What are the symptoms of shoulder-hand syndrome

The causes of shoulder-hand syndrome are relatively complicated. It may be primary or caused by some diseases. This makes it difficult for many patients to receive treatment because they don’t know why they are sick, so it is difficult to choose a treatment method. However, many friends did not know much about shoulder-hand syndrome before, so even if they have symptoms of shoulder-hand syndrome, they do not know that they have this disease. So, let’s first understand the clinical manifestations of shoulder-hand syndrome.

Shoulder-hand syndrome (RSD) refers to sudden swelling and pain in the patient's affected hand and shoulder joint pain, which limits the function of the hand. Severe pain and contractures become an obstacle to recovery and cause diseases such as shoulder-hand syndrome: stroke, myocardial infarction, cervical spondylosis, upper limb trauma, paraplegia, lung disease, shoulder joint disease, and those of unknown cause. RSD is a leading cause of disability. It usually affects one limb but can affect multiple limbs or any part of the body. Only one in five patients fully recovers their previous activities.

Clinical manifestations

Stage I (early stage): The affected hand suddenly swells: The edema is obvious on the back of the hand, including the metacarpophalangeal joints and fingers. The skin wrinkles disappear, the edematous area is soft and swollen, and ends proximally at the wrist joint. The tendons on the hand cannot be seen clearly. The color of the hand changes to pink or lavender, especially when the affected arm is hanging by the side of the body. The hand is warm and sometimes moist, and the nails are whiter or duller than those on the healthy side. Limited joint range of motion: Passive supination of the hand is limited, and wrist pain is often felt; wrist dorsiflexion is limited, and pain may occur when passively increasing the dorsiflexion range of motion and when doing weight-bearing activities of the hand; metacarpophalangeal joint flexion is significantly limited, and no bony protrusions are visible; finger abduction is severely obstructed, and it becomes increasingly difficult to clasp the hands together; the proximal interphalangeal joints are stiff and swollen, and can only be slightly flexed, and cannot be fully extended. If passively flexed, pain will occur; the distal interphalangeal joints are in an extended position, and cannot or can only be slightly flexed. If passively flexed, pain and limitation will occur.

Stage II (late stage): If proper treatment is not given in the early stages, the symptoms will become more and more obvious, and the pain will increase until any pressure on the hands and fingers cannot be tolerated. X-ray examination may show bone changes. A distinct hard protuberance appears in the middle of the dorsal carpal junction area.

Stage III (terminal or sequelae): Untreated hands become fixed typical deformities, edema and pain may disappear completely, but joint mobility is permanently lost.

This article has given a relatively detailed introduction to the clinical manifestations of shoulder-hand syndrome. I believe that everyone has sufficient understanding of this disease. When treating shoulder-hand syndrome, patients must pay attention to choosing the method that corresponds to their symptoms. Only in this way can the best treatment effect of shoulder-hand syndrome be achieved, allowing themselves to recover soon and completely get rid of the troubles of shoulder-hand syndrome.