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The MCD (Manual Capsular Dissection) Procedure is a non-surgical operation, pioneered by Dr. Oolo-Austin. It effectively and immediately restores mobility and range of motion to a frozen shoulder. It is the first such procedure ever developed and is a historic medical breakthrough as Adhesive Capsulitis Frozen Shoulder has been cited in all medical journals as incurable. Although many have tried, no other doctor in the world has been able to effectively and safely cure frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) in one visit. Dr. Oolo-Austin is the first. Learn more
NO. The MCD Procedure is a quite safe, neurologically controlled, interactive re-mobilization of the shoulder joint capsule which results in very specific, targeted separation of the offending adhesive scar tissue and restored mobility to the shoulder and arm. High-velocity thrust or passive range of motion manipulation of a frozen shoulder is absolutely not recommended. Doing so can significantly worsen and prolong the condition and/or cause serious damage to the shoulder capsule, tendons, ligaments and holding elements. Research proves that standard physical-therapy type of treatments for frozen shoulder will not speed up recovery and will often lengthen recovery and worsen the condition. Aggressive physiotherapy or chiropractic manipulation treatments for a frozen shoulder are potentially dangerous and worsen the condition.
NO. But because tissues are carefully dissected and separated during the MCD operative procedure, one could technically define it as a form of “manual surgery”. The MCD Procedure is not traditional surgery because no external cuts or incisions of any kind are made. The MCD Procedure does, however, fall within the published definition of the word “operation” albeit, non-surgical in the conventional sense. As one physiotherapist described it, “The MCD Procedure is a paradox. “Dr. Oolo-Austin seems to be doing surgery without surgery.”
YES in most cases. Significant ranges of passive shoulder motion are returned immediately in most cases while others still require a little time for complete restoration. Almost every MCD patient will experience immediate near-full restoration of abduction (side raising) and greatly increased internal rotation. However, external rotation–sometimes referred to as the “I solemnly swear” position, will often purposely not be completely restored during the MCD operation as this particular position poses the greatest risk of injury. Dr. Oolo-Austin prefers to be particularly cautious in order not to incur any complications or damage, so he will often leave a small area of adhesions un-dissected. These adhesions always open by themselves later on during the specialized frozen shoulder home exercises prescribed by Dr. O and performed by the patient in weeks following the operation. In a minority of cases however, Dr. Oolo-Austin will restore full external rotation immediately. Each MCD procedure he performs will have different parameters and each patient’s case will be assessed and treated uniquely as a result.
YES. Many patients report a worsening of their frozen shoulder condition following aggressive physical therapy, soft-tissue myofascial-release muscle stripping techniques, or chiropractic adjustments of the neck or shoulder. This is because adhesive capsulitis is an inflammatory mediated disease and the shoulder and neck is thus highly reactive to treatment in which attempts are made to aggressively stretch the deep capsular adhesions. Research studies show that physical therapy either does not help or worsens the condition. Although often recommended by medical physicians, the clinical and research evidence points to the fact that physical therapy is CONTRAINDICATED for adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder. Persons afflicted with adhesive capsulitis should not be getting any such treatments in our opinion. Active muscle release techniques, myofascial release treatments as well as muscle stripping or scraping with steel or plastic instruments (Graston) are completely inappropriate to treat severe deep joint capsule adhesions as they are only designed to target chronic superficial adhesions in the muscles and surrounding soft tissues. These kinds of treatments make no sense for this condition as they inadvertently or often purposely create an increase in local tissue inflammation which is the worst thing one can do for this condition! The fascia and muscles are not where the primary problem is in frozen shoulder. This is why so many patients resorting to this kind of improper treatment report a lot of pain during the treatments and a significant worsening of their condition. No treatment that is painful should ever be applied to an adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder! If patients do feel some improvement during the course of physical treatments, it is generally because they would have been improving at that point in the progression of the disease anyway. Therapists or chiropractors, meaning well but trying too hard, in their futile frustration to treat frozen shoulder, will often find that they actually make the shoulder more painful and frozen and, as a result, the patient will unfortunately suffer with the pain of this condition for much longer than they would have otherwise. AVOID AGGRESSIVE THERAPIES for this reason!
