Osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is accompanied by swelling, severe shoulder pain, limited range of motion. The causes and symptoms of the disease, existing treatments 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 fullest range of motion. The joint capsule of the shoulder is able to stretch very strongly, so a person can raise his 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 poses the main threat of its destruction and gives impetus to the development of pathology.
The disease, which manifests itself primarily in degeneration of the tissues of the shoulder joint, is called arthrosis of the shoulder joint or shoulder arthrosis. The biomechanics of the shoulder is built on the flawless operation of all components: normal nerve conduction, good blood supply, flawless 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, pain.
Osteoarthritis (or osteoarthritis) is primarily a disease not inflammatory 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 and elastic layer of hyaline cartilage covering the head of the bone becomes thinner. By becoming less elastic and thinner, hyaline cartilage impedes its normal movement, leading to narrowing of the joint space.
This phenomenon causes the body to take action and bone growths called osteophytes form around the edges of the joint. It is osteophytes that injure muscles and ligaments with their sharp edges, causing chronic slow inflammation.
The main danger of osteoarthritis lies in the fact that a slight restriction of hand mobility invariably leads to a reduction in range of motion.
Without moving, the shoulder begins to suffer from the accumulation of salts in the tissues around the joint and from the deterioration of the nutrition of the joint tissues. Over time, this is fraught with the formation of joint contractures - limiting the ability to move or complete loss of mobility of the shoulder and injury to the patient.
Causes of osteoarthritis of the shoulder
The only cause of shoulder osteoarthritis is deep ischemia, ie a sharp or gradual deterioration of the blood supply to certain areas of tissue and depletion of joint nutrition. But this reason is caused by factors that may be present in the anamnesis separately or simultaneously:
- Shoulder injury. These can be obvious injuries as a result of a car accident or fall, as well as hidden muscle tears and ligaments obtained in the process of sports training or hard work. Any joint injury always has the ability to remind itself, because the affected areas do not recover to their full size and the conductivity in them is invariably impaired. For several years or decades, the body can successfully cope with this until the onset of aging.
- Age-related changes in the body.
- Infectious attacks causing 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 goes through several stages in its development. Because osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that progresses rather slowly, the first step in dealing with joint deformities as effectively as possible is ignored by most patients.
- Symptoms in the first stage. For the first time, the patient may experience some discomfort when moving the arm with thinning of the hyaline cartilage. A sharp swing or rhythm is not accompanied by pain, this is due to the fact that there is no nerve ending in the cartilage and its destruction does not lead to pain. But sometimes by the evening or at the end of the workout, the shoulder pain starts to bother me. Often they do not pay attention to this, attributing it to muscle pain or neuralgia. And the disease began, and almost asymptomatically, and if no immediate action is taken, then it passes to the second stage.
- Symptoms of the second stage. If the patient feels pain when moving his arm, accompanied by a clear click, 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 growths, causing inflammation of the surrounding tissues. This is expressed in morning stiffness, which disappears only after the development of the joint, or with pain during normal exercise or evening fatigue.
A person's well-being deteriorates as the chronic focus of inflammation in the body affects the general condition. At night, in wet weather, in the off-season, the joint can hurt more intensely.
The patient sharply limits the volume and amplitude of hand movements, can not raise it more than ninety degrees, both in the front and side plane. This leads to muscle atrophy and a significant deterioration in the nutrition of the joint tissue.
- Symptoms of the third stage. Usually, if the patient comes to the doctor in the third stage of the disease, he is practically unable to move his arm. The arm does not rise, is not tucked aside, the joint swells and enlarges. The muscles atrophy and the pain syndrome is so severe that when you try to raise your arm, your fingers tremble. In most cases, there are contractures in the shoulder joint, "frozen shoulder" syndrome.
Ways to treat shoulder osteoarthritis
In fact, it is impossible to cure osteoarthritis and even more so that it is impossible to do at home. This disease is so dependent on 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. That is why doctors insist on early diagnosis of the disease and start treatment of shoulder osteoarthritis, when the joint tissue is only partially destroyed, there are no osteophytes and you can try to restore normal nutrition of the joint.
