Shoulder Osteoarthritis Symptoms Causes Treatment

Infamous for the pain and the difficulties in movement it causes, arthritis is one of the most feared age-related problems. Anyone above the age of 50 years is susceptible to it. With so many types of arthritis that can potentially affect you, it can be hard to keep track of all of them. This article will give you a detailed overview of shoulder osteoarthritis, along with how to get it treated. If you aren’t sure if you should be visiting an orthopedic surgeon in Gurgaon, keep reading to know more about this health issue. 

What are the symptoms of shoulder osteoarthritis?

Usually, shoulder osteoarthritis starts with mild symptoms that gradually worsen with time. Common symptoms include:

  • Pain: Like all other types of arthritis, this is the most common and problematic symptom of shoulder osteoarthritis. 
  • Stiffness: The shoulder joint feels stiff to move, especially after waking up or after long periods of inactivity. 
  • Grating sensation: As the condition worsens, you might feel a grating sensation when trying to move your shoulder along with popping or cracking noises. 
  • Swelling: The area around the joint might also swell up due to soft tissue inflammation. 
  • Tenderness: Applying light pressure on or around the shoulder joint makes it feel tender. 
  • Bone spurs: You might feel extra bits of bone around the joint. They feel like hard lumps. 
  • Loss of flexibility: Your shoulder joint will lose flexibility, preventing the full range of motion. 

What causes shoulder osteoarthritis?

Let’s first get an understanding of what osteoarthritis means. It’s a subtype of arthritis where the cartilage in a joint start to wear out or disintegrate. Now, these cartilages serve a crucial purpose – cushioning the bones and preventing them from rubbing against each other. As a result of osteoarthritis, the bones will begin to rub against each other, which causes wear and tear. 

This is exactly what happens in case of shoulder osteoarthritis. The cartilage in the shoulder degenerates, causing the bones to come in touch with each other. The friction of the bones is where the grating sensation mentioned earlier originates from. 

Shoulder osteoarthritis treatment

Thankfully, it is possible to treat shoulder osteoarthritis through various methods. Treatment is especially easier in the early stages, before the condition deteriorates too much. Three major modes of shoulder osteoarthritis treatment are:

1. Physical exercise and therapy

Your orthopedic doctor In Gurgaon may prescribe physical therapies like assisted stretching and other exercises to help improve your condition. Common exercises prescribed for shoulder osteoarthritis include:

  • Outward shoulder rotation stretches
  • Shoulder elevation stretches
  • Pendulum swings

While these exercises and therapies can be very beneficial, you might not be able to perform them if the pain is severe. 

2. Medications

As you might have expected, shoulder osteoarthritis requires medical treatment too. Common medications for this condition include Duloxetine, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Acetaminophen, etc. 

3. Injections

Although this is an invasive method, injections are far less invasive than surgical procedures. Injections used in shoulder osteoarthritis treatment include:

  • Corticosteroids
  • Hyaluronic acid injections
  • Platelet-rich plasma injections

However, injections aren’t enough to treat osteoarthritis at advanced stages. 

4. Surgery

You might ultimately have to go for surgical treatment for shoulder osteoarthritis. An orthopedic surgeon in Gurgaon can decide what type of surgery would be the best for you. The most common ones are:

  • Total shoulder arthroplasty (Replacing the damaged areas of the bone)
  • Reverse shoulder arthroplasty (switching the position of the ball and the socket)
  • Hemiarthroplasty (replacing the damaged humerus or placing a cap over it)

Before jumping to any conclusions about what type of treatment you might need, visit a reputed clinic or hospital like Miracles Health. An experienced orthopaedic doctor In Gurgaon can evaluate your condition correctly and prescribe the best treatment method. 

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