Osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is accompanied by swelling, severe pain in the shoulder, limited range of motion. The causes and symptoms of the disease, existing treatment methods and ways to help at home will be discussed later in the article.
What is shoulder arthritis
The shoulder joint is quite complex in structure and most mobile of all, providing the human body with the most complete range of motion. The shoulder joint capsule is able to stretch very tightly, so that a person raises the arm vertically and makes rotational movements with it. This activity weakens the ligaments and as a result of the sharp flexion of the tendons, a slight ischemia is often observed in them.
It is the lack of nutrition of articular tissue that carries the main threat of its destruction and gives impetus to the development of pathology.
The disease, which is mainly expressed in the degeneration of the tissues of the shoulder joint, is called osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint or osteoarthritis of the shoulder. The biomechanics of the shoulder is based on the perfect work of all components: normal nerve conduction, good blood supply, impeccable anatomical structure. Violation of any of these conditions leads invariably to the fact that the internal tissues begin to deform, causing discomfort, restriction of movement, pain.
Osteoarthritis (or osteoarthritis) is, first of all, a disease not of inflammatory, but of degenerative nature. It is associated with ischemic processes in the surrounding tissues caused by various reasons.
As a result, the nutrition of the joint is disturbed, so the thin, elastic layer of hyaline cartilage that covers the head of the bone becomes thinner. By becoming less elastic and thinner, the hyaline cartilage makes normal movement difficult, causing the joint space to narrow.
This phenomenon causes the body to take action and bone protrusions called osteophytes form around the edges of the joint. They are osteophytes that damage muscles and ligaments with their sharp edges, causing chronic inflammation to slow down.
The main risk of osteoarthritis lies in the fact that a slight restriction of hand mobility invariably leads to a decrease in range of motion.
Without moving, the shoulder begins to suffer from the accumulation of salts in the tissues surrounding the joint and from the deterioration of articular tissue nutrition. Over time, this is fraught with the formation of joint contractures - limiting the possibility of movement, or a complete loss of shoulder mobility and the patient’s disability.
Causes of Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder
The only cause of shoulder osteoarthritis is deep ischemia, i. e. a sharp or gradual deterioration of the blood supply to certain areas of tissue and impoverishment of the joint food. But this reason is caused by factors that may be present in the anamnesis separately or simultaneously:
- Shoulder injury. These can be as obvious injuries that come from a car accident or a fall, as well as hidden cracks in the muscles and ligaments taken during the process of sports training or hard work. Any joint damage always has the ability to remind itself, as the affected areas have not returned to their full size, and tracking on them is constantly a concern. For several years or decades, the body can successfully cope with this until the onset of aging occurs.
- Age-related changes in the body.
- Infectious attacks that cause arthritis.
- Metabolic and hormonal disorders, also often age-related.
- Hereditary or genetic predisposition.
Stages and symptoms of shoulder joint osteoarthritis
The disease in its development goes through several stages. Since osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that progresses quite slowly, the first stage, during which it is possible to treat joint deformity more effectively, is ignored by most patients.
- Symptoms of the first stage. For the first time, the patient may find some discomfort when moving the hand already with the hyaline cartilage thinning. A sharp jolt or jerk is not accompanied by pain, this for the fact that there are no nerve endings in the cartilage and its destruction does not lead to pain. But sometimes in the evening or at the end of the workout, shoulder pain starts to bother. Often they do not pay attention to this, attributing it to muscle pain or neuralgia. And the disease began, and almost asymptomatic, and if no immediate measures are taken, then it passes into the second stage.
- Symptoms of the second stage. If the patient feels pain during hand movement, accompanied by a clearly audible click, then this means that osteophytes have formed in the joints. From this point on, the shoulder is constantly injured by the sharp edges of the bone protrusions, which causes inflammation of the surrounding tissues. This is expressed by morning stiffness, which disappears only after the development of the joint, or by pain with normal physical exertion or fatigue in the evening.
A person's well-being deteriorates, as a chronic focus of inflammation in the body affects the general condition. At night, in wet weather, out of season, the joint can be injured more intensively.
The patient severely limits the volume and amplitude of the arm movements, can not raise it more than ninety degrees, both in the frontal and lateral plane. This leads to muscle atrophy and a significant deterioration of articular tissue nutrition.
- Symptoms of the third stage. Usually, if a patient comes to the doctor in the third stage of the disease, then he is practically unable to move his hand. The hand does not rise, does not pull sideways, the knot swells and enlarges. Muscle atrophy and pain syndrome is so severe that when you try to raise your hand, tremors appear in the fingers. In most cases the presence of contractures in the shoulder joint, "frozen shoulder" syndrome is observed.
Ways to treat shoulder osteoarthritis
In fact osteoarthritis is impossible to cure and even more so it is impossible to do at home. This disease is so dependent on many internal and external factors that it is almost never the main cause.
But the good news for patients in the first and second stages of the disease is that the development of osteoarthritis can be stopped. This is why doctors insist on early diagnosis of the disease and start treatment for osteoarthritis of the shoulder, when the articular tissue is only partially destroyed, there are no osteophytes and you can try to restore normal nutrition to the joints.