NO. There is no other treatment method which can safely restore range of motion to a frozen shoulder in one visit. Most patients, who do not have underlying complications, muscle atrophy, nerve damage, or joint degeneration, are able to lift and lower their arm so that it is vertically beside their ear within 1 hour of having undergone the MCD Procedure. In cases where there is significant degenerative atrophy of the shoulder muscles, patients will be able to get their arm up vertically immediately following the MCD however, some weeks of rehabilitative strengthening exercises and neuromuscular re-training will be needed to enable them to actively raise it up themselves.
YES IN MOST CASES. Full or near-full side-raise motion and considerable arm-up-behind-the-back range of motion is usually restored immediately following the MCD. All ranges of motion will be recovered following the MCD. However it is not possible to immediately return the full range of motion in outward rotation of the shoulder in some cases. If the frozen shoulder is very severe (Grade 2 or 3), then performing the MCD Procedure in the full range of outward rotation direction has potential risk of injury.
This being the case, once the MCD operation has been performed, patients are given specialized self-treatment exercises which, if they do not have underlying complicating conditions or degenerative changes to the shoulder joint, enable full restoration of all ranges and functions. Our clinical survey research has shown that the majority of patients without degenerative joint disease or other significant complications such as tendonitis or bursitis, fully recover within 1 month of having the MCD Procedure. 98% of patients completely recover their range of motion after three months.
The MCD Procedure is very much a “non-surgical operation”. As a result, the first pain that the patient will experience is the often intense pain due to the dissection of the adhesive tissues in the frozen shoulder. The majority of this dissection (and the corresponding pain) occurs in 3 stages which take up a relatively brief period of the entire operation . There will also often be some less intense pain during the remainder of the 45-90 minute procedure.
Although the MCD patients’ pain is minimized through medication, patients may still experience various levels of pain depending on their individual pain thresholds (everyone is different). From our experience, we have observed the following:
We would like to stress that the more realistic question would be “How painful is the MCD Procedure compared to 2-5 years of pain (or even a lifetime of disability), including the pain caused by bone and tissue degeneration from a long-term freeze-up?” The obvious answer is that even one hour of pain is well worth not having to suffer for years with disability, pain, poor quality of life and the inability to carry on your daily activities without the burden of this dreadful condition.
NB: In July 2020, we have moved the procedure to an advanced medical facility which specializes in pain treatment. Using new innovative medical procedures, we are endeavoring to be able to anesthetize the patient in such a way that they remain conscious but will not experience any pain during the MCD Operation. Not all cases will necessarily qualify for this new approach but, if this new method is used during your operation, it is our hope that you will not experience any pain.
The MCD Procedure is a non-surgical medical operation. As with any medical intervention, it is natural for some post-op pain or soreness to occur and the level and duration of the pain varies with each person–everyone is different. A minority of patients do not have pain but experience tightness and discomfort for a limited duration.
After the Frozen Shoulder MCD non-surgical operation, most patients will experience varying degrees of pain due to post-op inflammation, re-absorption by the body of dissected tissues, the necessary healing of raw dissected tissue , the rehabilitation of shortened or atrophied (degenerated) muscles, and the continuing ill effects and symptoms of any underlying conditions such as bursitis, tendinitis, or arthritis. There may also be some pain during specific movements or at the end ranges of motion for a few days to a few weeks after the procedure. Any night pain usually disappears the first night or two after the MCD Procedure. Most patients sleep well but a few experience night pain due to muscle soreness which can affect sleep quality. The post-op pain will decrease over time, especially when the exercise regimen is followed.
Compared to physiotherapy, MUA, Hydrodilatation, surgery, and other such treatments, patients who undergo the MCD Procedure experience drastically less soreness and discomfort in the weeks after treatment. Our clinical studies have shown that 25% of patients have no pain one week post-op, 50% of patients have no pain at one month. In the absence of underlying conditions which may complicate or prolong the normal recovery process (depending on the condition), 98% of patients are noted to have full recovery in 12 weeks. Please keep in mind that patients who have had frozen shoulder longer and, as a result, have suffered joint deterioration and muscle atrophy, will usually take longer to completely recover. Every patient’s case is unique.
