There are many patients who have frozen shoulder in clinical practice. So, what exactly is “frozen shoulder”?
Currently, there is a lot of confusion about the diagnostic usage of “frozen shoulder”.
There are generally three meanings.
First, shoulder pain, unclear diagnosis
This means a “waste paper basket” diagnosis, a diagnosis that is not well understood, which is still relatively common in China.
Second, it refers to the pain syndrome that causes shoulder dysfunction
The term “frozen shoulder” in the broad sense has been used less and less, and has been replaced by a more accurate diagnostic term. These include: rotator cuff tear, calcific supraspinatus tendonitis, subacromial bursitis, biceps longus tendon tendinitis, rostral or rostro-humeral ligamentitis, frozen shoulder, acromioclavicular arthritis, suprascapular nerve entrapment, subacromial impingement, and other specific localized and qualitative terms.
Third, it refers specifically to “frozen shoulder”.
The exact cause of “frozen shoulder” is not known, but it may be related to autoimmune reaction or endocrine disorder. For example, many people are found to have diabetes mellitus in combination with poor glycemic control. In general, patients feel that there may be no cause. As long as the shoulder joint is made immobile or less mobile, the disease may occur over time. As a result of the lack of movement of the joint, local metabolism is impaired and blood and lymphatic circulation is blocked, resulting in degenerative changes, exudation and fibrosis around the joint such as the joint capsule, rotator cuff, biceps tendon and rostro-humeral ligament, which greatly restrict the movement of the shoulder joint. This disease is also known as “fifty shoulder” because of its high incidence around the age of fifty, and in Chinese medicine it is called “frozen shoulder” or “leaky shoulder”. The main symptom is pain in the shoulder, especially at night. There is a significant restriction in the forward flexion, abduction and internal and external rotation of the shoulder joint. Over time, deltoid atrophy can occur, and the patient will have dysfunction in raising the arm, washing the face, combing the hair, and tying the buckle.
Well, the condition is introduced, and the following is how to treat it. Because I found in the clinic that the majority of patients who came to see the doctor have gone through inappropriate treatment, such as just a large number of painkillers to treat, find someone else to massage hard, hard to break, a hot water heat therapy and so on. In fact, they all miss the best opportunity for treatment. The best opportunity is at the time of the onset of the disease, and often through reasonable rest and ice treatment can get a rapid and complete recovery. In fact, patients who come to the clinic are usually very late, and the course of the disease is usually more than 3 months old. This treatment can only be obtained through a longer scientific rehabilitation. What is scientific rehabilitation? The following is a brief description.
Principle: The general “trilogy” of treatment for frozen shoulder.
1, hot compress: the temperature can be around 40 degrees, hot towels are not as easy to control the temperature as hot water bags. Each time 20-30 minutes is enough. It can properly promote local blood circulation and help with the next step of functional exercise of the shoulder joint.
2. Shoulder joint functional exercise: The most common functional deficiencies of the shoulder joint in patients are abduction (shoulder lift), external rotation and internal rotation (shoulder turn), etc.. So the content method of exercise also mainly revolves around the deficient functions.
The main movements are as follows.
(1) Bending and turning the shoulder
(2) Finger climbing wall
(3) The normal side of the shoulder and hand help pull the affected side of the hand and shoulder.
Two main movements are included: internal retraction (in front of the chest) and internal rotation (behind the back)
(4) The affected shoulder and upper arm are held close to the side of the body and the normal side hand is used to push the affected forearm to the outside (0 degree external rotation of the shoulder joint)
(5) Pulley pulling exercise
The action is important, is to try to make each action to the maximum extent, that is, feel more pain, or feel to the limit. However, special attention needs to be paid to never over-involvement, so as not to cause unnecessary damage. This degree in your exercise is gradually experienced. When the action reached the maximum degree after, generally maintain 1-2 minutes on it.
Above the main 5 kinds of movements, as long as you practice a cycle can be completely. If there is no condition, E action is not necessary to practice. The other movements are well practiced, you can get good results.
3, the last part of the 3-part series is the ice, is also extremely critical one. Because in the process of exercise, the tissues around your shoulder joint are stretched to the maximum extent, so it is likely to cause swelling or even small bleeding of the tissues, and it is necessary to cool down such tissues to reduce the further aggravation of the limited mobility of the shoulder joint caused by tissue damage and bleeding.
Of course, the point to note here is that after these 3 steps of exercise every day, the pain can be restored to the level of the previous day or even lighter the next day. If there is a significant tendency to aggravate the pain, it means that the method of exercise may be incorrect or the exercise is too much, etc., and you need to find a doctor immediately for another consultation.
After the above 3-part exercise, generally 3-6 months, you will see obvious results. During the whole process, there is usually no need to take any pain medication. The majority of people do not have pain to the extent that it needs to be reduced with medication.