Symptoms for frozen shoulder are easily confused with symptoms for a slipped disk, a condition that is increasingly common because of bad posture or staying in the same position for too long while using electronic devices, doctors said.
Tung’s Taichung Metro Hospital minimally invasive spinal surgery center doctor Hsu Shao-ke (徐少克) said a 50 year-old female patient, surnamed Chao (趙), complained of chronic aches and an inability to raise her arms above shoulder height.
Doctors initially diagnosed the condition as frozen shoulder, but the medication and therapeutic exercises did not relieve her symptoms and it was only after she visited the hospital that she was diagnosed with neurothlipsis, or pressure on the nerve, due to a herniated intervertebral disc, or a slipped disk.
The fifth cervical vertebra and sixth cervical nerve root are linked with the rotator cuff and shoulder. A slipped disk between the fifth and sixth cervical vertebra caused the woman’s neurothlipsis, Hsu said.
The woman had surgery to replace the damaged disk with an artificial cervical disk and, after recuperating in hospital for four days, Chao said that her condition had improved immensely and she no longer needed sleeping pills to get to sleep.
Artificial cervical disks allow people to move their neck and shoulders as normal, removing the need for a neck brace after surgery, while the procedure is minimally invasive, Hsu said.
Cervical disks are known to weaken as the human body ages, but in recent years increasing numbers of younger patients have been diagnosed with spinal injuries, Hsu said.
The primary cause is largely due to inappropriate posture while sitting and the tendency to stay in one position for too long, Hsu said.
Hsu said people need to be more aware of the time they spend on electronic devices and their posture.
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