{"id":24822,"date":"2026-08-02T04:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24822"},"modified":"2026-08-02T04:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:18:10","slug":"the-surprising-perimenopause-condition-that-can-freeze-your-shoulder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24822","title":{"rendered":"The Surprising Perimenopause Condition That Can Freeze Your Shoulder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<section>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.time.com\/v3\/assets\/bltea6093859af6183b\/bltac7f5df8f25638dd\/6a594d323411caeba9a0a31d\/Frozen_Shoulder.png?branch=production\" \/><figcaption> \u2014Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Image: PhotoAlto\/Frederic Cirou\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>When Liz Gumbinner first noticed a twinge in her right shoulder, she assumed she\u2019d pulled a <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/04\/20\/how-to-tell-if-you-are-losing-muscle\/\" target=\"_self\">muscle<\/a>. It was during the <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/tag\/covid-19\/\" target=\"_self\">pandemic<\/a>, when many exercise studios were closed, and Gumbinner, a writer who teaches advertising at Boston University, had been doing a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7279553\/why-yoga-is-the-best-practice-tony-sanchez-essay\/\" target=\"_self\">yoga<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/collections\/guide-to-exercise\/4828793\/dancing-dance-aerobic-exercise\/\" target=\"_self\">dance<\/a> at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/4527808\/how-to-treat-your-pain-without-drugs\/\" target=\"_self\">pain<\/a>, mild at first, gradually became excruciating, shooting down her arm whenever she extended it. \u201cWe&#8217;re talking worse than labor contractions,\u201d she says.\u00a0 <br \/>Pretty soon, Gumbinner couldn\u2019t zip up a dress, turn off a light switch on the wall, or even hold hands with her boyfriend. The only way she could <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/07\/28\/what-to-do-when-you-cant-sleep\/\" target=\"_self\">sleep<\/a> was flat on her back with her arms at her sides. \u201cThat&#8217;s when I realized it wasn&#8217;t a pulled muscle,\u201d she says. <br \/>A few months later, she was diagnosed with adhesive capulitis, colloquially known as \u201cfrozen shoulder,\u201d a condition in which the shoulder capsule\u2014a fibrous sheath which surrounds the joint\u2014becomes thick and inflamed. It usually develops in three phases: the freezing stage, which can last several months and cause severe pain; the frozen stage, during which the shoulder becomes stiffer and difficult to use, often for up to a year; and the thawing stage, when mobility finally begins to improve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, frozen shoulder is not caused by an external injury or trauma, says Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein, a sports medicine specialist and associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Duke University. Instead, patients often experience a sudden, spontaneous onset of pain, \u201cand they\u2019re kind of wondering, \u2018What could I have possibly done to my shoulder?\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><br \/><\/strong>Women in mid-life are most at risk\u00a0 <\/h2>\n<p>Frozen shoulder affects around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK532955\/\">2-5%<\/a> of the population, and occurs more frequently in women, predominantly those from <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/frozen-shoulder-adhesive-capsulitis\">ages 40 to 60<\/a>. It\u2019s also more common in people with endocrine disorders, like <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9815013\/\">diabetes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC7458737\/\">thyroid disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7019600\/perimenopause-signs-symptoms\/\" target=\"_self\">perimenopause<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/tag\/menopause\/\" target=\"_self\">menopause<\/a>, the loss of estrogen\u2014which plays a key role in protecting musculoskeletal tissue\u2014can lead to inflammation and loss of elasticity throughout the body. This hormonal shift can also cause <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9606939\/\">metabolic changes<\/a>, making women more susceptible to thyroid disease and diabetes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s likely a <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/41156183\/\">combination of things<\/a> going on,\u201d says Wittstein. \u201cThere&#8217;s withdrawal of estrogen and the effect on the joint lining, but there&#8217;s also probably some endocrine changes happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gumbinner, who hit perimenopause during the pandemic, had never heard of frozen shoulder before. \u201cHere we are, with yet another ailment that impacts middle-aged women that gets no attention,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Women who are being treated for breast cancer are also \u201ca special at-risk population for frozen shoulder,\u201d Wittstein says. Many take a kind of hormone therapy called aromatase inhibitors, which drastically decreases estrogen and can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uofmhealth.org\/our-care\/specialties-services\/breast-cancer\/aromatase-inhibitors-musculoskeletal-symptoms-aimss\">cause joint and muscle pain<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Early diagnosis can be crucial<\/h2>\n<p>The earlier you catch frozen shoulder, the easier it can be to resolve, Wittstein says. \u201cIf you get into where you have really significant loss of motion, not just the early loss of motion, it takes longer to get better,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that if you\u2019re unfamiliar with the condition, you might mistake it for something else.