The shoulder complex is made up of four joints.
These joints comprise of the ball and socket joint, two joints where the collar bone meets the sternum at one end and the shoulder blade at the other end. The final ‘joint’ is where the shoulder blade moves on the rib cage.
This is not a traditional joint in the sense that the shoulder blade does not come in to direct contact with the ribs due to complexity of soft tissues between the two bones.
The main joint of the shoulder is classified as a ball and socket joint. Typically ball and socket joints offer stability due to the congruency of the bones, this is the case in the hip joint, however the shoulder is designed for mobility rather than stability. As a result the ball and socket joint represents a golf ball sitting on a golf tee. Along with this is the fact that the socket (the shoulder blade) also moves allowing for vast degrees of movement. The main function of this mobile joint is to place the hand in appropriate positions to carry out particular tasks.
The ball and socket joint relies heavily on soft tissues such as ligaments, muscles and tendons to provide the stability and prevent excessive movements and dislocations.
| ► | 1. Sprain/Soft Tissue Injury to Shoulder |
| ► | 2. Primary Shoulder Dislocation |
| ► | 3. Un-displaced/Minimally Displaced Greater Tuberosity (GT) Fracture |
| ► | 4. Proximal Humerus Fracture |
| ► | 5. Grade 3 ACJ (Acromioclavicular Joint) Injury |
| ► | 6. Grade 1/2 ACJ (Acromioclavicular Joint) Injury |
| ► | 7. Lateral (Outside) 1/3 Clavicle Fracture |
| ► | 8. Mid-shaft Clavicle Fracture |