MANAGEMENT TIPS FOR SHOULDER OSTEOARTHRITIS

Shoulder osteoarthritis, just as KOA causes damage in the articular cartilage, includes the same symptoms. Patients living with shoulder osteoarthritis have weaker cartilage as the disease tends to reduce the cartilage in the bones. The reduction in cartilage affects arm movement – leading to decreased functionality of hands and arms in the patients. In other words, shoulder osteoarthritis is a condition that hampers your hand’s ability to move. The disease leads to pain and stiffens your shoulders. This pain and stiffness are caused by the degeneration taking place in the patient’s joints surface. The joint capsule thickens, as a result, further impeding shoulder rotation. Let’s discuss osteoarthritis of the shoulder in detail.

What is Osteoarthritis of Shoulders?

We have two joints in our shoulders – AC shortened for the Acromioclavicular and glenohumeral joint. In contrast, we have three bones in our shoulders; humerus, scapula, and clavicle. The humerus is the upper arm area. The scapula is another name for the shoulder blade, and the clavicle is simply the name given to collarbones. Considering shoulders have four joints in total – the two mentioned above are most prone to osteoarthritis. In management sciences, Glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis refers to shoulder arthritis as the terms shoulder and glenohumeral joint are used interchangeably. Understanding the science behind the disease significantly improves your ability to manage it. Some of the management tips for arthritis of the shoulders are discussed below. Surgical Treatments Oftentimes, arthritis can be resistant to accepting treatments. On such occasions, surgical operations and therapies are considered effective. Some of the most effective surgeries are:

Hemiarthroplasty

In hemiarthroplasty, half of the joints are replaced. To treat shoulder arthritis, this surgery replaces the head of the humerus and sometimes upper arm bone. Hemiarthroplasty is considered as one of the options to treat arthritis of glenohumeral joints.

Resection Arthroplasty

In cases when arthritis becomes non-acceptive of any surgical operation, resection arthroplasty is considered as another effective option to treat the disease. In resection arthroplasty, an artificial joint replaces the whole joint. This treatment is again used in the management of glenohumeral joints.

Arthroplasty

Commonly referred to as one of the treatments for treating Arthritis of AC joint. With arthroplasty, the end of the collarbone is removed and is filled with scar tissue.

Other Treatments

Apart from surgical treatments, practicing range-of-motion exercises is one way to increase mobility in arthritis’ patients. Most patients consider applying ice for a total of twenty minutes, every two to three times a day, to decrease pain and inflammation in bones. Regenerative medicine – stem cell therapy, specifically is another novel treatment that has taken the front seat for the way it focuses on modifying patients’ condition instead of making them live with it. Several research studies support the treatments and have mentioned their significance to a certain extent.

References:

Shoulder Osteoarthritis (Degenerative Arthritis of the Shoulder). (2021). Retrieved 6 April 2021

Kenihan, L., McTier, L., & Phillips, N. (2020). Patients’ expectations and experiences of stem cell therapy for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Health Expectations, 23(5), 1300-1309. doi: 10.1111/hex.13113