Dr. Oolo-Austin’s MCD Procedure is designed to specifically open the shoulder joint and restore range of motion. However, if underlying conditions exist, these conditions will sometimes need to be addressed with additional interventions during the recovery process, which may last longer than three months. Furthermore, these underlying conditions can only be effectively treated after the shoulder joint is opened through the MCD Procedure. The MCD Procedure is therefore the first and most important step to regaining full shoulder health.
YES and NO. Follow-up rehabilitation treatments are often not necessary but they are recommended in certain cases. All frozen shoulder patients are provided with specific post-op exercises which they are to conduct daily for 3 months following their MCD Procedure. Follow-up therapy, by another health practitioner, conducted too soon after the MCD Procedure can re-aggravate the condition somewhat. In order to prevent this occurrence and to allow complete post-op recovery of the shoulder joint, it is not recommended for our patients to do active post-op rehabilitation therapy (if needed) until 4-6 weeks have passed. If the shoulder is a Grade 2 or 3 frozen shoulder, follow up therapy for complicating underlying soft tissue conditions which are often present, will lessen the overall recovery time. Dr. Oolo-Austin’s novel neurological muscular treatment protocols will quickly restore brain and muscle communication to optimize and restore shoulder muscle strength and function lost due to long-term immobility.
NO. Tearing is very non-specific and will pull, break, and damage the good, healthy tissue to which the scar tissue is attached. Tearing is what occurs with Manipulation Under General Anesthesia (MUA) and Hydrodilation which is very non-specific and, according to studies, often causes collateral permanent damage. The MCD non-surgical operation involves careful isolation and very specific dissection of only the bad tissue and none of the good. The difference between tearing and dissecting is significant. Tearing is dangerous and dissection is safe if it is properly controlled.
The true cause of adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder is severe deep scar-like strong adhesions which grow to surround the shoulder joint capsule to cause a complete locking of the shoulder in the capsule. Although forward head carriage will lead to premature degenerative disc disease and arthritis in the lower neck, which is a contributing factor in the potential development of this condition, adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder is not due to forward head carriage. (The majority of people with a forward head posture do not suffer from frozen shoulder.)
NO. Although some chiropractors are advertising a chiropractic neck and occiput adjusting technique will fix frozen shoulder, chiropractic manipulation of your neck or occiput will absolutely not fix the adhesive capsulitis type of frozen shoulder. Obviously no amount of neck manipulation will magically dissolve or suddenly separate deep and heavy shoulder capsule adhesions. If, however, you suffer from simple frozen shoulder impingement syndrome, you may find such chiropractic methods helpful over multiple treatments. Make sure you are properly diagnosed before you waste time and money on methods which will not work. For frozen shoulder impingement syndrome, thousands of patients testify to the fact that the best, safest, and most effective treatment available to you is Dr. Oolo-Austin’s specialized Myoneural Shoulder Impingement Procedure (MSIP).
YES AND NO. Gradual, gentle mobility exercises have been known, on occasion, to improve recovery time a bit. If, however, the exercises are not done correctly or carefully enough, they will worsen the condition and postpone recovery. One must be very careful with exercise when it comes to frozen shoulder.
Find out more about our frozen shoulder home exercises here!
YES. A lot of patients who have MRIs done on their shoulders discover that they have torn tendons in their shoulder. This is often a pre-disposing condition and is very common. Most of the patients Dr. Oolo-Austin treats have tendon tears. If their tendons have not healed properly and are still torn or inflamed following the MCD Procedure, the patient may not be able to move into the final end-range of shoulder movement without pain. It is also possible that, if the affected tendons cannot work properly, the active movement ability of the shoulder will still not be correct. In these cases, depending on the severity, rehabilitation exercise or physiotherapy is recommended for 6-12 weeks after the MCD Procedure.
