Pain in the arm in the shoulder joint is a very unpleasant symptom, which significantly complicates a person's life. Therefore, if discomfort occurs, treatment should be started immediately. To make it as effective as possible, it is necessary to understand how the shoulder joint is arranged, what are the possible causes of its damage. Also from the materials of this article you will learn about the basic methods of diagnosing this pathology.
Anatomy of the shoulder joint
The shoulder joint has a unique structure. The forearm bone and articular cavity located on the scapula are connected by means of a so-called bag and an auxiliary ligament. On the edge of the cavity there is a small cartilaginous outgrowth. It is called the joint lip. Rotator cuff is a system of small ligaments and muscles. It allows you to continuously keep the joint in one position, preventing dislocations and providing a set of various movements. That is why the strength of the shoulder joint depends directly on the surrounding muscles and ligaments.
Such a special anatomical structure allows the upper extremities to easily perform a huge range of movements and at the same time be a convenient tool for labor. When there is pain in the arm in the shoulder joint, the amount of manipulation is immediately limited, which affects the quality of human life.
The nature of discomfort directly depends on the cause, which affected its appearance. Pain can differ both in short-term and paroxysmal nature, be acute or aching. In view of the variety of causes of pathology, one should not try to make a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment on their own. In case of discomfort, it is recommended to consult a doctor without delay.
Factors contributing to the development of shoulder pain
Experts call a number of risk factors that cause the onset of pain syndrome.
- Incorrect posture (stoop and scoliosis deform the collarbone and affect the entire humerus).
- Excessive physical exertion (athletes, loaders, workers of conveyors most often suffer from this pathology).
- A low-active lifestyle can lead to stagnant phenomena in the shoulder, which is always accompanied by pain syndrome.
- Unbalanced nutrition leads to a deficiency of nutrients and promotes the deposition of salts on the joints.
Often the causes of soreness in the shoulder joint are the result of serious diseases. These include osteochondrosis, arthritis and arthrosis, bursitis and others. Consider each variant of the disease, its causes and characteristic symptoms in more detail.
Injuries and injuries
Since the shoulder joint is the most complex and at the same time brittle joint in the human body, this means that it is more prone to injury than others. Damage can be of a domestic nature (falling on the arm), professional (sudden movements, lifting weights) and sporty.
The left hand is injured several times less often, because most people on our planet are right-handed. The most common type of mechanical damage is a bruise. Patients usually do not pay much attention to this pathology, hoping that it will pass by itself. However, this is a serious mistake, bruises are not always harmless. Patients develop a tissue hematoma, which resolves itself after a few weeks, and with it the pain disappears in the humeral joint of the right arm. Sometimes, a bruise can damage the joint bag. In this case, there is no need to expect a quick recovery. In order not to face complications, it is necessary to consult the doctor in a timely manner and undergo appropriate treatment.
Another common type of injury is dislocation and subluxation. In the latter case, the head of the humerus literally slips out of the articular cavity, after which it rises into place independently. When the dislocation of the bone completely leaves the joint cavity. Often this pathology is accompanied by ruptures of the capsule and ligaments. The patient has pain in the shoulder joint of the right hand, he can not take the limb back or forth. It is absolutely forbidden to set sprains independently. Before this, it is necessary to check the joint for fractures, and this can only be done by means of radiography or MRI.
Pathology of internal organs
Pain in the shoulder joint of the left arm is usually taken as a manifestation of osteochondrosis. However, such discomfort often signals serious pathologies of internal organs. These include angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.
In the first case, pain is given to the shoulder and arm. With angina pectoris patients complain of shortness of breath after physical exertion and constant pressure in the chest area. Sometimes the pain in the shoulder joint of the left arm is the only symptom that indicates the disease.
With myocardial infarction, the classic clinical picture, as a rule, is as follows: shortness of breath, burning in the chest. In some cases, the pathology is indicated only by discomfort in the region of the shoulder girdle and neck. As a rule, it is the left shoulder joint that worries.
