Physiotherapy
Frozen Shoulder Physiotherapy in Singapore
Written by Zita Sham, Shiv Mohan Banka and Ching Yee, Principal Physiotherapists at Phoenix Rehab.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 6 October 2026.
Frozen shoulder moves through three stages, and what helps in one can set you back in another. The first question is not what to do. It is which stage you are in.
Assessment-led treatment for adhesive capsulitis: the shoulder that hurts at night, will not reach behind your back, and has stopped improving. Five clinics across Singapore. No referral needed.
One 45-minute appointment, $230 nett, no GST. Assessment and treatment in the same visit
The problem
Putting on a jacket became a two-step manoeuvre
It usually starts as an ache you cannot place. Then reaching into the back seat hurts. Then fastening a bra, or getting a wallet out of a back pocket, or sleeping on that side at all. By the time most people book, the shoulder has quietly lost range in every direction and the pain has moved into the night.
What makes frozen shoulder different from most shoulder problems is that the joint capsule itself tightens. You are not working around a sore tendon. You are working against a capsule that has contracted, and that responds to a different plan at each stage.
Where are you right now?
Four situations we see with frozen shoulders
- It is painful and getting stiffer. The freezing stage. Pain is the priority here and aggressive stretching usually makes it worse.
- It is stiff but no longer as painful. The frozen stage. This is where range work earns its keep.
- It is loosening and you want the strength back. The thawing stage, and the point most people stop too early.
- You have had a release or a manipulation. The window after that procedure is short and range work starts immediately to the timeline your surgeon set.
Which stage
The three stages, and why it matters which one you are in
Freezing
Pain dominates and range is starting to go. Aggressive stretching here tends to inflame it. The work is settling pain and holding the range you still have.
Frozen
Pain often eases while stiffness stays or worsens. This is where graded mobilization earns its place, and where most people are told, wrongly, that nothing more can be done.
Thawing
Range gradually returns. The job is making sure it returns fully rather than to a new, smaller normal, and rebuilding the strength lost while it was stiff.
Frozen shoulder is often slow, and an honest plan says so. We will tell you at the assessment what the usual course looks like for the stage you are in, rather than promising a timeline.
Two types
Primary and secondary frozen shoulder
Primary
Also called idiopathic frozen shoulder. It arrives without a clear cause and moves through the three stages above. The assessment focuses on staging it accurately, because that decides the plan.
Secondary
Follows something else: a shoulder injury, an operation, or a period of immobility. It is also more common alongside conditions including diabetes and thyroid disease. Where there is an underlying condition, it is managed by your doctor and we work alongside it.
Had an injection?
The injection took the edge off. The shoulder still stops at shoulder height.
A steroid injection or hydrodilatation settles the pain of a frozen shoulder. It does not stretch the capsule. In a randomized trial, an injection followed by supervised physiotherapy improved range of movement faster than the injection on its own (Carette and colleagues, Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2003).
The low-pain weeks after the injection are the window for range work, measured in degrees at each visit.
How recovery is run
4-Stage Structured Recovery
Every plan runs on the Phoenix Recovery Protocol: four stages, with measurable criteria to move between them. With a frozen shoulder, range is measured in degrees at every review, so you can see movement returning even in the months where it does not feel like it is.
1. Calm & Protect
Settle night pain and irritability. Hold the range you have without provoking it.
2. Move & Mobilize
Graded mobilization and stretching, pitched to how irritable the shoulder currently is.
3. Rebuild & Strengthen
Rebuild the rotator cuff and scapular strength lost during the stiff months.
4. Return & Perform
Overhead reach, behind the back, carrying, sleeping on that side. Tested against your other shoulder.
Who you will see
Physiotherapists who treat shoulders
Zita Sham
Rotator cuff pain and post-operative repair, and shoulder stiffness that has not settled. Principal Physiotherapist since 2014.