USUALLY YES BUT SOMETIMES NO. Many patients who let the frozen shoulder run its course because they think it would eventually get better, develop arthritis in their shoulder and suffer terribly many years later with restricted mobility and chronic pain. Many other cases of frozen shoulder already have arthritis in the joint. If the shoulder joint is not fused, Dr. Oolo-Austin can still often perform the MCD Procedure or a modified version of it to eliminate pain and regain shoulder movement. Dr. Oolo-Austin will carefully screen your reports and radiographs (x-rays) and will only accept your case if he believes that your condition will improve with his operative procedures.
USUALLY. Dr. Oolo-Austin has successfully performed the MCD Procedure in many cases where frozen shoulder surgery had failed and the patients were still suffering terribly. He has also performed the procedure in many other cases where the patient had had prior shoulder surgery.
Click here to see x-rays of patients who had undergone surgery who were cured by the MCD Procedure!
USUALLY. Most patients with post-fracture surgery have responded well to Dr. Oolo-Austin’s treatment. The MCD Procedure is modified in these cases depending on how much damage there was and how much hard “wear” was put on the bones. Each of these cases is very carefully scrutinized and assessed before being accepted. Cases which have been accepted have had very successful results after the MCD Procedure.
UNLIKELY. Frozen shoulder is cited as being a “self-limiting disease” that goes away on its own. But the majority of sufferers who let it go its full, natural course of 2-3 years without having their shoulder joint capsule re-opened, will never regain full end-range motion in their shoulder joint. (Research shows this figure to be at about 61%) Various recent studies have shown that, without effective treatment intervention, between 20% and 50% of patients will continue to live with long-lasting, ongoing, symptoms
Patients who naturally recover from frozen shoulder without treatment function normally and without pain, most still find that some of the end-range of motion is permanently lost. This is because of the peri-articular arthritis which develops in the joint itself due to prolonged immobility. These are deteriorative changes which cannot be reversed and which pre-dispose patients to further advancing degenerative arthritis of their shoulder and neck. This is why it is very important for patients to have their shoulder joint re-opened with the MCD Procedure earlier than later. The sooner joint motion is restored, the less potential for permanent damage to the shoulder joint.
Having only been in existence for a 16 years, the MCD procedure is still a relative newcomer in the medical field. It usually takes about 20-30 years for a novel breakthrough medical procedure to reach mainstream public consciousness and general medical awareness. This process requires years of research, documentation, and publication as well as introduction to the teaching curriculum of medical schools. This is the reason for the 20-30 year timeframe. In addition, Dr. Oolo-Austin strives to ensure the highest success rate with the lowest risk of complications for his patients. As such, he has been honing and continually refining the operative protocols of the MCD Procedure over the last 16 years so that maximum positive outcome is achieved with the highest possible level of safety standards for the patient. There will come a time in the future when every doctor in the world acknowledges the MCD Procedure as the biggest breakthrough for frozen shoulder treatment in the history of medicine.
Currently Dr. Oolo-Austin and osteopathic physiotherapist Linley Leuthard are the only health professionals in the world performing the MCD Procedure for frozen shoulder. Dr. Oolo-Austin is the creator/founder. (Linley completed a 2 year study program and internship under Dr. O to achieve official full certification to conduct the MCD Procedure for the region of Australia). In the more than 15 years he has been conducting the operation, Dr. O has been refining, modifying, and documenting it as well as collecting statistics about it. With a success rate of 98%, Dr. Oolo-Austin is the only doctor in medical history who has discovered the cure for frozen shoulder. As such, he is to be considered to be the world’s only true “expert” in successful frozen shoulder recovery.
Dr. Oolo-Austin has cured thousands of patients of frozen shoulder. There are no other “experts” as no other doctors in the world possess his knowledge of the condition and it’s cure. The procedure is currently being patented and after the patent is complete, a new 2 year comprehensive training program with rigorous standards will be developed so that surgeons and doctors can learn how to perform the MCD Procedure on their patients safely and effectively. Standards of excellence will be implemented in addition to a licensing program so that quality control of the highest level will exist and Dr. Oolo-Austin’s very high success rate in curing frozen shoulder can be maintained.
YES. As Dr. Oolo-Austin has done extensive work practicing and teaching in Eastern Europe and Russia, the first medical study on the MCD Procedure was published in a Russian national medical journal (Russian Journal of Manual Therapy) in 2012. It was written by Dr. Oolo-Austin and the eminent Russian medical physician and researcher, Dr. Maxim Bakhtadze, MD, PhD.
