[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<177> Managing Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain is one of the most common symptoms experienced by many people. A study in the United States estimates that 67% of people experience some form of shoulder discomfort at some point in their lives, and the situation here is likely not much different. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, about 770,000 people received treatment for frozen shoulder, one of the causes of shoulder pain, in 2018, but there are countless other causes beyond frozen shoulder.

The shoulder consists of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), scapula (shoulder blade), and humerus (upper arm bone), along with muscles, ligaments, and tendons. There are four joints where these bones connect, but the main joint where most movement occurs, connecting the scapula and humerus, is commonly called the shoulder joint. The shoulder joint is the most active joint in the body in terms of movement, but unlike spinal joints, hip joints, or knee joints, it bears relatively less weight.

The shoulder joint has a wider range of motion than any other joint, allowing movements from raising the arm above the head to scratching the back or throwing objects. To enable such freedom of movement, the bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and muscles are intricately and precisely designed. However, this structure reduces the joint’s stability, increasing the risk of injury and damage, and is a cause of various types of pain.

Shoulder pain is not an independent disease but a symptom caused by problems in the tissues that make up the shoulder joint, such as bones, cartilage, muscles, and ligaments. Therefore, to treat and prevent shoulder pain, it is necessary to accurately understand the structure and characteristics of the shoulder joint.

The shoulder joint has a “ball-and-socket” structure, where the rounded head of the humerus fits well into the cup-shaped socket at the end of the scapula, allowing the highest level of movement including lateral, circular, and rotational motions. However, the loose connection of the shoulder joint, where the humeral head is about four times larger than the scapular socket?like a golf ball on a golf tee?makes it more prone to dislocation than any other joint.

In the shoulder joint, four muscles and their tendons, collectively called the rotator cuff, play an important role in connecting the scapula and humerus. These muscles originate from the scapula and attach to different parts of the humerus, assisting specific shoulder movements. They work together like a single unit to perform various 360-degree rotational motions and also stabilize the shoulder joint by surrounding it.

Additionally, cartilage covering the contact surfaces of the bones, the joint cavity and capsule between the two cartilages, synovial bursae around the joint, tendons connecting bones and muscles, and ligaments connecting bones absorb shocks and act as cushions, aiding the flexible movement of the shoulder joint. Due to the shoulder joint’s characteristic of “high mobility and low stability,” these tissues are more susceptible to damage than those in other joints.

If any tissue in the joint is damaged, the range of motion of the shoulder decreases, making it uncomfortable to raise the arm or move it backward, and causing pain. There are numerous causes of shoulder pain, including frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tears, and calcific tendinitis.

Specifically, most problems arise from improper use of the shoulder joint, such as tears in the rotator cuff (rotator cuff tear), inflammation (rotator cuff tendinitis and impingement syndrome), calcium deposits (calcific tendinitis), reduced flexibility of the joint capsule (frozen shoulder), worn cartilage (osteoarthritis), or muscle damage and inflammation. Other causes include injuries from accidents or other diseases.

When shoulder pain is caused by injuries or diseases from accidents or other specific causes, those causes must be addressed and the resulting problems resolved. However, in most cases, activities that improve the underlying causes of shoulder joint problems?namely appropriate exercise and posture correction?show good results. In many cases, the body’s natural healing ability recovers, and pain begins to improve after about two weeks, with most pain disappearing after four to six weeks.

To recover from shoulder pain, it is important to maintain an appropriate level of shoulder activity and exercise regularly. Also, adopting a posture habit where the chin and shoulders are pulled back so that the side profile is straight (refer to Life Story episode 175) during all activities including sitting, standing, working, resting, or walking helps maintain the shoulder joint in optimal condition. Unless unavoidable, one should not stop using the shoulder or overuse it excessively.

Kim Jae-ho, Independent Researcher

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.