• Frozen shoulder can be painful and restrictive"This is where the blow may hit, but not where it hurts" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Megyarsh (Lily M.A. Parminter) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

General Cause

• Frozen shoulder occurs when the connective tissue, or "capsule," encasing your shoulder joint loses elasticity. This "freezing" greatly reduces range of motion in the affected arm and shoulder.
  
  

Idiopathic

• Sometimes doctors can't pinpoint an underlying cause for frozen shoulder. This idiopathic diagnosis simply means that the classic causes of frozen shoulder don't seem to exist in the patient.
  
  

Poor Posture

• Some physicians speculate that a lifetime of "round-shouldered" living can result in the gradual buildup of scar tissue around the shoulder joint.
  
  

Hormonal Changes

• Because about 70 percent of frozen shoulder patients are women, most over 40, scientists believe that hormones play an important role in the condition. In such cases, the development of adhesive capsulitis appears to coincide with the onset of menopause or perimenopause.
  
  

Injuries

• Not surprisingly, any injury resulting in prolonged loss of motion may cause the connective tissue in the shoulder area to tighten and thicken through disuse. Factors leading to immobility of the area include a broken arm, rotator cuff injury, or stroke.
  
  

Autoimmune Disease

• Several conditions seem to result in the secondary complication of frozen shoulder. Most of them fall under the classification of autoimmune disease, including diabetes and thyroid disorders.