Read more about the study here!
At this point there is a great deal of ongoing research being conducted on the MCD Procedure. A three-year medical ethics approved, peer-reviewed study conducted in Canada is currently being re-submitted for publication in a pub-med listed medical journal. This will hopefully be published this year although there is heavy competition amongst researchers with long waiting lists for hopeful publication submissions in the best journals. This study was a randomized 10-case series study which showed 100% recovery of all patients at the 3-month post-op mark. All of our current case studies show dramatic results, with no relapse of symptoms.
The entire process on the day of your MCD Procedure takes about four hours. This time includes pre-op assessment, anesthetic and other medication administration, pre-op muscle strength optimization reprogramming, as well as immediate post-op rehabilitation training and laser applications. The actual MCD Procedure itself takes about 60-90 minutes. At very specific points during the multifaceted operation, the adhesions will separate rapidly. This takes less than a minute.
It is this phenomenon that served as the basis for the sensational name of the highly-viewed YouTube video posted 10 years ago called “Frozen Shoulder Fixed in One Minute”
ALMOST NEVER. Dr. Oolo-Austin has been performing the MCD procedure for over 15 years and only 2 patient has ever come back with a relapse of frozen shoulder on the treated side. This being said, these were isolated cases, where patients did not perform the critically important post-op joint mobilization and muscle recovery exercises. These need to be done hourly for three days and nights following the procedure. If the exercises are not done regularly and sufficiently, the results will not be as positive and some return of end-range shoulder joint restriction can occur. There have never been any patients whose frozen shoulder has gotten worse as a result of the MCD Procedure for adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder.
While most cases have 100% improvement, some patients have other underlying conditions that will decrease this percentage. We have a very high success rate. Dr. Oolo-Austin is very thorough in the evaluation process of each individual patient’s case. It is through this evaluation of diagnostic imaging/manual testing (the exercises he asks patients to record and send pre-op) and verbal reports from each client, that he is able to assess and develop a post-operative treatment plan specific to each individual.
The MCD Procedure dramatically restores range of motion. So even if the complete end-range of motion is not achieved due to the presence of other limiting conditions, patients gain mobility and functional arm usage as a result of the MCD Procedure. In short, you will be able to happily live your life again! But it is important to understand that, if underlying conditions (see below) relating to shoulder pain/disability exist, 100% recovery of full range of motion or complete pain elimination will not be possible until these conditions are corrected.
Pre-existing, underlying conditions can include fairly serious or intractable conditions including glenohumeral joint instability, cervical disc pathology with nerve root compression, thoracic outlet syndrome, rotator cuff tendinosis and/or impingement syndrome or Parsonage Turner syndrome, prior post-trauma reconstructive surgery for fractures and dislocation, connective tissue disorders/diseases, etc.
YES. Dr. Oolo-Austin has cured patients at every stage of the frozen shoulder process, with some having had it for only a month and others for as long as 20 years. The earlier stages of frozen shoulder are often easier to cure with the MCD Procedure. This is because there is less pain and adhesions present, so the rehabilitation process is faster. According to our statistics, we have never seen a case that has resolved itself in 2-9 months. Many patients in these cases opted for prolonged multiple-session intense therapy with negligible results or even a worsening of the affliction. Studies clearly indicate that frozen shoulder is not a total “self-limiting” disease and that 61% of those who let it run its full course, permanently lost some end-range of motion and a full 7% (1 out of every 14 cases) stay permanently disabled and frozen for the rest of their lives.
Firstly, heavy “force” is not normally used and the joint is not at all traumatized during Dr. Oolo-Austin’s MCD Procedure. Because the patient is awake and interactively participating in the actual operative procedure, and because highly advanced neuro-muscle deactivation methods are used, resistance to joint mobilization is significantly reduced. This enables a minimal amount of force to be required for joint capsule scar tissue dissection and separation to occur. Initially, by positioning the patient in very specific ways and directing them to move against resistance in very specific directions, Dr. Oolo-Austin removes the muscular component to allow him to isolate the capsular component in order to create a targeted stress load only on the offensive scar tissue with little stress on the good tissue or joint. The offensive isolated scar tissue is then separated and significant shoulder movement is immediately restored. Specially instruments, designed by Dr. Oolo-Austin are used during the MCD operation.
