Periarthritis humeroscapularis is commonly known as painful shoulder syndrome or frozen shoulder. The syndrome usually happens to one should but there have been cases where both shoulders have the syndrome or alternate syndrome. The onset occurs at age about 50 but there are also cases happening to people between aged 30 and 40. The onset could occur to laboring workers or people working with brain. The lack of effective treatment will make the shoulder joint adhesive, resulting in limited joint activities and forming the so-called “frozen shoulder,” which could seriously affect life and work. Periarthritis humeroscapularis may be partial lesion but it is generally recognized as related to weak blood and circulation and deficiency of vitality.

• Weak Blood and Circulation

The liver and kidney function starts to decline by the age of 50; the deficiency of blood and circulation will prevent the tendon from receiving full nutrients and could result in diseases with tense tendon, making it difficult to stretch.

• Cold and Dampness

Living in damp place where it is windy and rainy, or feeling cold on the shoulder when sleeping could draw and retain coldness in the blood, muscle and tendon. The tendon will become tight, painful and difficult to stretch if cold.

• Trauma and Strain

Shoulder joint is the large joint with the most extensive activity range and particularly the joint capsule becomes loosened. The power of peripheral muscle, tendon and ligament around the shoulder are most likely to maintain the stability of shoulder joints. Degeneration is more likely to occur as one ages. On the other hand, more frequent activities will happen to shoulder joints in daily life and labor, the peripheral soft tissues are subject to pulling and friction from all areas. Consequently, chronic fatigue could occur, causing ligament, tendon, joint capsule and other soft tissues to congest, swell, exudate, and thicken, which will eventually become adhesive. The ligament inflammation or calcification around shoulder joint will cause severe disability in shoulder joint activities. Additionally, pay attention to avoiding sudden and strong motion during activities after reaching middle age. Pay attention to cold and warm living and develop the habits of injury prevention for all activities, including pushing, pulling, dragging, picking and others. Avoid exerting excessive force.

Self-Care Instructions

• Massage the muscle to make it relaxed.
• Rub the muscle on deltoid of the shoulder (round thick deltoid) with fingers and press.
• Then pinch the muscle near the shoulder for in-depth massage
• Then, try to lift the affected extremity to do joint activities, including lifting up, back stretch, horizontal lift (outward stretch) and circular rotating motions.
• Acupuncture point massage:

Choose the shoulder lifting acupuncture point with special effect (about 2 inches up from underarm when the arm is dropped vertically and strong sore sensation will occur when pressing the acupuncture point). Yanglingquan Acupuncture point outside of the knee, at the ditch of the protruding area of caput fibulae.

Self-Care Exercises for Painful Shoulder Syndrome

• Wall-Climbing Exercise

Face the wall and stretch the arm to the front, so the finger tip of the affected side is just touching the wall. Climb up slowly and when reaching the limitation, stop for a few seconds. The body may exert some force and gradually approach the wall surface as the arm climbs upward. When the arms reach the maximum height, lean the body against the wall with force and use the power of the body to gradually increase the lifting angle. Repeat several times. The body is turned side-way , so the affected arm can stretch horizontally to the wall to the side, followed by lifting the arm against the wall. The rest of procedures are the same as before.

• Pendulum Exercise

Put the arms of the health side against a stable desk or the back of a chair and bend slightly to allow the affected arm to drop naturally. Swing the arm front and back, left and left, and even clockwise or counterclockwise circular motion. The scope of swing should be gradually increased between 3~5 minutes.

• Head Combing Exercise

Comb the scalp with fingers and comb the hair front to back. Repeat the process several times. Use the healthy hand to push the affected side, in order to eventually increase the lifting height and endurance.

• Back-Rubbing Exercise

Place the affected extremity down and the healthy extremity up. Hold the two ends of the towel from the back to move up and down, similar to rubbing the back during shower. Note to move the painful or rigid side upward by using the strength of the healthy side. Stop when the extremity is lifted up and feeling painful, then apply some pulling force for the affected extremity to increase the scope of activity.

Precautions

• Prognosis in general is good and all functions can be recovered. The syndrome may occur occasionally after recovery. Do not fear for the pain during the recovery process but take proper activities to avoid adhesion due to non-motion.
• The development rules of typical periarthritis humeroscapularis consists of the following: Pain → Activity Disability → Pain Reduction → Function Recovery.