What you know and don’t know about “periarthritis of shoulder”

This is the 3919th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

The term "periarthritis of shoulder" is widely used in my country. All diseases and pains of shoulder joints are considered "periarthritis of shoulder" by the public. Once you have shoulder pain and limited mobility, many friends and relatives around you will tell you not to worry, it will get better on its own, and you can "climb the wall" and it will get better slowly. But it hurts when you move, and you can't exercise. What should you do? This article will reveal what you know and don't know about "periarthritis of shoulder".

First of all, we must figure out what disease you have. In common cases, through symptoms, physical examination, and objective imaging examinations such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, doctors can determine whether you have "shoulder stiffness" caused by "rotator cuff injury" or idiopathic "adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder joint", which is commonly known as "frozen shoulder" or "frozen shoulder" in a narrow sense. If the shoulder stiffness is caused by "rotator cuff injury", it is more complicated. For details, please see the first issue of our magazine on bone and muscle diseases: Why does it take so long for me to get better after I have "periarthritis of the shoulder"? Why is it getting more and more painful?

If the doctor clarifies that you have "adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder", it is a blessing in disguise. In fact, it may be mainly adhesion of the glenohumeral joint caused by synovial inflammation. Traditional Chinese medicine calls it "frozen shoulder" and "frozen shoulder", which very intuitively reflects the feeling that the shoulder joint is "frozen", that is, limited movement is the most prominent symptom. At the same time, there is a more specific age of onset "fifty", that is, middle-aged people around 50 years old. In general, this disease is considered to be a self-limiting disease, with a course of three months to one year. Its process can be divided into three overlapping stages: pain stage → stiffness and freezing stage → recovery and dissolution stage. The symptoms of pain and limited movement may appear alternately in each stage.

However, not all cases of "adhesive capsulitis" will have a good outcome. Some patients will experience long-term chronic shoulder pain and limited mobility. Or patients cannot tolerate the dysfunction and pain during the disease and seek medical support. At this time, systematic treatment of the disease is needed.

Patients with simple idiopathic "adhesive capsulitis" should not have structural damage to the rotator cuff and glenohumeral joint, which determines whether you should move less or more. If there is structural damage, rest and immobilization are still very necessary, otherwise it will cause further structural damage and worsen the condition.

However, if it is really idiopathic adhesion of the glenohumeral joint caused by bursitis, then we can relieve the freezing of the patient's shoulder joint through acupuncture, massage, drug therapy, guiding exercises and even Chinese medicine traumatology techniques.

Among the contemporary traditional Chinese medical treatments, the mature and reliable method of releasing shoulder adhesions under anesthesia has solved the pain of countless patients for decades.

I hope that by reading this article, you can better understand "shoulder periarthritis" and "thaw" it soon.

Author: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Feng Shengyi, Li Bo from Orthopedic Trauma Center

Quyang Road Community Health Service Center, Hongkou District, Shanghai

Acupuncture and Traumatology Lu Wenting