Shoulder Arthritis
The Aches and Pains of Shoulder Arthritis
The most common type of shoulder arthritis is osteoarthritis. This is commonly called degenerative joint disease or wear and tear arthritis. It entails the wearing away of joint cartilage. As the cartilage is worn away, the shoulder's bare bones are exposed.
Rheumatoid arthritis is the other type that affects shoulders most commonly. This is a condition that is systemic, and it causes the lining of the joints to become inflamed. The inflammation can destroy bone and cartilage, over time.
Most patients diagnosed with shoulder arthritis are fifty years or older. If you have had a prior shoulder injury at some point in your life, you are more likely to develop shoulder arthritis. This condition tends to be common in certain families, too, so there is a genetic predisposition for the disease.
The symptoms of this disease progress as your condition gets worse. But they don't progress in a very steady manner. Sometimes patients will report good weeks or months and bad ones, and sometimes the symptoms seem to be affected by weather changes. This is an important fact to mention to your physician, because your symptoms on a particularly good or bad day do not necessarily reflect your condition on a day to day basis.
The most common symptoms of arthritis in the shoulder are:
Tenderness around the joint
Swelling of the joint
Stiffness of the shoulder
Limited range of motion
Pain with activities
Feeling of grinding in the joint
To evaluate a patient who presents with shoulder arthritis, a physician will do a physical examination of the shoulder, and x-rays. The x-rays will be used for comparison purposes, to see how far the disease has progressed.
The treatment for this disorder begins with basic steps, and moves along to the more involved steps, even including surgery if needed. Different treatments work best for different people, so you should discuss with your doctor which treatments appear to work for you, and which ones do not.
You may be required to limit some activities, if they put undue stress on the shoulder. Learning new methods of exercising can also be helpful. If your shoulder is weak, your physician may recommend shoulder exercises, to build your strength back up.
You may do physical therapy, including strengthening and stretching of the shoulder muscles. This might help decrease the work that the shoulder itself has to do. It's important to prevent the muscles from becoming atrophied, as you are tempted not to use the joint, since it is painful.
Anti-inflammatory medications help to treat inflammation and pain. NSAIDS may come in over-the-counter or prescription forms. Be sure to speak with your physician before you start on any new medications, in case they may conflict with something you already take.
Other options run from joint supplements to surgery, and all these choices will be determined by you and your doctor, depending on how advanced or serious your case of shoulder arthritis is.