Pain in the arm in the shoulder joint may occur due to osteochondrosis affecting the cervical spine. In order to understand exactly where the source of discomfort is, you need to make a circular motion with your shoulder. When there is reflected pain, it immediately makes itself felt. Otherwise, discomfort occurs when you turn or tilt the neck, giving the entire length of the arm.
This disorder develops from the fact that bony growths affect and even injure nerves. Depending on the localization of the pain syndrome, the doctor can tell which vertebrae are affected. To assess the full clinical picture, patients are assigned radiography, MRI and ultrasound. Based on the results of the analysis, tactics of treatment are built.
Arthritis develops against inflammation and is associated with changes in degenerative nature or with rheumatoid processes. With this disease, patients complain of severe pain in the shoulder joint when raising their hand. Discomfort is aggravated with the passage of time.
Arthritis is clearly visible on the radiograph. Therapy means taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the course of exercise therapy. Lack of timely therapy can lead to disability.
Osteoarthritis is accompanied by dystrophy and degeneration of cartilage tissue with their subsequent ossification. As the disease progresses, they become thinner, which provokes intense friction of the bones against each other. With arthrosis, the pain in the arm in the shoulder joint is accompanied by a characteristic crunch. The thing is that the cartilaginous tissue eventually transforms into bone tissue, as a result of which many osteophyte processes are formed. Motor activity decreases. Osteoarthritis for a very long time may not manifest itself. As a result, the mobility of the joint decreases, the shoulder quickly becomes tired even after a minor load, and the pain accompanies the patient for a whole day.
Osteoarthritis belongs to the category of incurable diseases. However, modern therapeutic methods can slow the development of the disease, reduce the likelihood of complications to a minimum.
Bursitis (inflammation of the joint bag) occurs against the background of wear of the joint with systematic pressure or overload of the shoulder. With this disease, the patient feels pain after any contact to the shoulder, stiffness in the joint, and discomfort when moving. As the disease develops, the affected area becomes swollen, numb and significantly increases muscle tone. LFK and acupuncture are used for treatment.
Inflammatory processes in the tendon develop due to arthritis, gout or muscle strain. Aching pain in the shoulder joint of the right arm or left, local temperature increase, swelling - these symptoms are accompanied by tendonitis. When you move the limb you can hear a slight crunching.
To diagnose the disease, ultrasonography and MRI are usually used. With the help of X-rays, tendonitis can not be detected. Treatment is based on the exclusion of physical exertion, immobilization of the shoulder joint. To remove the pain syndrome, physiotherapy, anesthetics are used. With a purulent form of tendonitis, surgical intervention is indicated.
This is a rare, but painful pathology, accompanied by inflammation of the joint capsule. Muscles acquire stiffness, as if frozen, which affects the amplitude of rotational movements. Discomfort covers the entire shoulder joint. Pain when raising the arm is very strong, so patients with this diagnosis can not work and perform the usual actions.
The reasons for the development of the capsulitis are not fully understood. It is assumed that a certain role in the emergence of the disease belongs to diabetes mellitus and pathologies of the circulatory system. Also capsulitis develops in people who have cancer in history, who underwent surgery on the shoulder joint. Diagnosis of the disease with the help of arthrography. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for treatment. In addition, prescribe a course of exercise therapy. Surgical intervention is required in exceptional cases.
Methods of diagnosis
Many patients come to see a doctor with complaints of pain in the right shoulder. The causes of the disorder can be recognized only after a complete examination. It is very important not to miss the onset of the pathological process. When the first symptoms appear, you should consult a specialist. Palpation, physical examination is the initial stage of diagnosis. Then the doctor, proceeding from the received clinical picture, directs the patient on the further inspection for acknowledgment or refutation of the initial diagnosis. Usually it includes the following procedures.
- Radiography . It allows to determine the severity of changes in the cartilaginous tissue, the presence of bruises and bone injuries.
