Calcium Deposits in the Joints

There is a twinge in the shoulder when you lift your arm. The knee burns after a short hike, even though you once walked mountains without effort. The finger no longer wants to stretch fully — a small resistance in the joint that gives you pause every time. On the X-ray, a white spot appears — a calcium depot. Your body has deposited something there where nothing should be.

Medically, this is a misregulation of mineral balance: calcium that would be needed in the bone instead deposits itself in tendons, bursae, cartilage, or joint capsules. Crystals form where mobility should prevail. The tissue hardens at that point — and movement hurts at exactly this hardened spot. BodySignal reads this image further: it is not only the mineral that has hardened. Somewhere inside you, an attitude has crystallised that was once soft and alive.