[20277]

I am presently residing in Japan and evidently, this condition is so common that they have a special name for it. If you're in your 40's it's "shi-juu kata" and if you're in your 50's it's called "go-juu kata" - "shi" meaning "40 (year-old)," "go" meaning "50 (year-old)," and "kata" meaning "shoulder." It's funny, but I've had BOTH! In my late 40's it was my left side and right now it's my right side. A friend of mine who's older is also experiencing "her other side" affliction now. Sometimes when I move my shoulder a certain way, the pain is so bad, I just can't move and I just cringe in pain! I've tried medical plasters and that offers some relief, though I find that the "warm" medical plasters are better than the "cold" type. People here go for "shiatsu" treatments or "sei-tai" which is sort of like a Japanese "chiropractic" treatment. I've tried both and found relief but in time, the condition will just go away naturally. My practitioner said he's never seen a case that didn't clear up in time. And yes - it can take up to several months. There's also acupuncture which I haven't tried yet, but I'm planning to. A good, reputable acupuncturist is of utmost importance. My father had osteoarthritis of the spine and s-l-o-w-l-y and painfully rolled himself out of bed every morning. His Chinese friend acted as a translator and took my father to a Chinese acupuncturist who couldn't speak a word of English. After a few treatments, one morning, my father just sprang out of bed, stood up, and said to himself, "How the hell did I do THAT?!" For him, it worked because that acupuncturist was so skilled and simply performed "acupuncture at its best." I went to a good acupuncturist and felt a tingling and relaxing sensation with each needle that was inserted and had a very good, successful treatment BUT one day I went to a different acupuncturist and each needle felt like an injection so I had to ask the acupuncturist to stop because I KNEW it was not supposed to feel like that. Be very careful with acupuncture - ask around and find someone who had a successful treatment at a place before considering going there.

 

[overitnow]

The acupuncture sounds great. I have the same 40 year old left side and 50 year old right. Neither has gone away completely; but the 50 year old shoulder was so painful that I had to see a physio and she worked wonders on it.

 

[20277]

I found a very good, reputable acupuncture/shiatsu clinic and went there for 3 treatments but unfortunately, they could only relieve the symptoms and not actually cure the condition. In other words, it was just a temporary thing - and it was too expensive to continue anyway (at about $70 per visit/no insurance coverage). Then, just a few days ago, I was referred to a Chinese "seitai" doctor (Japanese chiropractic technique) who does "kikou" ("qigong/chigong") and in three treatments, he was able to take the pain away and restore my arm/shoulder movement significantly. I still can't use my insurance, but he is a lot more affordable (less than half of the other clinic) and the main thing is that he has gotten to the root of the problem to cure - and just not relieve - the condition.