Our joints are under constant pressure throughout our lives. As a result, cartilage tissue is eroded, bone tissue is deformed and shoulder degeneration occurs, becoming one of the most common problems in the elderly.
The development of the disease can lead to complete limitation of movements and constant joint pain. Therefore, treatment of arthritis should start from the first manifestations of the disease.
What is shoulder arthritis?
Dystrophic changes in the cartilage and adjacent bone tissue of the shoulder joint are defined in medicine as shoulder osteoarthritis ICD-10 - M19. 91. Typically, arthritis occurs in the acromioclavicular joint of the shoulder, which experiences constant stress and severe stress during the day.
Under the influence of injuries and various inflammatory processes, cartilage tissue is damaged and gradually weakens, becoming fragile and fragile. Cracks form in the cartilage, in which salts begin to deposit, accelerating the process of destruction of cartilage tissue. Due to such salt deposition, bone tissue becomes dense and begins to deform, and acromioclavicular arthritis develops.
This process occurs slowly and chronically, at first there are no symptoms, but gradually the symptoms of the disease increase and over time can lead to complete immobility in the joint area.
The following factors can trigger the onset of the pathological process:
- Shoulder injuries deform the joint and cause inflammation.
- Insufficient, prolonged blood supply to the shoulder joint - this condition may be caused by a vascular disorder.
- Continuously high loads on the joints are observed in construction workers, athletes and longshoremen.
- Congenital joint disease.
- Poor nutrition and resulting metabolic disorders.
Important!The most common form of the disease is post-traumatic shoulder osteoarthritis, ICD-10 code -M19. 91.
The shoulder joint is one of the most mobile joints in humans, which causes quite frequent injuries to the joint. Even a small injury to a joint, repeated often and over a long period of time, can lead to arthritis. Arthritis of the right shoulder is most common, because the majority of the population is "right-handed" and the burden on the right side is always higher.
Causes and factors of disease development
Usually, joint disease is diagnosed in older people, and the older a person is, the more likely the disease is to be detected.
Causes and prerequisites for the development of shoulder osteoarthritis:
- Injury. Fractures, bruises and dislocations affect the bone and cartilage tissue of the shoulder joint, causing various complications - damage to the joint capsule, ligament rupture. Timely treatment prevents the development of complications and the appearance of arthritis.
- vascular disease. Diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis and varicose veins can influence the development of joint disease. In addition, the risk of disease increases in people who abuse tobacco.
- No physical activity. Lack of physical activity, along with overeating, will cause you to gain weight. As a result, metabolic processes are disrupted, which leads to impaired blood circulation in the cartilage and tissues around the joints - joint disease develops.
- Hormonal and immune disorders- gout, psoriasis, etc. v.
- Arthropathy– Synovitis, chronic and acute arthritis, aseptic tissue necrosis.
- Diseases of the endocrine system and metabolic disorders. These conditions cause the body to be deficient in vitamins and minerals essential for joint health (such as calcium and phosphorus). This negatively affects the condition of the joints and complicates their recovery process.
Usually, joint disease does not occur under the influence of one factor, its development is promoted by a simultaneous combination of many causes.
Types and symptoms of shoulder arthritis
Since the development of arthritis continues for a long time, at first the disease may practically not manifest itself, only sometimes manifesting itself after severe physical overload or hypothermia.
Main symptoms of arthritis:
- Shoulder pain.This is the main sign of arthritis - pain of a different nature, often intensifies with movement and with load on the shoulder joint. The pain causes discomfort and limits shoulder mobility.
- Crunching sound when moving. Salt deposits in the shoulder joint cause a characteristic crunching (or clicking) sound in the joint when moving.
- Movement restrictions. It manifests itself depending on the stage of joint disease - at the beginning of the disease there are no restrictions, during exacerbation the patient cannot freely rotate and move the arm.
Sometimes the location of pain may be atypical and may be in the arm or elbow. By palpation, you can determine the main cause of pain - the lower edge of the shoulder blade and clavicle.
Note!In the early stages, grade 1 arthritis does not cause any symptoms. This is due to the absence of nerve endings in the cartilage tissue, therefore the disease begins to manifest itself when the pathological process spreads beyond the joint..
