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, the existing methods of treatment 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 the most mobile of all, providing the human body with the most complete range of motion. The shoulder joint capsule can be stretched very strongly, so that a person can raise his arm vertically and make rotational movements with it. This activity weakens the ligaments, and as a result of the abrupt flexion of the tendons, there is often a slight ischemia in them.
It is the lack of nutrition of the joint 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 shoulder joint disease or shoulder joint disease. The biomechanics of the shoulder is based on the perfect work of all the components: normal conduction of the nerves, good blood supply, perfect anatomical structure. Violation of any of these conditions always leads 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 an inflammatory nature, but of a 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 and for this reason the thin and elastic layer of the vitreous cartilage that covers the head of the bone becomes thinner. As it becomes less elastic and thinner, the vitreous cartilage makes it difficult to move normally, resulting in a narrowing of the joint space.
This phenomenon forces the body to take action and around the edges of the joint are formed bone outlets called osteophytes. Osteophytes are those that injure muscles and ligaments with their sharp edges, causing chronic hypotonic inflammation.
The main risk of osteoarthritis lies in the fact that a slight restriction of hand mobility always leads to a reduction 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 the nutrition of the joint tissues. Over time, this is fraught with the formation of joint contractions - limiting mobility or complete loss of shoulder mobility and the patient's disability.
Causes of osteoarthritis of the shoulder
The only cause of the shoulder joint is deep ischemia, ie a sudden or gradual deterioration of the blood supply to certain areas of the tissues and the depletion of joint nutrition. But this reason is caused by factors that may be present in the history individually or simultaneously:
- Shoulder injury. These can be both obvious injuries resulting from a car accident or fall, as well as hidden ruptures of muscles and ligaments obtained during the process of sports training or hard work. Any joint injury always has the ability to resemble itself, since the affected areas are not restored to their full size and the conductivity in them is constantly disrupted. For several years or decades, the body can deal with it successfully until the onset of aging.
- Age-related body changes.
- Infectious infections that cause arthritis.
- Metabolic and hormonal disorders, which are also often associated with age.
- Hereditary or genetic predisposition.
Stages and symptoms of arthritis of the shoulder joint
The disease in its development goes through various stages. Because osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that progresses rather slowly, the first stage, in which joint deformity can be treated most effectively, is overlooked by most patients.
- Symptoms of the first stage. For the first time, the patient may find some discomfort when moving the hand already by diluting the vitreous cartilage. A sharp oscillation or jolt is not accompanied by pain, this is due to the fact that there are no nerve endings in the cartilage and its destruction does not lead to pain. But sometimes by nightfall or by the end of the workout, the shoulder pain starts to bother you. They often do not pay attention to it, attributing it to muscle pain or neuralgia. And the disease started and almost asymptomatically and if no immediate measures are taken then it passes to the second stage.
- Symptoms of the second stage. If the patient feels pain when moving his hand, accompanied by a clearly audible click, then it means that osteophytes have formed in the joint. From this point on, the shoulder is constantly injured by the sharp edges of the bone shoots, which causes inflammation of the surrounding tissues. This is manifested by morning stiffness, which disappears only after the joint develops, or by pain with normal physical exertion or night fatigue.
A person's well-being deteriorates, as a chronic outbreak of inflammation in the body affects the general condition. At night, in wet weather, out of season, the joint may ache more intensely.
The patient abruptly limits the volume and width of the arm movements, he can not raise it more than ninety degrees, both in the frontal and lateral plane. This leads to muscle atrophy and a significant deterioration in the nutrition of the joint tissue.
- Symptoms of the third stage. Usually, if a patient comes to the doctor in the third stage of the disease, then he can practically not shake his hand. The hand does not rise, does not withdraw to the side, the joint swells and grows. Muscle atrophy and pain syndrome are so severe that when you try to raise your hand, tremors appear in your fingers. In most cases, there are contractions in the shoulder joint, the "frozen shoulder" syndrome.
Ways to treat shoulder arthropathy
In fact, it is impossible to cure arthritis, and even more, it is impossible to do it at home. This disease depends on so many internal and external factors that it is almost never the root 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 the start of treatment for shoulder arthropathy, when the joint tissue is only partially destroyed, there are no osteophytes and you can try to restore normal nutrition to the joint.
Conservative therapy
The treatment of the joint always has two goals: the elimination of the pain and, if possible, the restoration of the supply of the joint with the necessary substances for the normal function.