Orchard, Tampines
Shiv Mohan Banka
Shoulder and knee problems, and exercise rehabilitation for muscle imbalance. Principal Physiotherapist since 2009.
Orchard, Tampines
Ching Yee
Neck and shoulder pain from work-related strain, muscle imbalance and sedentary work.
Tanjong Pagar
If it has stalled
A year in, and the arm still does not go behind your back
Fastening something behind your back stopped being possible months ago. You put your shirt on that arm first. The top shelf belongs to someone else now.
That is not a shoulder that thawed. That is a shoulder that stopped hurting at rest.
The Stalled Recovery Review is three appointments over three weeks with the same physiotherapist, because range is measured over weeks rather than felt in one visit. The first appointment measures what the shoulder will actually do. The next two measure how that changes. $690, nett, no GST, which is three appointments at $230.
What it costs
One price, stated once
Assessment & Treatment
One standard 45-minute physiotherapy appointment, nett, no GST. Treatment starts in the same appointment.
- History and physical examination
- Active and passive shoulder range measured in degrees, both sides
- Which of the three stages your shoulder is in
- A written plan and a home program
- Your next review dated into the diary
No packages and no discounts for booking a course.
Questions we get asked
How long does frozen shoulder take?
Longer than most people expect, and it varies with the stage you start in and whether there is an underlying condition. Rather than quote you a number that may not apply, we measure your range at each review so you can see the direction of travel. Your physiotherapist will tell you what the usual course looks like for your stage at the assessment.
Should I be stretching it hard?
Not in the freezing stage, where aggressive stretching usually inflames it and sets progress back. In the frozen stage, graded mobilization has a clear role. This is the main reason staging the shoulder accurately comes before any exercise plan.
Do I need an injection or surgery?
Those are decisions for a doctor, not for us. Some people are managed with physiotherapy alone, others alongside an injection, and a small number go on to a surgical release. If your assessment suggests a medical opinion would help, we will tell you and refer you back.
Do I need a doctor’s referral?
No. You can book directly. Bring any scans or reports you already have. Some insurers ask for a referral before they reimburse, so check your policy.
My shoulder stopped improving months ago. Is there any point?
It is worth measuring rather than assuming. A shoulder that stopped improving is not always finished improving, and stiffness that has consolidated often still has range available. The assessment will tell you what is measurably lost and give you an honest read on what is recoverable from here.
Which clinics treat frozen shoulder?
All five. Orchard, Tampines, Serangoon and Tanjong Pagar now, with Jurong East opening 20 October 2026.
Where we are
Clinics across Singapore
ORCHARD
400 Orchard Road #12-12
Orchard Towers, S238875
NS22 Orchard MRT
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Orchard →
WhatsApp 8800 1830TAMPINES
9 Tampines Grande #01-20
Asia Green, S528735
EW2DT32 Tampines MRT
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Tampines →
WhatsApp 8780 9608SERANGOON
265 Serangoon Central Drive #04-269
S550265 · Lift C only
NE12CC13 Serangoon MRT
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Serangoon →
WhatsApp 8892 4121TANJONG PAGAR
10 Anson Road #02-77A
International Plaza, S079903
EW15 Tanjong Pagar MRT
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Tanjong Pagar →
WhatsApp 8227 7074JURONG EAST
2 Venture Drive #02-02
Vision Exchange, S608526
NS1EW24 Jurong East MRT
Opening 20 October 2026
Physiotherapy and hand therapy in Jurong East →
WhatsApp 8242 7340Tell us what your shoulder will not do
When it started, whether the pain is worse at night, and which movements have gone. We will tell you which stage that usually points to and which physiotherapist treats it most often.
Stage descriptions and timings on this page are typical patterns and require clinician sign-off before publication. Physiotherapists assess, treat, exercise, educate and refer; doctors diagnose, inject, prescribe and order imaging. If we find something that needs medical review we refer you back to your doctor.
What our patients say
Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.
