-shoulder pain worsens at night, sometimes disrupting sleep.
• Frozen shoulder occurs when the capsule of connective tissue enclosing the shoulder joint thickens and tightens around the joint, restricting movement; it is unclear why this happens to some people.
• Frozen shoulder is more common in people 40 and older, particularly women.
• Risk increases with diabetes, heart disease, thyroid conditions, and Parkinson's disease, and after keeping a shoulder still for a long period (rotator cuff injury, broken arm, stroke, or recovery from surgery).
• Treatment typically involves range-of-motion exercises; sometimes corticosteroids and numbing medicines injected into the joint are part of treatment, and rarely surgery is needed to loosen the connective tissue.