Managing Arthritis-Related Shoulder Pain
One of our patients was struggling with persistent shoulder pain. It hurt to lift her arm overhead, and sometimes, her pain was so intense it kept her up at night. It turned out she had developed osteoarthritis in her shoulder joint–so she turned to the team at Cascade Hand & Orthopedic Rehab for help managing arthritis-related shoulder pain.
Although we often associate osteoarthritis, in particular, with the hip or knee, it can actually develop anywhere in the body, including the shoulder. Other types of arthritis–such as rheumatoid arthritis–can also affect the shoulder joint.
While there’s no cure for arthritis, several techniques can help you manage your symptoms. Certified hand and occupational therapy are especially beneficial for managing arthritis in the upper extremities. These are complex joints with a lot of moving parts, and our experts can ensure you’re receiving the right interventions for your needs.
Keep reading to learn more about our role in managing arthritis-related shoulder pain–or schedule an appointment for an initial consultation!
The Dilemma of Managing Shoulder Arthritis
One of the best things you can do to manage arthritis pain is to get active. Moving your affected joint helps keep it healthy, which means you’ll experience less pain in the long term.
Unfortunately, arthritis pain often worsens with movement, at least initially. It can also cause joint stiffness, which further makes exercise feel impossible. Our team understands this apparent dilemma and can work with you to develop a customized treatment plan that provides short-term relief so you can focus on long-term interventions.
One of the primary ways we offer short-term relief is through manual therapy. Manual therapy refers to a group of hands-on techniques that help boost blood circulation to the affected joint, helping to ease pain, reduce inflammation, and improve mobility.
For example, we might guide your shoulder through its current range of motion or use massage-like techniques to manipulate the surrounding muscles.
In some cases, we might suggest additional pain-relieving methods, such as hot or cold therapy. Either way, our goal is to help relieve your pain so you can begin targeted exercises to mobilize your shoulder joint and strengthen the surrounding tissue.
Managing Arthritis-Related Shoulder Pain with Exercise and Movement Modifications
Once we’ve helped you find acute relief, we can start working through targeted, tailored shoulder exercises. We design these exercises around your current abilities, with the goal of slowing the progression of the arthritis in your shoulder.
Exercises generally consist of mobility work to get the joint moving, then strengthening exercises targeting the rotator cuff and upper back muscles. By building strength in these areas, you can relieve some of the pressure on your shoulder joint, which helps with symptoms.
However, this process can take some time, and we recognize that you need your shoulder for all sorts of day-to-day activities! To help with this, we’ll help you identify the specific movements causing you trouble and suggest modifications or alternatives to minimize pain. The less pain you have to deal with, the easier it is for you to work through your prescribed exercises–and the better results you’ll experience.
Schedule an Appointment To Get Started
Managing arthritis-related shoulder pain is absolutely possible, especially when you’re working with the hand and occupational therapists at Cascade Hand & Orthopedic Rehab in FL. To learn more about how we can help you address your specific needs, schedule an initial consultation today.