The Upper Limb Centre

- click here for simple anatomy of shoulder problems video

The shoulder is arranged into 3  layers:-

Bones and Joints (see below)                         Ligaments                         Muscles & Tendons

The shoulder has the greatest range of movement of all joints in human anatomy. Full shoulder movements actually involve movement at 4 separate joints. Most shoulder movement occurs at a large ball and socket joint; the ball is the head of the humerus and the socket is the glenoid fossa (part of the scapula or shoulder blade).

Three bones make up the shoulder; these are the clavicle, humerus and scapula (or shoulder blade). The joint between the clavicle and scapula is called the acromio-clavicular joint. The clavicle acts as a strut between the breast bone  and the shoulder. The joint between the humerus and scapula is called the gleno-humeral joint. The head of the humerus has projections, the greater and lesser tuberosities. It is at these points that the rotator cuff tendons attach. The scapula is a complex bone. The glenoid fossa is a shallow cavity which articulates with the humerus. The edge of the glenoid fossa is surrounded by a cartilage structure called the glenoid labrum. The labrum acts like a curved bumper to increase the depth of the glenoid fossa. It thus keeps the humeral head in the glenoid fossa and helps to prevent dislocations. The biceps tendon and several ligaments attach to the labrum and also help to prevent dislocations.