- MRI . This method of diagnosis is aimed at maximally informative examination of the shoulder girdle. With the help of it you can identify arthritis, osteoarthritis and other ailments.
- CT . This study is a painless joint scan to identify dystrophic, inflammatory and degenerative processes.
- Laboratory examination of blood and urine.
After a comprehensive diagnosis, the doctor can prescribe an individual treatment of pain in the shoulder joint of the hand. For the purpose of the course of therapy, it is important to take into account the age of the individual patient, the presence of concomitant diseases of a chronic nature, and also the characteristics of the organism.
In mild cases, when the pain is caused by hypothermia or overload, specific therapy is not required. To restore it quickly, the affected area can be applied with a warming ointment or a compress.
In case of injury, it is necessary to attach ice to the shoulder, immobilize the hand and contact the trauma specialist. After an X-ray examination, the doctor prescribes appropriate treatment.
The first sign of bursitis, arthritis and arthrosis is pain in the shoulder joint of the right arm. The treatment should initially be aimed at fighting the underlying pathology, after which the unpleasant sensations go away by themselves. As a rule, complex medication is prescribed, the main goal of which is to eliminate the mechanisms of development of the disease. For this, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ("Naise", "Ketorol", "Diclofenac") are used. These drugs are highly effective, rarely cause side effects.
Separately, we should talk about ointments and gels. These funds are very effective in the pathology of joints, as they are applied directly to the affected area. The active ingredients penetrate deeply into the inflamed structures, which allows you to quickly eliminate the pathological process and relieve muscle tone.
After drug therapy, a course of rehabilitation is recommended to restore the motor functions of ligaments. To this end, the patient is prescribed a massage, therapeutic exercise, reflexology. Surgery is indicated in especially serious cases, when the pathological process affects the entire shoulder joint.
Pain when raising a hand: treatment with folk remedies
It should not be written off the national funds. The combination of prescriptions of alternative medicine with conservative treatment allows to accelerate the restoration of the joint and prevent the development of complications.
- If you are concerned about the pain of the shoulder joint when you pull your arm back, you can make a special rubbing. To make it, you need to mix 3 spoons of lilac flowers, burdock root and 3 red peppers. Ingredients should be filled with a liter of alcohol and left for three days. The resulting medicine can be rubbed into the affected area several times a day until complete cure.
- Well helps with pain ointment, cooked on lard. It is necessary to melt 100 g of pork fat, add a pinch of red pepper, 3 teaspoons of St. John's wort and a saber. Ointment is recommended to rub into the affected joint before going to sleep.
- The vinegar compress perfectly corrects pain in the shoulder joint of the left arm. Treatment initially involves the preparation of a special solution. To do this, in 0.5 liters of water, you need to add a spoonful of 9% vinegar. The resulting solution is moistened with a piece of linen cloth and applied to a painful shoulder. It is better to leave the compress at night.
These recipes help to reduce the manifestation of pain in the shoulder joint, as well as prevent the development of complications.
It is easier to prevent any disease than to treat it later. This rule applies to all pathologies affecting the shoulder joint. Pain when raising a hand, which often accompanies arthritis and capsulitis, can be prevented if one follows simple rules.
First and foremost, doctors advise that you regularly exercise. It is not necessary to do sports professionally, enough morning exercises. Yoga and swimming are great for strengthening joints.
In addition, you need to monitor the diet. It should be balanced, rich in vitamins and trace elements. Timely treatment of infectious diseases is the guarantee of good health. If you wear warm clothes in bad weather, you can avoid hypothermia.
If you have aching pain in the shoulder joint of the left arm or right arm, you need to find out the cause of the pathology. To solve this problem without the help of a qualified specialist is indispensable. Only after a comprehensive examination the doctor will be able to make a final diagnosis and guarantee adequate therapy. It is not recommended to engage in self-medication, because this will only aggravate the course of the pathological process. Be healthy!