With the change in lifestyle and work environment, many people encounter shoulder pain and even cannot lift their arms. In the summer, when the heat forces people closer to air-conditioned rooms, there are even more citizens who experience shoulder pain. Once patients encounter shoulder pain, they think they have frozen shoulder and undergo treatment and rehabilitation, but the results are often unsatisfactory and even increasingly painful. ”Shoulder pain is not the same as ‘frozen shoulder’. Many patients are the result of misunderstanding and misdiagnosis, delaying the condition and even causing serious consequences.” Arm weakness can’t lift, turns out to be rotator cuff injury Mr. Yuan, 59 years old, half a year ago the shoulder joint activities to a certain angle when the pain and weakness, arm can’t lift. He often woke up at night with pain and could not lie on his side, and the pain lasted for more than half a year. Recently, the condition worsened in February, and even difficulty in dressing and bathing appeared. Mr. Yuan went to many hospitals and was treated as “frozen shoulder”. He took western medicine, Chinese medicine, physiotherapy, tui-na, acupuncture and other treatments, and also followed medical advice to exercise, climb the wall, hoop and other activities, but he still did not see any improvement, and his condition would even worsen after each exercise. Finally, he went to Dr. Ding’s shoulder clinic to find out that he had a rotator cuff injury, and that the condition was already serious. After he treated him with minimally invasive shoulder arthroscopy, he was able to recover. “There are many patients with rotator cuff injury like Mr. Yuan, who mistook it for ‘frozen shoulder’.” Dr. Ding said to the reporter. The term “frozen shoulder” is a 150-year-old diagnosis, but with the development of shoulder surgery, doctors have realized that there are many diseases that cause shoulder joint pain. The incidence of so-called “frozen shoulder” is only 2-5%. Among older adults over 60 years of age who visit the doctor for shoulder pain, rotator cuff injury and acromioclavicular impingement have the highest incidence, at 85%, while shoulder instability accounts for 10%. Although the name of rotator cuff injury is very unfamiliar to the general public, the disease is familiar to many middle-aged and elderly people. ”Rotator cuff injuries are characterized by shoulder pain, weakness in lifting, resting pain, waking up at night with pain, and inability to lie on one’s side. “Subacromial impingement” is typically characterized by chronic dull pain in the shoulder that is aggravated by lifting or abduction activities. “Shoulder instability” is pain in the shoulder and fear of movement of the shoulder joint in a certain direction. ”These symptoms are distinctly different from the stiffness of the joint, the difficulty in rotating the arm backward and outward, and the impact on daily life, as shown by frozen shoulder. People should pay attention to this.” Dr. Ding said. Self-diagnosis and blind exercise are extremely risky It is important to note that misdiagnosis of shoulder joint disease not only makes patients suffer from the disease, but more dangerously, it causes further damage because of incorrect treatment and rehabilitation. ”Many patients think they have frozen shoulder, and when they hear others say that “climbing the wall” or “pulling the hoop” can cure them, they blindly exercise. This behavior is actually very dangerous.” If a patient with rotator cuff injury continues to do exercises such as “pulling the hoop”, it may cause the rotator cuff to continue to expand and form a large or irreparable tear, aggravating the injury. If a patient with shoulder instability is misdiagnosed as frozen shoulder and given the wrong rehabilitation treatment, it may be more likely to cause dislocation. Therefore, Dr. Ding suggests that patients with shoulder pain and shoulder joint disorders should not blindly perform rehabilitation exercises in their daily life. If pain occurs when performing certain activities on the shoulder, they should avoid it accordingly; seek a clear diagnosis from a professional sports medicine or shoulder surgeon before receiving different treatments.