Conservative therapy
The treatment of osteoarthritis always has two goals: eliminating the pain and, if possible, restoring the supply of the joint with the substances necessary for normal functioning.
- The intake of nutrients in the tissues depends on what the patient eats. The osteoarthritis diet should exclude salt and alcohol. Meat products and vegetables containing purine bases, which increase the uric acid content in the body, are also undesirable. Steamed dairy and vegetable dishes are recommended.
- The connection of drugs containing glucosamine and chondroitin, as well as collagen, which nourish joint tissues. And the daily use of ordinary gelatin in the form of jelly helps to enrich the menu with animal collagen.
- Topical application of various warming, anti-inflammatory and chondroitin-containing ointments and balms activates blood circulation to the tissues around the joint.
- If the pain syndrome is mild, then the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is not recommended. If hand movements are accompanied by intense 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 a compress of ointment applied at night, or rubbing with gels has an excellent effect.
- Therapeutic gymnastics is an indispensable component of the successful treatment of shoulder osteoarthritis. However, overloading the joint is not recommended, as improperly distributed efforts can lead to rapid destruction of hyaline cartilage.
Therapeutic gymnastics for shoulder osteoarthritis and the rules for its implementation
Special exercises will help the development of the joint, will give it mobility. Gymnastics can be done independently at home. The basic rules for performing exercises should be:
- regularity, ie it is necessary to perform exercises every day for at least 15 minutes;
- performing the exercises smoothly and without much effort. This is necessary so as not to further damage the joint structures;
- receiving moral pleasure during physical activity, which will contribute to the normalization of the patient's emotional state.
Exercises with exercise therapy are recommended, in which the movements of the arms 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 on a chair, put your hands on your knees. Make circular movements with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times backward.
- Raise your upright arms, pull your shoulders and shoulders behind them as high as possible. Hold for a few seconds, then lower. Repeat 5-7 times.
- He straightens his arms with his palms open. Bend your wrists at the wrists, fingers should look up. Make circular movements with your shoulders: 5 times forward, then 5 times backward.
- Raise your folded 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 the shoulder joint. Perform 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 on your back down 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 over your left shoulder as possible until you feel a stretch in your shoulder joint. Do the exercise 5-7 times. Change your arms and repeat the exercise for the other arm.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint are recognized as effective: manual therapy, physiotherapy and balneotherapy. The use of traditional medicine methods is also considered justified.
Folk remedies and help at home
The main folk remedy for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is herbal medicine, which allows the use of dried herbs and herbal decoctions for compresses, preparation of ointments and rubbing at home to normalize metabolism and restore joint nutrition to reduce pain. .
- Ointment. Take 10 grams of dried hop leaves, sweet clover, St. John's wort. Chop the herbs well and grind together, add Vaseline and mix all ingredients well. Apply the prepared ointment on the shoulders. This will help reduce joint pain and inflammation.
- Friction. Pour five parts vodka or alcohol with one part of the crushed flowers of marsh rosemary. 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 lollipops (2 tablespoons) pour two cups of water, boil for 10 minutes, strain and drink one tablespoon four times a day.
- Compress. For a compress you need to steam 30 grams of dry oatmeal in two glasses of water. Apply the prepared mass on the affected 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, releasing blood vessels and nerves leading to the joint.
- Physiotherapy, in particular shock wave therapy, balneotherapy, mud therapy and other methods are not recommended during exacerbations, ie when there is an active inflammatory process in the joint.
- Remission is an excellent reason for a course of spa treatment, after which there is a lasting improvement.
Surgical treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder
In case of severe pain syndrome, which does not allow the patient to lead a normal life, the doctor may recommend surgery.
Prosthetics are most often performed, ie the destroyed joint is replaced with an endoprosthesis. If possible, then partial arthroplasty is done, changing only part of the shoulder joint.
Surgery is rarely resorted to, as any surgery, especially one involving 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 a person's motor activity is impaired and there is a very strong pain syndrome.
It is important to treat this disease in a timely manner at the first slight symptoms, preventing further destruction of the joint.
The patient must remember that the successful treatment of osteoarthritis depends more on his efforts, activity, rather than medication.