ACROMIOCLAVICULAR JOINT is key to the Frozen Shoulder and Rotator Cuff syndromes

The AcromioClavicular Joint acts as a pivot giving stability to the shoulder girdle. It's key in the Chiropractic Help understanding of arm pain.

Your shoulder consists of FOUR joints, one of which is the Acromio-Clavicular joint. The acromion is the bone at the highest point of the scapula, right at the tip of your shoulder, lying just above the socket.

The Acromion, part of the shoulder blade (scapula), articulates with the collar bone (or Clavicle ) at the so-called Acromio Clavicular (or, AC-) joint.

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During shoulder movements, the clavicle rotates, mediated by the Subclavius muscle. It sits right under the collar bone, a very important muscle. Can you see it?

When raising the arm above the head, the scapula rotates, the collar bone acting a strut, connecting the shoulder to the sternum, or breast bone, giving stability and support to the shoulder girdle.

A fall on the shoulder drives the acromion downwards whilst the collar bone is held up by strong neck muscles (the trapezius and the sterno-cleido-mastoideus), rupturing the AC joint capsule.

Likewise falls onto the outstretched hand can transmit enormous forces to the AC joint – either the ligaments anchoring the clavicle to the scapular may be torn (strain, partial or complete rupture), the AC may rupture, or the clavicle itself may fracture. Usually these heal with immobilisation in a sling for three weeks, with strapping of the AC-joint though occasionally surgery may be required. Many sportsmen have ruptured AC ligaments, allowing the clavicle to pop up. It looks serious, but most attest to the fact it gives little trouble after a few months.

FROZEN SHOULDER

Chiropractors are trained to adjust and mobilise the AC joint, vital for the management of shoulder conditions such as Frozen Shoulder , when it feels as though the AC-joint has turned to concrete, causing severe arm pain.

Chiropractic help treatment of many other shoulder conditions, all of which may cause arm pain, such as Rotator Cuff syndrome are also dependent on correction of any AC-joint fixations.

Immobilisation Arthritis

New research is now proving that when a joint becomes fixated, fluids vital for the healthy nutrition of the joint cartilage are not adequately replenished. This leads to diminished oxygen and nutrients and a build up of noxious wastes in the joint. For more about Immobilisation Arthritis , click here. IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS ...

From the medical literature

In 1977, Kessel and Watson brought additional attention to the acromioclavicular joint as a cause of subacromial impingement. They found that patients who had so-called painful arc syndrome could be divided into three categories. Approximately two-thirds of the ninety-seven patients in the study had lesions of either the posterior or the anterior aspect of the rotator cuff. All of these patients had resolution of the symptoms after subacromial injection of a local anesthetic and a steroid or division of the coracoacromial ligament. The remaining patients had pain in the superior aspect of the rotator cuff, which usually was associated with degeneration of the acromioclavicular joint. The authors found that excision of the distal one centimeter of the clavicle provided consistent relief of pain.

Penny and Welsh subsequently found that osteoarthrosis of the acromioclavicular joint can lead to failure after the operative treatment of subacromial impingement. However, resection of the acromioclavicular joint should not be performed routinely for all patients who have subacromial impingement; rather, the joint should be resected only if the patient has symptoms in the region of the joint and if osteophytes contribute to the impingement. See Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (1854)

Fish soup

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