Shoulder joint
Shoulder joints are the most mobile in our body: they can complete a 360 degree rotation, if they are in good health. The appearance of trouble and pains often causes the person to limit shoulder and arm movements, which consequently leads to the progressive immobilization and loss of movement capacity. Such immobilizations are known as: hypotonia of the related muscles, contractures at neck, shoulders and back which are due to work overload needed to compensate the movement deficiency.
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The shoulder is similar to a crossroads of bones, muscles and tendons.
It is constituted by the shoulder girdle complex, four communicating articulations
connected by muscular fascia which regulate the mobility between the trunk and the
upper limbs. This type of structure allows for greater mobility, but on the other
side stability is more difficult to maintain, as these four joints (glenohumeral,
sternoclavicular, acromioclavicular, scapulothoracic) must work together to maintain
a healthy balance.
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In fact, a lot of the shoulder related pathologies are concerned with the capsule, which has the function of maintaining stability,
and the rotary cuff which is in charge of mobility. These types of pathologies often happen at a younger age (from 35 on) whereas degenerative processes such as osteoarthritis usually start to show after 60 years of age. Traumatic events such as fractures and damages strike all ages of people, often because of heavy sport and work activities.
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Wrong habits lead to a chronic disorder
We have seen how the shoulder is composed of muscular complexes which steady each other.
If you overload a muscle with a wrong, repeated behaviour, other muscles have to compensate for the imbalances
and are then themselves stressed. This stress, when extended in time, worsens and can cause the contracture of a single muscle or of the entire area.
When we ignore the pain, which is the alarm signal sent by our body,
we contribute to the degeneration of the situation: inflammation with acute pain, progressive limitation of movement up to the “freezing” of the articulation.
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Prevention first
Prevention is the magical word to avoid the above described unpleasant situation of progressive states of pain with functional limitations; this can be done
with a correct postural hygiene. Teaching it in school would be appropriate, and body perception should be learnt as well. Prevention means also doing
periodical check-ups starting from the age of 30, to ensure a better quality of life in the years to come.
If you really can’t avoid the pain, don’t ignore it and don’t kill it with anti-inflammatory drugs, but cure it starting from the cause. The physiotherapist cannot and must not replace an orthopaedic specialist or a physiatrist who have to, first of all, rule out the possibility of serious pathologies such as cysts or degenerations, breaking or fraying of tendons.
Once the diagnosis has been established, you will be in the hands of the rehabilitation specialists.
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