Once the adhesions are ‘opened’, this allows for proper movement and blood flow to the area. This will assist with flushing out the irritants that are causing the inflammation. The decrease is not immediate. It is gradual as the tissue heals. During the first few days, there will be some inflammation and tenderness present in the region. But this is a normal part of the healing process. While the re-opening of the joint could be seen as traumatic, the MCD Procedure is drastically less invasive compared to conventional surgery or MUA. Patients, therefore, heal faster and can return to their daily activities much earlier and at a much faster rate.
Some people with adhesive capsulitis frozen shoulder will start to experience less pain and some improvement of movement after 3-12 months. This does not at all mean that you will suddenly get better and one day you will wake up with no pain and your shoulder movement back. No matter what, the process will be a very long one–unless you are a very rare exception to the rule. The longer you leave to restore motion and resolve the condition , the higher the chance you will have permanent degenerative changes in your shoulder joint. Simply because it starts to feel somewhat better does not mean an upcoming speedy recovery. This can be deceiving. It is strongly advised that you have your frozen shoulder cured as quickly as possible in order to ensure 100% recovery.
UNLIKELY. Although you have probably read or been told frozen shoulder will get better by itself in 2-3 years, this is not usually the case. A reliable medical study with a 5-10 year follow-up period found that only 39% of patients with frozen shoulder achieve full recovery. (Reeves et al 1975). Other studies support this statistic. Dr. Oolo-Austin has performed his MCD Procedure on hundreds of people who lived with frozen shoulder for too long. He has treated patients who suffered from frozen shoulder for 3, 5, 10, and 20+ years. Every one of these people showed signs of shoulder arthritis and degenerative joint disease.
Click here to see x-rays of people who waited too long and developed shoulder problems as a result.
This means that over 60% of people who develop frozen shoulder, never recover completely–the affected shoulder never reaches previous, normal end-ranges of movement again. More than 60% of people who have had frozen shoulder never regain full use of their arm or shoulder. This is a quite significant percentage. Another interesting research study finding is the fact that 7% (1 in 14) never ever recover and are disabled for the rest of their lives. (These are the statistics you do not hear when you visit your doctor.) No one wants to be a statistic like that. Imagine finally realizing that your shoulder is not getting better and that what you have been told is wrong. Many disheartened patients have come to us who have been in this category, It is important that you do not let your shoulder joint disintegrated irreversibly.
Even if the pain more or less eventually disappears, it does not mean that there is no arthritic degeneration of your shoulder joint or that you will be able to use your shoulder again fully. If someone with frozen shoulder does not receive expert, curative treatment which restores range of motion quickly, they will likely never regain the same abilities they had prior to the onset of the condition. It also means that these people will never again be able to do everything that they were previously able to do. The longer you leave your shoulder in a frozen state, the more chance of arthritic disintegration of the shoulder capsule and joint. Each passing month of immobility creates more degeneration. Thus, it is critically important to undergo the MCD Procedure, have your full range of motion restored, and get your life back asap.
Some patients do go the surgical route. But the problem with surgical intervention is that the entire joint capsule has to be slowly cut open piece-by-piece and it is difficult for the surgeon to cut only the offensive scar-like adhesive tissue without cutting some of the normal, healthy tissue. Most of the time a small amount of damage is caused to the underlying structures. This can cause residual pain and permanent decrease in range of motion. In some cases, more than one surgical intervention is required and even then, the surgery can fail to resolve the condition. Lastly, many people fail to realize that with surgery, patients still need between 3 to 9 months of post-op rehabilitation treatments to recover from the cutting.
YES! We are pleased to announce that a growing number of private insurance companies provide coverage for the MCD Procedure. Mainstream medicine and insurance companies are recognizing the MCD Procedure as an effective, medically superior cure for Frozen Shoulder.
Contact us to speak with an educational director to see if your insurance company will cover you!