A shoulder joint that will not move and aches all the time is, in most cases, frozen shoulder, known medically as adhesive capsulitis. Writing in Prothom Alo, Professor Dr G M Jahangir Hossain of the orthopaedic surgery department at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital says it usually heals on its own, but can take 5 to 9 months, or even 18 months. Without proper treatment and exercise in that time, the joint risks becoming permanently stiff.
The condition passes through three stages. In the first, the shoulder hurts and movement becomes limited, usually for 6 to 12 weeks. In the middle stage the shoulder stiffens or freezes and the pain eases a little; this lasts 4 to 6 months. In the final stage the stiffness slowly lifts and the pain falls further, a phase that goes on for more than a year.
People aged 40 to 60 are most affected, and women twice as often as men, he writes. Those at higher risk include people with diabetes or thyroid disease; with heart disease, lung disease, stroke, parkinsonism or arthritis; and people who have not moved the shoulder for a long time after head or shoulder surgery or a shoulder injury.
The signs include constant shoulder pain that is worse at night and in winter; movement of the shoulder or arm limited in every direction; being unable to lift things or raise the arm; difficulty dressing or doing up buttons; being unable to sleep on the stiff shoulder because of pain; and being unable to reach a back trouser pocket.
Exercise is the main treatment, Professor Hossain says, but the cause must be found first and the right treatment given. Once treatment starts, recovery takes 3 to 6 months. Treatments include stretching exercises for the joint capsule and soft tissue, steroid injections into the joint, and saline therapy into the joint.
If these do not work, an arthroscope is passed into the joint through a small opening to release the capsule and decompress the space beneath the acromion.
Writer: Professor Dr G M Jahangir Hossain, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bangladesh Specialized Hospital, Shyamoli, Dhaka.
Source: Prothom Alo
Comments
(0)