The searing pain is back and my theory as to why has been reinforced.  Four years ago, I wrote about the topic of frozen shoulder and autoimmune disease and now I find myself in a repeat of the painful condition but with new insight, wisdom, and data points to help explain why this is happening and what I can do to lessen the impact.

The standard response from doctors when a patient has frozen shoulder is that it is idiopathic (it develops without an obvious external cause).  At this point I believe strongly that the root cause of my pain is internal and is related to the autoimmune disease that I’ve had for 26 years.

At the age of 33, I was diagnosed with Grave’s disease (hyperthyroidism).  At the time, I was a healthy, active person training for a half marathon.  I was also a highly stressed ,Type-A Operations Director with a demanding job and intense pressure in most areas of my life.

So how does this relate to my recent bout with frozen shoulders?  In extensive reading and research, I have discovered that rates of frozen shoulder are higher for women with thyroid disease and other autoimmune disease,  It is also more common with people over the age of 50.

Two additional and interesting data points:  1) my first frozen shoulder attack started in early 2022, right after I got a COVID booster shot and a flu shot in my left arm on the same day (big mistake that I will never repeat) and 2) my recent frozen shoulder is impacting my right arm and started hurting in late 2025 shortly after I got sick with the viral respiratory infection that was going around the community.

My theory is that the infection and subsequent inflammatory response (and in my case over-response) caused the adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) to occur.  Scar tissue has formed and it is preventing a full range of motion.  My right side is experiencing the exact same pain in the same area of my upper arm that the left side did four years ago. 

So what can I do to heal?  Well, don’t get sick is the obvious answer but it seems that my immune system is not functioning as well as it should so I need to go deeper to the reasons why my defense systems are not firing on all cylinders.

The more I read about this phenomenon, the more I realize that millions of people in the United States are suffering from autoimmune disease.

It seems that the way to improve the situation is simple but very difficult for humans to do consistently.  It involves changing some core (an ingrained) habits and behaviors which is a very hard thing for most people to do.

Change is challenging but when it means you can dramatically reduce or avoid a stabbing pain in your arm or back, you may be more inclined to give it a serious try.

I have decided to do the following for the next 3 weeks to see if it makes a difference in my frozen shoulder pain and the range of motion in my right arm.

These areas have been known and shared by many health professionals for years and are basic concepts.

Everyone seems to have a silly acronym for things these days so here’s mine-  it’s FESS: Food, Exercise, Sleep, Stress.

To help my body and reduce my pain, I will improve in the FESS areas:  

• Food:  Increase quality whole food and reduce or remove eating things which I know increase my inflammation (wheat, dairy, and alcohol).
• Exercise– Walk and move every day.
• Sleep- Prioritize and value it as gold.  Remove electronic devices away from my head while sleeping.
• Stress– Breath more deeply, pray and meditate.

Health and wellness solutions are often simple but challenging to do consistently.

It is my hope that these ideas and words can encourage you, or someone you care about, to act and decide to follow some or all the advice outlined in this article.

We don’t have to live in pain and there are factors that are in our control. 

We just have to decide to do it.