Shoulder Arthritis Doctor

Once upon a time, you could reach up to grab items off of the highest shelves in the house — but these days, you find yourself deliberately storing those items below shoulder height. Welcome to the debilitating world of shoulder arthritis. This degenerative condition can place severe limits on your shoulder function, affecting everything from your work productivity to your ability to play your favorite sport. If you’re tired of accepting an ever-decreasing quality of life, it’s time to place a call to Northeast Joint & Wellness. We’re more than happy to serve as your trusted provider of Fort Wayne shoulder arthritis treatment.

What Is Shoulder Arthritis and What Causes It?

When you think of your shoulder joint, you probably think of the union between the “ball” of the upper arm bone, or humerus, and the “socket” of the shoulder blade, or scapula. This joint, the glenohumeral joint, is capable of a remarkable range of motion. One of the key factors in this easy mobility lies in the layer of cartilage that covers the ball of the humerus. This cartilage maintains a smooth surface that minimizes friction between the bony structures. Unfortunately, this cartilage can crack, deteriorate and slough away from the bone (osteoarthritis), forcing you to seek Fort Wayne shoulder arthritis treatment. Other kinds of shoulder arthritis include:

• Rheumatoid arthritis – In this chronic inflammatory condition, the immune system mounts an attack against the synovial fluid (a natural lubricant) and tissues of the shoulder joint.
• Rotator cuff tear arthropathy – A poorly-healed rotator cuff tear can cause painful friction-based arthritis to develop in the shoulder joint.

You may not realize that the shoulder actually includes more than just the glenohumeral joint. There is also a joint between the clavicle, or collarbone, and the acromion (which protrudes upward from the shoulder blade). This joint, the acromioclavicular joint or AC joint, can suffer from painful degenerative arthritis.

How Is Shoulder Arthritis Treated?

Arthritis is a stubborn condition, one that resists any attempts to medicate it with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs. After a few hours, the pain comes back, and the degeneration continues to progress. Our shoulder arthritis doctor in Fort Wayne can offer more successful and meaningful treatment — without resorting to the extreme measure of surgery.

PRP therapy is a valuable means of using natural healing processes to treat arthritic shoulders. PRP stands for “platelet-rich plasma.” In PRP therapy, our Fort Wayne shoulder arthritis doctor distills this substance (loaded with healing growth factors) from normal blood and then inject it into the shoulder to unleash its healing powers.

Other natural techniques can complement these Fort Wayne shoulder arthritis treatment methods. Rehabilitative therapy gently challenges the joint to promote internal lubrication while strengthening the muscles that support and mobilize the joint.

Benefits of Regenerative Medicine

These healing modalities fall under the general category of regenerative medicine. The benefits of regenerative medicine are all about helping the body perform its own innate healing processes simply by giving it more of the raw materials it needs to rebuild itself. This approach offers greater safety than drugs and less trauma to the tissues than surgery.

Why Northeast Joint & Wellness?

Northeast Joint & Wellness has been providing shoulder arthritis treatment in Fort Wayne since 2009. We offer same-day appointments and free consultations. Best of all, we customize each and every treatment plan to suit individual patients. So don’t wait — call 260-245-0460 today!