Depending on the nature and degree of damage to bone and cartilage tissue, there are three stages of joint disease, which are characterized by certain symptoms.
| Symptom | state 1 | Phase 2 | stage 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pain | Rarely occurs - usually in the evening or morning, after exercise or hypothermia | Severe pain occurs with any movement | The pain is constant even when resting |
| Movement restrictions | Lightly | The amplitude of movement may decrease | An obvious and sometimes complete restriction of mobility. Abduction of the arm and elevation of it becomes impossible. The right hand was held in a forced, painful position |
| There is a crunching sound in the shoulder joint | Slight crunching sound when moving suddenly - not painful | With each movement, you will hear clear creaks and crunches | A continuous crunching clicking sound is heard when there is any movement |
| Local manifestations (redness and swelling in the joint area, increased temperature at the disease site) | Absent | Appears during periods of exacerbation | There is always inflammation in the joints |
| Joint stiffness | Absent | Rarely happens | There is stiffness and deformity of the shoulder |
| Changes in the joints can be seen on X-rays | Absent | There are signs of joint deformity, narrowing of the joint space and appearance of bone spurs | Traces of joint destruction are visible |
The duration of the first stage can last from several months to several years. Grade 3 shoulder arthritis is treated only with surgical measures, because the condition threatens disability.
One of the types of pathology is shoulder joint deformity. This condition means the articular cartilage is destroyed, causing irreversible changes in the bones on the joint surface. In addition to cartilage tissue, such changes also affect the joint capsule and synovial membrane, leading to destruction and deformation of the shoulder joint.
Joint deformity is manifested by pain and dull pain in the shoulder joint, the pain increases when the weather changes and at night. This pathology is chronic, does not allow complete cure, but it will help reduce unpleasant symptoms and stop the process of tissue destruction.
How to treat arthritis in the shoulder joint
Before treating shoulder arthropathy, a number of diagnostic measures are performed to determine the form and stage of the joint disease. Among such measures, it is necessary to conduct laboratory and biochemical blood tests, which can confirm the presence of an inflammatory process in the body.
If shoulder disease is suspected, the patient is asked to perform a number of self-diagnostic measures:
- Place your hands between your shoulder blades in a lock;
- Tie a belt at the back of the waist;
- Bend your elbows at shoulder level and comb your hair at the back of your head.
If the patient performs all of these activities without difficulty, there is no risk of arthritis. But if completing the task is difficult and causes pain in the clavicle and shoulder area, further studies are required - fluoroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging are used for a more accurate diagnosis.
Grade 2 arthritis and the early stages of the disease are treated with conservative methods, only when there is no result can surgery be used.
Conservative methods of treating arthrosis are carried out in combination, when treatment is carried out in several directions at once:
- Drug treatment;
- Physical therapy;
- Treatment using traditional methods;
- Exercise therapy and acupuncture;
- Special diets;
- Spa treatment.
Important!An important condition for the treatment of shoulder arthrosis is to ensure rest of the shoulder joint (this is easier to do when left shoulder arthropathy is observed), and such a gentle regimen should be applied even afterend of treatment. therapy. If the patient continues to bear load on the shoulder girdle, the disease will progress and eventually require surgery.
Surgical measures include arthroscopic surgery - replacing a diseased (worn) joint with an artificial joint. This surgery is very expensive and although it significantly improves the patient's quality of life, it has the disadvantage that the surgery must be repeated every 10-15 years.
Treatment medicine
Drug treatment has several directions - pain relief, reduction of the inflammatory process and direct restoration of cartilage tissue.
Medicines and drugs
To eliminate inflammation and pain, the following groups of drugs are used:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- Pain relievers and antispasmodics.
These medications can be prescribed orally or intramuscularly (as an injection). They relieve pain well and reduce inflammation, but cannot be used long term - treatment is carried out in short sessions.
The destruction of cartilage tissue is treated with drugs of the chondroprotector group, which include the active ingredients: glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid.
Chondroprotectors are valuable building materials for cartilage tissue, but the drug has a restorative effect only in the first two stages. The first results from the use of chondroprotectors are observed only 3 months after use, and the general course of treatment is about a year.
When treating joint diseases, it is imperative to take dietary supplements and vitamin-mineral complexes containing substances that prevent demineralization of joint tissue.
For severe inflammatory processes, a method called "intra-articular blockade" is used. The essence of this technique is to introduce hormonal drugs into the space of the acromion joint. Such injections have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect but have many side effects so they are not always used in treatment.
Ointment
For external use, ointment applied to the skin in the shoulder joint area is effectively used. Ointment for arthritis has an anesthetic effect, contains anti-inflammatory substances and agents that increase blood circulation.