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>We call it \u2018the great mimicker,\u2019 because it can look like everything,\u201d says Dr. Stephanie Wong, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at UCSF. \u201cIt looks like a rotator cuff tear, it looks like biceps tendonitis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to get evaluated by an <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/article\/2026\/05\/15\/orthopedic-surgeons-healthy-aging-habits\/\" target=\"_self\">orthopedic surgeon<\/a> or shoulder specialist as soon as possible. \u201cIt\u2019s a very straightforward diagnosis for us,\u201d Wong says. The giveaway, she explains, is that not only will the patient be unable to move their arm during a physical exam, but another person won\u2019t be able to either. \u201cSo when I try to raise your arm up, your arm is literally frozen,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An X-ray or MRI can be helpful in ruling out other conditions, Wong says, but \u201cit\u2019s really a clinical diagnosis.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n<h2>New treatment may be on the horizon\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>The standard of care for frozen shoulder is physical therapy and anti-inflammatory injections into the joint; the majority of people get better with these interventions, Wong says, though \u201cit can just take a really long time.\u201d Most people recover\u00a0within one to three years, and requiring surgery is rare, she adds: \u201cWe reserve that for the very stubborn cases.\u201d <br \/>Though there isn\u2019t yet enough definitive research to demonstrate that hormone therapy (HT) can help prevent or treat frozen shoulder, the clinical benefits are promising, says Wittstein, who is currently exploring the link; she recently presented new data on more than 10,000 women at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine suggesting that HT is associated with a reduced risk of developing frozen shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>At UCSF, the orthopedic and ob-gyn departments are also <a href=\"https:\/\/clinicaltrials.ucsf.edu\/trial\/NCT07278323\">investigating<\/a> whether HT reduces the course of frozen shoulder, which Wong hopes will give women another treatment option. \u201cIt\u2019s just so disappointing to have things be chalked up to perimenopause or menopause, and you have to suffer through it,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important, Wittstein says, to recognize that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/06\/15\/well\/menopause-hormone-therapy-breast-cancer.html\">some women<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcrf.org\/about-breast-cancer\/hrt-breast-cancer-risk\/\">many breast cancer survivors<\/a>, may not be able to use HT. \u201cThere\u2019s this huge group of women who take a double hit,\u201d she says. \u201cThey get early menopause from chemotherapy or they get aromatase inhibitor-associated musculoskeletal syndrome, and then they can&#8217;t use this medication.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What to do (and not do)\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>Physical therapy for frozen shoulder focuses mainly on stretching and manual therapy, which <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC5917053\/\">may differ depending on what stage you\u2019re in<\/a>, and can often cause discomfort. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to do it under the guidance of an experienced physical therapist, says Dr. Ariana Lott, an orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone who specializes in sports medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really hard for patients to do these kinds of movements by themselves,\u201d she says, because \u201cit hurts.\u201d <br \/>In terms of regular exercise and activity, \u201cI hate to restrict people,\u201d Wong says. \u201cI always say, unless I think it\u2019s really going to do you harm, do whatever\u2019s in your realm of comfort. So if you want to do some light weights, totally fine. If you don\u2019t feel up to that, also totally fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one thing she cautions patients against doing is immobilizing their shoulder by wearing a sling. \u201cGenerally, we worry about that making it more stiff,\u201d she explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lott reassures her patients that they didn\u2019t cause their frozen shoulder, which she says they can find freeing. \u201cA lot of people place blame, like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s because I did this or I didn\u2019t do this,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it&#8217;s like, \u2018No, actually this is nothing that you did. And we can fix it. It&#8217;s going to be a long process, but you can&#8217;t blame yourself, too.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For Gumbinner, that process is still ongoing. After her original right-side pain finally resolved, it resurfaced again in 2024, this time on the left. Multiple steroid shots, along with heating pads and ibuprofen, have provided stretches of reprieve, but almost two years later, she\u2019s still dealing with it. <br \/>\u201cI can work around it, but it\u2019s not ideal,\u201d she says. \u201cI just want to be able to slip on a dress again without a whole gymnastics routine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2014Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Image: PhotoAlto\/Frederic Cirou\/Getty Images) When Liz Gumbinner first noticed a twinge in her right shoulder, she assumed she\u2019d pulled a muscle. It was during the pandemic, when many exercise studios were closed, and Gumbinner, a writer who teaches advertising at Boston University, had been doing a lot of yoga and dance&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.time.com\/v3\/assets\/bltea6093859af6183b\/bltac7f5df8f25638dd\/6a594d323411caeba9a0a31d\/Frozen_Shoulder.png?branch=production","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}