Osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is accompanied by swelling, severe shoulder pain, 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 has a rather complex structure and is the most mobile of all, providing the human body with the fullest range of motion. The shoulder joint capsule can be stretched very strongly, so that a person can lift the arm vertically and make rotational movements with it. This activity weakens the ligaments, and as a result of the sharp bending 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 expressed mainly in the degeneration of the tissues of the shoulder joint, is called osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint or shoulder osteoarthritis. The biomechanics of the shoulder is based on the impeccable work of all the components: normal nerve conduction, good blood supply, impeccable anatomical structure. Violation of any of these conditions invariably leads to the fact that the internal tissues begin to deform, causing discomfort, restriction of movement and pain.
Osteoarthritis (or osteoarthritis) is, first of all, a disease not of an inflammatory nature, but degenerative. It is associated with ischemic processes in the surrounding tissues caused by various causes.
As a result, the nutrition of the joint is disturbed, due to which the thin elastic layer of hyaline cartilage covering the head of the bone becomes thinner. By becoming less elastic and thinner, hyaline cartilage hinders normal movement, causing the joint space to narrow.
This phenomenon causes the body to act and bony growths called osteophytes form around the edges of the joint. It is the osteophytes that injure muscles and ligaments with their sharp edges, causing slow chronic inflammation.
The main danger of osteoarthritis lies in the fact that a slight restriction of the mobility of the hand invariably leads to a decrease in the 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 leads to the formation of joint contractures, which limits the possibility of movement or the total loss of mobility of the shoulder and the disability of the patient.
Causes of shoulder osteoarthritis
The only cause of shoulder osteoarthritis is deep ischemia, that is, a sudden or gradual deterioration in 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 anamnesis only or simultaneously:
- Shoulder injury. These can be both obvious injuries as a result of a car accident or fall, and hidden tears of muscles and ligaments received in the process of sports training or hard work. Any joint injury always has the ability to remind itself, since the affected areas are not restored to their full size, and conduction in them is invariably disturbed. 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 associated with age.
- Hereditary or genetic predisposition.
Stages and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint.
The disease in its development passes through several stages. Since osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that progresses rather slowly, most patients ignore the first stage, during which the joint deformity can be most effectively treated.
- Symptoms of the first stage. For the first time, the patient may find some discomfort when moving the hand already with thinning of the hyaline cartilage. A sharp blow or pull 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 cause pain. But sometimes, at night or at the end of training, the pain in the shoulder begins to bother. They often do not pay attention to this, attributing it to muscle pain or neuralgia. And the disease began, and almost asymptomatic, and if immediate measures are not taken, then it goes to the second stage.
- Second stage symptoms. If the patient feels pain when moving the hand, accompanied by a clearly audible click, this means that osteophytes have formed in the joint. From this moment on, the sharp edges of the bone growths constantly damage the shoulder, 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 usual physical exertion or night fatigue.
A person's well-being worsens, since a chronic focus of inflammation in the body affects the general condition. At night, in humid weather, out of season, the joint may hurt more intensely.
The patient sharply limits the volume and amplitude of arm movements, he cannot raise it more than ninety degrees, both in the frontal and lateral planes. 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, he is practically unable to move his hand. The hand does not rise, does not retract to the side, the joint swells and enlarges. The muscles atrophy and the pain syndrome is so severe that when he tries to raise his hand, a tremor appears in the fingers. In most cases, the presence of contractures in the shoulder joint is noted - the "frozen shoulder" syndrome.
Ways to treat shoulder osteoarthritis.
In fact, it is impossible to cure arthrosis, and even more so, it is impossible to do it at home. This disease depends so much 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. That is why doctors insist on early diagnosis of the disease and the start of treatment of shoulder osteoarthritis, when the joint tissue is only partially destroyed, there are no osteophytes, and an attempt can be made to restore the normal nutrition of the joint.
conservative therapy
The treatment of arthrosis always has two goals: the elimination of pain and, if possible, the restoration of the supply of the joint with the substances necessary for its normal functioning.
- The intake of nutrients in the tissues depends on what the patient eats. The diet for osteoarthritis should exclude salt and alcohol. Meat and vegetable products containing purine bases, which increase the uric acid content in the body, are also undesirable. Steamed vegetable and dairy dishes are recommended.
