DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 58 and have suffered with a frozen shoulder for the past six months. Physical therapy made it worse. Home stretching exercises are helping, but my range of motion hasn’t improved much. The doctor wants to do a manipulation under anesthesia. Is this procedure safe? Or is it better to let the frozen should take its time? — M.M.

ANSWER: Frozen shoulder also goes by the name adhesive capsulitis, inflammation of the shoulder capsule. The capsule is a covering of tough tissue that wraps around the shoulder joint. With a frozen shoulder, the capsule has shrunk and makes shoulder movement limited and painful.

This condition occurs most often in women between the ages of 40 and 60.

Shoulder trauma, voluntary reduction of the movement of a painful shoulder, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and heart attacks are some of the circumstances that lead to frozen shoulder. Many times, it’s something that happens without any preceding condition.

The pain and limited motion of a shoulder make it difficult for people to carry out the simple chores of daily life. Most make a good recovery, but that can take one to two years.

Gentle mobilization and exercise can restore motion to the shoulder. When that happens, a more rigorous program can begin.

You’ve dealt with this problem for a number of months. Your motion isn’t improving all that much. If your doctor believes that manipulation under anesthesia would hurry things along, I’d go with the idea. It’s a procedure often done for this condition and often done successfully. You’re the one who has to make the final decision. You wouldn’t be making a mistake by undergoing this procedure.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 51, of smaller build, weigh 130 pounds, have a 33-inch waist and am premenopausal with regular periods. A vaginal ultrasound found several fibroids that make my uterus the size of a four- to five-month pregnancy. My doc said to wait until menopause to see if the fibroids shrink. I have a grade 2 rectocele and cystocele. I am looking for relief from feeling like I am carrying a basketball. Clothes do not fit well. I feel full after eating only half a meal. I feel that my only alternative is liposuction. Your thoughts are appreciated. — S.B.

ANSWER: Liposuction removes only fat under the skin. Your waist size is good. So is your weight. I don’t believe liposuction would help you very much. If fat is the problem, it must be deeper-lying fat, visceral fat, the fat within the abdomen and around abdominal organs, fat not touched by liposuction.

I don’t believe your fallen bladder or rectum is part of the problem. Grade 2 is not much of a drop for these organs.

My guess is that the fibroids are contributing to the basketball feeling. Fifty-one is the average time for menopause. If it’s possible, I’d go along with your doctor and wait for menopause to set in. It’s not far away. The fibroids should shrink then.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My daughter has been diagnosed with gastroparesis. Her GI doctor wants her to have a pacemaker put in and connected to her stomach. She has daily nausea. Is this pacemaker something new? Is it safe? Can it be removed? — B.S.

ANSWER: Normally, solid foods leave the stomach in three to four hours. With gastroparesis, stomach emptying takes much longer. Nausea, vomiting and early satiety are the typical symptoms of this disorder. If medicines to speed up stomach emptying don’t work, then the gastric pacemaker might. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, so there are 11 years of experience with it. The pacemaker is put under the skin, and wire connections are made to the stomach. The pacemaker activates the stomach muscles more quickly than they are now responding. The procedure is safe. The pacemaker can be removed if it needs to be.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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