Important!Arthritis ointments help relieve uncomfortable symptoms but cannot cure the disease.
The advantage of ointments over painkillers is that they have a local anesthetic effect without damaging the digestive tract. But they also have a drawback - given the intensity of the pain syndrome, they cannot always relieve pain quickly.
Physical therapy
The main treatment method for joint disease in the early stages is medication. Physical therapy procedures can enhance the effectiveness of medication and also reduce the likelihood of side effects.
The following treatments are used in the treatment of joint diseases:
- Electrophoresis;
- Exposure to magnetic fields;
- Exposure to radiation (ultraviolet, infrared, laser);
- Supersonic.
Physiotherapy activities are carried out several times a year - according to courses. The type and method of treatment are selected individually for each patient, depending on the severity of the disease, the patient's age and other indications.
Treatment at home
Treatment of shoulder arthritis at home is carried out as an additional measure to drug treatment with the permission of the attending physician.
Exercise and exercise therapy
Physiotherapy for shoulder arthritis should be carried out only during the period of remission; during exacerbation, physical exercises are contraindicated.
Gymnastics exercises can be found on the Internet, but all of them must be approved by a doctor.
Important!You cannot choose exercises for treating arthrosis on your own, no matter what authoritative sites these procedures are described on, and no matter what flattering reviews accompany them. Many of them have contraindications and can do more harm than good - therefore, before starting to exercise, you should definitely consult your doctor.
Rules for exercising at home for arthritis:
- Exercise therapy cannot be carried out if there are decompensated lung and heart diseases, high temperature or there are diseases in which any physical activity is contraindicated.
- Exercise should not cause pain. Otherwise, they are selected incorrectly and may cause complications.
- When treating shoulder osteoarthritis, exercise requires regularity - it needs to be done every day. At first, practice for no more than 5 minutes a day, gradually increasing the time to 20 minutes.
- You need to perform exercises gradually - first at a quarter of strength, then gradually increase the load. The intensity of their movements and amplitude will gradually increase. The older you are and the longer you live sedentary, the slower the process of increasing intensity.
- Exercises are performed in a gentle, semi-relaxed state - sitting or lying down.
Some simple exercises can be performed independently every day at any convenient time: raise and lower the shoulders, swing the arms back and forth, rotate the shoulders.
Massage
Massage for shoulder arthritis is best performed immediately after exercise and exercise. This will help improve blood circulation in the shoulder joint and promote the recovery of cartilage tissue.
Massage can be performed only if acute pain subsides and the inflammatory process decreases.
During the procedure, not only the painful shoulder is massaged, but also the neck area on both sides as well as the forearm area.
Diet
Diet rules for arthritis - eliminating factors that influence the development of the disease and metabolic disorders.
Basic principles of the diet:
- Limit eating sweet, starchy, fatty and salty foods.
- Reduce salt intake to a minimum.
- Reduce portions but increase the number of meals (eat in small but frequent portions).
- Replace the consumption of animal fats with dairy and vegetable fats.
- Increase the amount of dairy dishes in your diet, which are sources of calcium, as well as seafood and fish (sources of collagen and phosphorus).
- Include more fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.
If you have arthritis, you should never go hungry - the menu should be designed to increase the supply of nutrients without harming the body and reduce the amount of harmful foods.
Ethnographic
Doctors recommend home treatment with folk remedies as a complement to medical therapy:
- Lard is mixed in equal proportions with propolis. The resulting ointment is rubbed with massaging movements into the shoulder joint area.
- To relieve pain, herbal baths are recommended using decoctions of chamomile, burdock and nettle.
- A folk remedy for arthritis is oatmeal. They are incubated in boiling water, then the decoction is used to make a compress for the shoulders, used at night.
Folk remedies do not cause side effects and have no contraindications for use.
Prevent
Preventive measures to prevent joint disease include minimizing disease-causing factors.
General recommendations:
- Eliminates insufficient loads on joints associated with sports or professional activities.
- Minimize the risk of injury to the shoulder joint.
- Consultation with a therapist is mandatory in case of shoulder injury or pain to minimize the risk of complications.
- Prevent the appearance of excess weight - control your diet and perform daily physical activity (gymnastics, walking, swimming).
- In old age, use drugs that promote the regeneration of cartilage and bone tissue.
Shoulder osteoarthritis is a dangerous disease that can lead to complete joint immobility and disability. You should consult your doctor at the first signs of the disease. Treatment of joint disease must be comprehensive and include both conservative and alternative treatments.