Arthritis simply means joint inflammation and the trigger for the inflammation of shoulder arthritis can vary.
The commonest types of shoulder arthritis are:
shoulder osteoarthritis
shoulder rheumatoid arthritis
shoulder arthritis after trauma - often simply called post-traumatic arthritis
These different kinds of arthritis can also affect different parts of the shoulder joint area.
The shoulder joint itself is a ball and socket joint between the head of the humerus bone and the glenoid part of the shoulder blade. But dont forget that the nearby joint between the acromion part of the shoulder blade and the collar bone is also part of the shoulder joint complex. This nearby joint is called the Acromio-Clavicular joint or the A-C joint for short.
What causes Shoulder Arthritis
Osteoarthritis is often described as "wear and tear" arthritis. This kind of shoulder arthritis is more common after the age of fifty years and usually occurs as a longer term consequence of previous injury. Osteoarthritis shoulder arthritis is more common in the A-C joint than in the main ball and socket joint of the shoulder but can occur at both sites.
Rheumatoid Arthritis is a condition that affects joints all over the body. It more commonly affects the small joints of the hands and feet in a both-sided symmetrical way. But shoulder arthritis can arise in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis disease.
Post-traumatic shoulder arthritis arises after injury to the shoulder joint - such as a fracture or dislocation. It can also develop after a tear of the rotator cuff muscles.
How to diagnose Shoulder Arthritis
Your doctor or therapist will begin the diagnosis of shoulder arthritis with a simple examination. They will examine your shoulder joint, muscles and the nerves of the upper arm. Your cervical spine (or neck) will also be examined - along with your upper back or thoracic spine.
Shoulder arthritis causes pain. If the arthritis is in the A-C joint then you will feel the pain at the tip of the shoulder. If the shoulder arthritis is affecting the main ball and socket joint then the pain is felt over the deltoid muscle or towards the back of the shoulder area.
The pain is typically gradual and slow in onset but progressively gets worse as time goes by. Stiffness also often develops and you doctor may find a loss of movement range on examination.
Somtimes patients with shoulder arthritis hear or feel a crunching sound when they move their joint - but you should realise that this sort of noise is common and does not always indicate an underlying problem - it can occur in a perfectly normal joint. This noise is called crepitus.
If shoulder arthritis is advanced then the sufferer will have very limited movement range and will often experience a constant severe pain with pain at night and difficulty in sleeping.
Your doctor may organise an x-ray or an MRI scan of your shoulder when assessing for possible shoulder arthritis.
Blood tests might also be performed - particularly if rheumatoid arthritis is thought to be present.
The treatment of shoulder arthritis will in part depend on the cause that your doctor or therapist discovers.
You should try to rest the shoulder for part of each day and you might also want to consider making small modifications to the way you perform your day to day activities
Ice treatment helps some with shoulder arthritis - but, paradoxically, heat helps others. You simply have to try both and see what works best for you.
Rheumatoid arthritis treatment involves a different approach and needs input from a specialist in rheumatology.
Other treatment options for shoulder arthritis include:
painkiller or anti-inflammation medication
physical therapy from a physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath
heat or ice treatment
acupuncture
diet supplements with glucosamine or chondroitin
injection into the joint with anti-inflammatory steroid or more recently with compounds such as synvisc
