1.What is frozen shoulder?
Frozen shoulder is a chronic inflammation of the muscles, tendons, bursa, joint capsule and other soft tissues around the shoulder joint. Therefore, it is also called “frozen shoulder” and “frozen shoulder syndrome”. It is a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people, so it is also known as “fifty shoulders”.
2.What are the symptoms of frozen shoulder?
There are three main clinical symptoms of frozen shoulder.
Pain: Pain is the main manifestation of frozen shoulder. Most of the pain is located in the front and outside of the shoulder, and can be radiated to the elbow, hand and scapular area. The pain is persistent and often pronounced at night.
Functional impairment: Shoulder movement is limited, and pain is obvious when moving. Shoulder abduction, external rotation, and posterior extension are the main limitations. In severe cases, the shoulder is in internal rotation position and muscle atrophy is obvious. The shoulder joint is stiff and uncomfortable, and active and passive activities are limited.
Compression pain: There is pressure pain in the anterior, lateral and posterior aspects of the shoulder joint. The pressure pain is most pronounced at the long head of the biceps tendon. There is also pressure pain under the shoulder peak and at the deltoid stop.
3.What are the main pathological changes of frozen shoulder?
The shoulder tissues, such as the subacromial bursa, the tendon sheath and the long head biceps tendon, may have degenerative changes of varying degrees.
Aseptic inflammation of the joint capsule and surrounding soft tissues can lead to adhesions between the tendon sheath and the tendon sheath and the soft tissues around the joint, reducing the elasticity of the tissues and eventually leading to joint contracture, resulting in so-called “shoulder coagulation” and “frozen shoulder”.
4.How many stages of frozen shoulder can be divided according to the development of the disease?
Frozen shoulder has a long course, which can be repeated for several months or even about 2 years. Sometimes it can stop at different stages of the disease, the pain disappears and the functional activities of the shoulder are gradually restored, therefore, according to the different processes of the disease, clinically, frozen shoulder can be divided into 3 stages: acute stage, adhesive stage and remission stage. The acute phase lasts for about 1 month, and sometimes it can last for 2 to 3 months, while the adhesive phase: the disease lasts for about 2 to 3 months. The remission phase: As a self-limiting disease, most patients have a tendency to heal on their own, which usually takes about six months to a year. However, the time of self-healing cannot be predicted in severe cases.
5.What are the main triggers of frozen shoulder?
Bad posture: catback-like arching and shrugging of the shoulders, increased burden on the neck and back muscles, asymmetric and uneven distribution. This posture for a long time will increase the local muscle tension and cause chronic strain and inflammation, which will lead to frozen shoulder.
Muscle wasting: Due to occupation and work, the wrist and fingers are often used, while the shoulder and neck hardly move, and the muscles are in a stiff state, which can also cause frozen shoulder, called wrist-derived frozen shoulder.
Long time in a certain posture: Even if the posture is normal, being in a certain posture for a long time can cause excessive tension in some muscles of the neck, shoulder and back, and even strain, which can induce frozen shoulder. For example, some female patients like to do cross-stitching, some should play mahjong, use computer, etc.
6.What is Frozen Shoulder of Wrist Origin?
Due to the occupation and work, the wrist and fingers are often used, while the shoulder and neck hardly move, and the muscles are in a stiff state, which can also cause frozen shoulder, called wrist-derived frozen shoulder.
7.How to develop good habits to prevent the occurrence of frozen shoulder?
In order to effectively prevent the occurrence of frozen shoulder, we need to adopt the correct posture and good habits in our daily life.