Is this normal for frozen shoulder or rotator cuff tear?

Any change in range of motion? Can you
* raise your arm from dead drop at your side to 90 degrees and then lower very slowly. If you have someone around, ask them to provide resistance to lowering
* put the back of your hand on the small of your back. If you can do that, get a partner to press on your palm as you try to resist.

If either of those make you see stars or buckle your knees, you have some good indicators of Rotator cuff. I’m not a doc, but I’ve had shoulder surgery and multiple shoulder exams.

Good luck! Ice Ice baby!!

PB50 —
Thank you for your post.
Yes, I did see an orthopedic doctor today who did an ultrasound. His conclusion was a probable Rotator Cuff tear. “These can be very painful” was his comment. Ice is definitely the solution of short-term practical choice, but Physical Therapy, a comprehensive ultrasound and a different pain medication were the treatment options recommended.

Excellente! Good luck….

Sorry you aren’t getting the answers you were asking for here. I had frozen shoulder that turned to a torn rotator cuff and required surgery. I don’t recall having troubles with my elbow when my hand was on my hip.
Good luck to you.

Try to find a PT who does more than prescribe a few exercises. I had tears 14 months ago (from and ill-advised reach to put something on a high shelf) and it is FINALLY in the last stages of healing.
A good PT can put their hands on you and find exactly where the problem is - the 4 muscles that comprise the "rotator cuff" extend from the shoulder tip across the scapula.
Here is a really good description and image of the rotator cuff muscles and their functions:
https://www.healthline.com/health/bone-health/rotator-cuff-anatomy#treatments
Once the area on my shoulder was healing, another tear was identified deep in the subcapularis. It took months of myofascial & targeted manipulation, with very gentle exercises on my own, to heal. I finally got the "go ahead" to start strengthening exercises two weeks ago, and it is amazing how heavy a 1 lb weight can be with some of the targeted exercises!

So my advice is to find a skilled rehab PT and prepare to work on it - possibly for quite a while. I had great examples many years ago - both of my parents had rotator cuff surgeries in the 1970's and were able to recover full use by diligent exercise.

Over 13/15 years ago Sunday slammed when I was working at Walmart at customer slammed a 24-packed soda into my shoulder the manager saw it and did nothing about it they didn't call the police and did it help me file a accident report for me I was in my young 20s in my twenties then and I was young and dumb done and I was scared because I knew that if I filed it that they would probably fire me after I filed an accident report after that my shoulder hurt and I couldn't move my shoulder for a long time oh it's my chiropractor they tied it up for me they told me to ice it and told me to climb the wall they said I got frozen shoulder out with the chiropractor three days later cuz I couldn't move it I could not move my shoulder for about 6 weeks now I'm doing OT for it because I can't move my shoulder over 90 degrees and this is about 13 years later they say my OT says I have I can't move by Frozen I have dick I can't move my shoulder over 90° you're supposed to move your shoulder to 180° angles she said I don't have a toward shoulder because I would hurt my insurance won't cover MRI until I cover eight weeks of OT I will see in about couple of weeks if I ever had damaged I do have damage to my shoulder but I do not know what I have you probably need to get go to a orthopedic doctor and try to get at MRI scheduled and then you'll probably need to do OT for about 6 to 8 weeks to work on your shoulder if you can't move it over 180 degrees you probably have damaged to your shoulders.

That definitely sounds like a rotator cuff tear. The fact that you cannot sleep is a big indicator. Go to an orthopedic shoulder doctor as soon as you can. I had a complete tear, bicep tear, and labrum tear. It became worse and worse until it was completely torn. The operation is painful but so worth it. 3-4 months of committed physical therapy and my shoulder is 100%. Use a power recliner as for the first week I slept in it. And I rented an ice machine for shoulder for a week helped.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated! I have been to an orthopedic surgeon who recommended PT. An ultrasound did show a tear, so that is the status at this point.

I am recovering from frozen shoulder also. One of the things they did to test me at the Orthopedics office was to have me straighten my arms in front of myself at waist height, straight out. Then try to flip my palms over and under. I couldn't which seemed to help prove it was frozen shoulder, along with not being able to put my hands and arms behind my back, raise them up over my head and also to make chicken wings and try to flap my arms. I went through a year of pt which didn't solve the issue, but am doing slightly better now with many therapy exercises later. I wish you the best and hope that your doctor can help you solve the issue on if it's frozen or rotator cuff.

I had impingement syndrome and had my bursa removed to free up some space in the capsule. Afterwards i had frozen shoulder. Couldn't reach behind my back or raise them over my head. I had some PT but as suddenly as it froze, about 15 months later, it thawed just as suddenly. Never another issue with it.