- Nutrient uptake into tissues depends on what the patient eats. The diet for osteoarthritis should exclude salt and alcohol. Meat products and vegetables that contain purine bases, which increase the body's uric acid content, are also undesirable. Steamed dairy and vegetable dishes are recommended.
- The connection of medicines containing glucosamine and chondroitin, as well as collagen, which nourish the tissues of the joints. And the daily use of regular gelatin in the form of jelly helps to enrich the menu with animal collagen.
- Topical application of various warming, anti-inflammatory ointments and balms containing chondroitin 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 numb and reduce inflammation. These medications can help relieve pain.
- If the shoulder swells and an inflammatory process begins, then a compress from the ointment, which is set at night or rubbing with gel has an excellent effect.
- Therapeutic exercise is an essential ingredient in the successful treatment of shoulder arthropathy. But overloading the joint is not recommended, as improperly distributed efforts can lead to rapid destruction of the vitreous cartilage.
Therapeutic exercises for shoulder joints and rules of its application
Special exercises will help develop the joint, will give it mobility. Exercise can be done independently at home. The main rules for performing exercises should be:
- regularity, ie it is necessary to perform exercises every day for at least 15 minutes.
- performing exercises smoothly and without much effort. This is necessary so as not to damage the joint structures even more.
- gaining moral pleasure during physical activity, which will help to normalize the patient's emotional state.
Therapeutic exercises 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 arthritis of the shoulder joint:
- Sitting in a chair, place your hands on your knees. Make circular motions with your shoulders: 5 times forward and then 5 times backwards.
- Raise your straight arms up, pull your shoulders and shoulders as high as possible behind them. Hold for a few seconds and then lower. Repeat 5-7 times.
- Straight arms with palms down. Bend your wrists at the wrists, flexing the elbows together. Make circular motions with your shoulders: 5 times forward and then 5 times backwards.
- Raise your bent hands above your head, while the fingers of one should be on the elbows of the opposite hand. Gently move your arms backwards until you feel a stretch in 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 pointing down. Move your hands so that the palms fall along the back to the area between the shoulders. Repeat the exercise 5-7 times.
- Place the left hand on the right elbow, move the right hand as far as possible over the left shoulder until you feel a stretch in the shoulder joint. Do the exercise 5-7 times. Change hands and repeat the exercise for the other hand.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint, they are recognized as effective: manual therapy, physiotherapy and spa treatment. The use of traditional medicine methods is also considered justified.
Folk remedies and help at home
The main folk remedy for the treatment of arthritis of the shoulder joint is herbal therapy, which allows the use of dry herbs and herbal decoctions for compresses, making ointments and rubbing at home to normalize metabolism and restore joint nutrition forreducing pain.
- Salve. Take 10 grams of dried hops leaves, sweet clover, asparagus. Chop the herbs well and grind them together, add Vaseline and mix all the ingredients well. Apply the final ointment to the shoulder area. This will help reduce pain and inflammation in the joint.
- Rubbing. Pour five parts vodka or alcohol with one part of the crushed rosemary flowers. Then you need to keep the drug in a warm dark place for 24 hours. The tincture is used externally to rub the affected joints.
- Beverage. Corn sticks (2 tablespoons) pour two glasses of water, boil for 10 minutes, strain them and drink a tablespoon four times a day.
- Compress. For a compress, you need to prepare 30 grams of dry oatmeal in two glasses of water. Apply the prepared mass on the sore 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 the blood vessels and nerves that lead to the joint.
- Physiotherapy, especially shock wave therapy, bath therapy, mud therapy and other methods are not recommended during an outbreak, ie when an active inflammatory process takes place in the joint.
- Recession is a great reason for a spa treatment, after which there is a permanent improvement.
Surgical treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder
With a severe pain syndrome that prevents the patient from living a normal life, the doctor may recommend surgery.
Most of the time prosthetic work is done, ie the damaged joint is replaced with endoprosthesis. If possible, then a partial arthroplasty is performed, changing only a part of the shoulder joint.
Surgery is resorted to in rare cases, as any surgery, especially related to the placement 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 a person's motor activity is disturbed and a rather strong pain syndrome is observed.
It is important to treat this disease early with the first small symptoms, preventing further damage to the joint.
The patient must remember that the successful treatment of osteoarthritis depends more on his efforts, activity and not on drugs.