Conservative therapy
Treatment of osteoarthritis always has two purposes: eliminating the pain and, if possible, restoring the supply of the joint with substances necessary for normal functioning.
- Nutrient uptake into tissues depends on what the patient eats. The diet for osteoarthritis should exclude salt and alcohol. Meat products and vegetables containing purine bases, which increase the content of uric acid in the body, are also undesirable. Steamed milk dishes and vegetables are recommended.
- Binding of medicinal preparations containing glucosamine and chondroitin, as well as collagen, which nourish the joint tissues. And daily use of regular gelatin in jelly form helps enrich the menu with animal collagen.
- Topical application of various warming, anti-inflammatory and chondroitin ointments and balms activates the blood circulation of the tissues surrounding the joint.
- If the pain syndrome is mild, then the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is not recommended. If hand movements are accompanied by severe pain, then NSAIDs can anesthetize and reduce inflammation. These medications can help relieve pain.
- If the shoulder swells and an inflammatory process begins in it, then an ointment compress, applied overnight or rubbing with gel has an excellent effect.
- Therapeutic gymnastics is an essential component of successful treatment of shoulder osteoarthritis. But it is not recommended to overload the joint, as improperly distributed efforts can lead to rapid destruction of the hyaline cartilage.
Therapeutic exercises for osteoarthritis of the shoulders and the rules for its implementation
Special exercises will help develop the joint, give it mobility. Gymnastics can be done independently at home. The main rules for performing the exercises should be:
- regularity, i. e. it is necessary to perform exercises every day for at least 15 minutes;
- perform the exercises smoothly and without much effort. This is necessary so as not to further damage the articular structures;
- obtaining moral satisfaction during physical activity, which will contribute to the normalization of the patient's emotional state.
Exercises of exercise therapy are recommended, in which the movements of the hands do not cause pain. They are performed slowly, forcing the ligaments and muscles to warm up and stretch gradually.
- We offer the simplest and most useful exercises for osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint:
- Sitting in a chair, put your hands on your knees. Perform circular motions with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times backward.
- Raise your arms pointing upwards, pulling your shoulders and shoulder blades behind them as high as possible. Hold for a few seconds, then sit down. Repeat 5-7 times.
- Straight arms with palms down spread out. Bend the wrists to the wrists, fingers should point up. Perform circular motions with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times backward.
- Raise your arms bent over your head, while one finger should be at the elbows of the opposite hand. Gently move your arms back until you feel a stretch at the shoulder joint. Perform the exercise 5-7 times.
- Place the palms of both hands together behind the head with the back of the hands facing down. Move the arms so that the palms fall along the back to the area between the shoulder blades. Repeat the exercise 5-7 times.
- Place your left hand on your right elbow, move your right hand as far as possible over your left shoulder until you feel a stretch in the shoulder joint. Perform the exercise 5-7 times. Change hands and repeat the exercise for the other hand.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint are known as effective: manual therapy, physiotherapy and spa treatment. The use of traditional medicine methods is also considered justified.
Folk remedies and home help
The main popular remedy for treating osteoarthritis of the shoulder joints is the herbal medicine, which allows the use of dried herbs and herbal decoctions for compresses, preparing ointments and rubbing at home to normalize metabolism and restore joint nutrition to reducethe pain. .
- Ointment. Take 10 grams of dried hop leaves, sweet clover, St. John's wort. Chop the herbs well and grind together, add the Vaseline and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Apply the finished ointment to the shoulder area. This will help reduce pain and inflammation in the joints.
- Friction. Pour five parts vodka or alcohol with one part crushed rosemary flowers. Then you should insist the drug in a warm dark place for 24 hours. The tincture is used externally to rub the affected joints.
- Decoction. Corn stigmas (2 tablespoons) pour two cups of water, boil for 10 minutes, drain and drink a tablespoon four times a day.
- Compress. For a compress, you need to create 30 grams of dry oatmeal in two glasses of water. Apply the prepared mass on the injured shoulder for 30 minutes.
Alternative treatment for osteoarthritis of the shoulder
- Manual techniques - massage, manual therapy sessions, osteopathy - allow you to remove muscle blocks, tension and spasms, freeing blood vessels and nerves leading to the joints.
- Physiotherapy, in particular, shock wave therapy, balneotherapy, mud therapy and other methods are not recommended during a deterioration, i. e. when an active inflammatory process in the joint is developing.
- Remission is a great reason for a spa treatment course, after which there is a lasting improvement.
Surgical treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulders
With a pronounced pain syndrome that prevents the patient from leading a normal life, the doctor may recommend surgery.
Most often prostheses are performed, i. e. the destroyed joint is replaced with endoprosthesis. If possible, then partial arthroplasty is performed, changing only part of the shoulder joint.
Surgery is used in rare cases, as any surgical intervention, especially associated with the installation of an intra-articular prosthesis, can lead to complications and a long recovery period.
Osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is an insidious and dangerous disease in which the motor activity of a person is disturbed and a rather strong pain syndrome is observed.
It is important that this disease is treated in a timely manner at the first minor symptoms, preventing further destruction of the joint.
The patient should remember that successful treatment of osteoarthritis depends more on effort, his activity and not on medication.