COMPARISON STUDY BETWEEN ULTRASOUND AND SHORTWAVE AS A PHYSIOTHERAPY TREATMENT IN FROZEN SHOULDER CONDITION

Background: Frozen shoulder is a spontaneous onset condition, disabling and sometimes severely painful condition accompanied by progressive limitation of both active and passive movements of shoulder joint. It is one of the important conditions that could be treated by physiotherapy.

Methods: Patients attending day clinic department and physiotherapy units in AL-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad/Iraq. A prospective study covered 94 adult patients.

Results: Half (50.0%) of the sample were in the old age group (56-70) year. Female more than male (55.3%, 44.7% respectively), more than half of the patients 56.4% have right sided affected. There was no significant difference in the results between the two methods of treatment (p = 0.512). The improvement rate 57.8% is higher among those with mild degree of stiffness, although there was no significant difference between the three degrees of stiffness (p = 0.185).

Conclusions: Frozen shoulder is a disabling condition and recovery needs a long-term process. Many physiotherapy options are available for the management, but there is still no consensus among the rheumatologist regarding which therapeutic option is superior. In this study both ultrasound and short-wave therapies have no difference in the outcome of frozen shoulder management.