Courtesy of Getty Image Bank
If the movements of the elderly who have not seen each other for a long time during Chuseok are not natural, geriatric diseases may be suspected. Frozen shoulder, a typical geriatric disease, can be easily recognized by the general public. You can check the health and safety of the elderly just by checking the characteristic movements.
According to Kwon Ji-eun, a professor of orthopedic surgery at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, the onset of a frozen shoulder often occurs around the age of 50. Also called freeze-drying or adhesive capsulitis. This disease causes inflammation around the shoulder joint, which limits the range of motion. Recently, the number of young frozen shoulder patients who develop a frozen shoulder before the age of 50 is increasing rapidly.
Frozen shoulder often occurs for no apparent reason, but it can also occur after a shoulder injury, hand, wrist, or elbow injury. If the hand, wrist, or elbow is injured, the range of motion of the shoulder decreases due to the inability to use the entire arm due to fixation treatment, etc., and a frozen shoulder may occur. If you have a systemic disease such as diabetes or thyroid gland, there is a high probability that you will develop a frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder occurs frequently among breast cancer patients.
Frozen shoulder is often felt first by the patient in daily life. If you feel pain while brushing your hair, raising your hands, taking things out of the back seat of a car, or taking out a wallet from your back pocket, you may have a frozen shoulder. This disease can be suspected when the movement of lifting the arm is uncomfortable rather than just shoulder pain.
Most of the frozen shoulder can be cured with conservative treatment. In the acute phase of severe pain, the pain can be controlled with medication or injection therapy. At this time, it is better to limit the exercise that lifts heavy objects or uses the muscle strength of the shoulder excessively. After that, it is important to gradually increase the range of motion of the shoulder through gradual stretching.
When the limitation of the range of motion is resolved to some extent, strength training to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder should be performed. If you have pain and discomfort to the extent that it interferes with your daily life despite continued conservative treatment for 6 months to 1 year or more, you can consider surgical treatment in consultation with a specialist.
Frozen shoulder patients sometimes misunderstand that they should not use their arms at all. Contrary to popular belief, stretching exercises are essential to increase the shoulder range of motion. Excessive restriction of movement may actually worsen the limitation of the shoulder’s range of motion and worsen the pain. However, it is recommended that patients undergoing treatment for a frozen shoulder should refrain from exercising excessively using the muscle strength of the shoulder.
Exercises such as Pilates or yoga that use all the muscles of the body when stretching should be avoided. This is because the muscles used for stretching that are effective for the frozen shoulder and those that are not are not clearly distinguished. If you suffer from frozen shoulder, it is necessary to consult with a specialist before starting the exercise to exclude as much muscle-strength movement as possible. In the case of golf, which is popular among young people, it is recommended to practice simple movements such as putting because the risk of injury is high if a full swing is performed while the shoulder range of motion is limited.
Frozen shoulder is often cured naturally, but if the pain is left unattended for a long time, it can interfere with daily life. Sleep disorders are an example. Professor Kwon said, “If the frozen shoulder is left untreated, the limitation of the shoulder range of motion may worsen and treatment may become difficult. It is better to be actively treated,” he said.