Arthritis of the Shoulder Joint
This is a condition where the lining cartilage of the shoulder joint becomes worn out. This is a degenerative process and most commonly occurs in the elderly. It does affect some young people but usually only after they have had a serious injury that has damaged the cartilage, or in patients who have had radiotherapy, or long term steroid therapy that has caused disruption of the blood supply to the head of the humerus.
People with arthritis usually develop stiffness in the shoulder and pain. Often they will feel a grating within their shoulder when the raw bone from the glenoid (Cup part of the joint) rubs on the bone on the humerus (ball part of the joint) as they move the shoulder.
This grating is different to the “crepitus” that patient with inflammation around their tendons feel. (See note under impingement below)
Patients who have arthritis can be treated with physiotherapy, steroid injections into the shoulder joint, arthroscopic debridement (Key hole surgery – washout) or shoulder replacement. The shoulder replacement can be done in the form of a surface replacement of the humeral head or with a “traditional” stemmed implant that goes down the shaft of the humeral bone.
(If you would like more information on these two operations select Shoulder resurfacing or Total shoulder replacement.)
