You reach up to grab a cereal box and—ouch! Your shoulder says, “Nope, not today!” If lifting your arm feels like lifting a cement block, you might have frozen shoulder—a stiff, painful condition that makes daily activities a real pain in the… shoulder.

But here’s the good news: acupuncture might be the warm hug your frozen shoulder needs to melt the stiffness and get moving again.

What Is Frozen Shoulder, Anyway?

Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, happens when the tissues in your shoulder joint get thick and tight. It usually sneaks up slowly, gets worse over time, and then (if you’re lucky) goes away on its own. But that can take months—or even years!

Who has time for that?

How Acupuncture Can Help

Let’s talk needles—in a good way. Acupuncture helps reduce pain and inflammation, improve circulation, and get those tight muscles to loosen up. One study found that acupuncture helped people with frozen shoulder feel less pain and move their arm more easily after just a few weeks (Chevalier et al., 2023).

Another 2022 study showed that combining acupuncture with physical therapy improved shoulder movement faster than just therapy alone (Zhu et al., 2022). Win-win!

But Does It Really Work?

Yep! Here’s what the science says:

• Acupuncture reduces inflammation and improves blood flow in the shoulder joint (Lee et al., 2019).
• It helps calm your nervous system, lowering pain signals and helping muscles relax (Wang et al., 2021).
• Acupuncture stimulates your body’s natural healing chemicals—like endorphins, the “feel-good” hormones (Zhou et al., 2020).

Even dry needling (a cousin of acupuncture) showed great results in improving shoulder mobility and reducing pain (Rodríguez-Huguet et al., 2021).

Give Your Shoulder Some Love

If your shoulder feels like it’s stuck in a cast of invisible concrete, acupuncture might be just what you need. It’s gentle, relaxing, and backed by growing scientific evidence.

The best part? You get to lie down while someone helps melt the tension away. Shoulder pain relief and a nap? Yes, please.

Have you tried acupuncture yet?

References

• Chevalier, A. D., et al. (2023). Acupuncture improves pain and range of motion in adhesive capsulitis: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Integrative Medicine, 21(1), 30–37.
• Zhu, Y., et al. (2022). Effects of acupuncture combined with rehabilitation for frozen shoulder. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 22(1), 55.
• Lee, J. H., et al. (2019). Acupuncture for shoulder pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine, 98(8), e14476.
• Wang, X., et al. (2021). Effectiveness of acupuncture in patients with shoulder periarthritis: A meta-analysis. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences, 8(3), 205–213.
• Rodríguez-Huguet, M., et al. (2021). Dry needling for adhesive capsulitis: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 30(4), 720–727.