YOUR HEALTH

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I would appreciate it if you would explain frozen shoulder to me. My right shoulder hurt a bit, and I thought it would go away. It didn't, and all of a sudden I couldn't move it. I saw a doctor, who made the diagnosis of frozen shoulder. I am getting therapy. How long does this last? -O.R.

ANSWER: Often a frozen shoulder starts out as a moderately painful shoulder. In this early stage, people can still move the shoulder, but it hurts. As time goes by, pain subsides, but the shoulder become immobile to the point that it has frozen and can't be moved. With therapy and with time, mobility gradually returns to the shoulder, and it regains its full range of motion, or most of it.

What has happened is that scar tissue in the shoulder joint locks the joint tightly.

Sometimes it happens after an injury. Or illnesses like diabetes promote a frozen shoulder. An underactive thyroid gland can freeze a shoulder. It can follow after a stroke. Often, however, it's "idiopathic" -no reason can be found.

Physical therapy almost always restores shoulder motion, but the process can be quite long, as long as two years. That's the extreme. Usually it takes much less time. Early on, the therapist moves the shoulder. As time passes, people begin to move their own shoulders, and they keep on making progress.

Cortisone injections into the joint can help. And, at times, doctors release the joint from its scar tissue with a scope and instruments inserted through small incisions. Rarely is it necessary for a person to be anesthetized so the doctor can forcibly manipulate the shoulder to break the strands of scar tissue.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is a glass of wine a good cure for insomnia? -P.W.

ANSWER: Alcoholic drinks, including wine, help people fall asleep faster, but alcohol-induced sleep is not refreshing sleep. During the night, people are frequently roused from such sleep, even though they might not be aware of being roused. This kind of sleep leaves them tired the next day.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.