- The combination of medical preparations containing glucosamine and chondroitin, as well as collagen, which nourish the joint tissues. And the daily use of regular gelatin in the form of jelly helps to enrich the menu with animal collagen.
- Local application of various warming, anti-inflammatory and chondroitin-containing ointments and balms activates the blood circulation of the tissues surrounding the joint.
- If the pain syndrome is mild, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is not recommended. If the movements of the hands are accompanied by severe pain, NSAIDs can anesthetize and reduce inflammation. These medications can help relieve pain.
- If the shoulder swells and an inflammatory process begins, then an ointment compress, placed at night or rubbed with gels, has an excellent effect.
- Therapeutic gymnastics is an indispensable component of the successful treatment of shoulder arthrosis. But it is not recommended to overload the joint, since incorrectly distributed efforts can lead to rapid destruction of hyaline cartilage.
Therapeutic exercises for shoulder arthrosis and the rules for their implementation.
Special exercises will help develop the joint, give it mobility. Gymnastics can be done independently at home. The main rules for doing exercises should be:
- regularly, that is, it is necessary to perform exercises every day for at least 15 minutes;
- performing the exercises smoothly and without much effort. This is necessary in order not to further damage the joint structures;
- obtain moral pleasure during physical activity, which will contribute to the normalization of the patient's emotional state.
Exercise therapy exercises are recommended, in which the movements of the hands do not cause pain. They are performed slowly, forcing the ligaments and muscles to gradually warm up and stretch.
- We offer the simplest and most useful exercises for arthrosis of the shoulder joint:
- Sitting in a chair, place your hands on your knees. Make circular movements with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times back.
- Raise your arms straight up, pull your shoulders and shoulder blades behind them as high as possible. Hold for a few seconds, then lower. Repeat 5-7 times.
- Straight arms with palms down apart. Bend the wrists at the wrists, the fingers should look up. Make circular movements with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times back.
- Raise your bent arms above your head, while the fingers of one should be on the elbows of the opposite hand. Gently move your arms back until you feel a stretch in your shoulder joint. Do the exercise 5-7 times.
- Place the palms of both hands together behind your head with the backs of your hands pointing down. Move your arms so that your palms fall along your back to the area between your 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 your shoulder joint. Do the exercise 5-7 times. Switch hands and repeat the exercise with the other hand.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint, manual therapy, physiotherapy and spa treatment are recognized as effective. The use of traditional medicine methods is also considered justified.
Folk remedies and help at home.
The main folk remedy for the treatment of arthrosis of the shoulder joint is herbal medicine, which allows the use of dried herbs and herbal decoctions for compresses, the preparation of ointments and rubbing at home to normalize metabolism and restore health. joint nutrition to reduce pain. .
- Ointment. Take 10 grams of dried leaves of hops, sweet clover, St. John's wort. Finely chop the herbs and grind them together, add Vaseline and mix all the ingredients well. Apply the finished ointment to the shoulder area. This will help reduce pain and swelling in the joint.
- Rubbing. Pour five parts of vodka or alcohol with one part of the crushed bog rosemary flowers. Then you need to 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 glasses of water, boil for 10 minutes, strain 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 shoulder osteoarthritis
- Manual techniques -massage, manual therapy sessions, osteopathy- allow blockages, tensions and muscle spasms to be eliminated, freeing the blood vessels and nerves that lead to the joint.
- Physiotherapy, in particular, shock wave therapy, balneotherapy, mud therapy and other methods are not recommended during an exacerbation, that is, when an active inflammatory process is taking place in the joint.
- Remission is an excellent reason for a course of spa treatment, after which there is a lasting improvement.
Surgical treatment of shoulder osteoarthritis
With a pronounced pain syndrome that prevents the patient from leading a normal life, the doctor may recommend surgery.
In most cases, prosthetics are performed, that is, the destroyed joint is replaced with an endoprosthesis. If possible, a partial arthroplasty is performed, changing only part of the shoulder joint.
Surgery is rarely used, since 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 fairly strong pain syndrome is observed.
It is important to treat this disease in a timely manner at the first minor symptoms, avoiding further destruction of the joint.
The patient must remember that the success of osteoarthritis treatment depends more on their effort, activity and not on drugs.