Frozen shoulder is a common, but ill-understood disorder. It affects the glenohumeral joint, possibly involving a non-specific chronic inflammatory reaction, mainly of the subsynovial tissue, resulting in capsular and synovial thickening.1-4 It has a number of medical synonyms including scapulo-humeral periarthritis, adhesive capsulitis, periarthritis, pericapsulitis, stiff shoulder, and obliterative bursitis. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is termed ‘shoulder at the age of 50 years’. Frozen shoulder is used to denote a limitation of shoulder motion, without abnormalities of the joint surface, fracture, or dislocation. The onset of frozen shoulder is usually gradual and idiopathic, but it may be acute and associated with a previous history of minor injury to the shoulder joint. The disease occurs mainly in middle-aged individuals and is usually self-limiting,