The shoulder or gleno humeral joint is an intricate arrangement - loads of movement is available in just about every direction, but stability is limited, so this has to be provided by the muscles and ligaments surrounding it. The head of the humerus (the long bone of the upper arm ) moves on the glenoid, a slightly convex surface on the outer aspect of the shoulder blade. The collar bone also connects up with a part of the shoulder blade called the acromion. The muscles surrounding the joint, running between the humerus and shoulder blade are known as the rotator cuff.

Shoulders dislocate relatively easily, once the dislocation is treated it is important to get all the muscles back in good working order. Shoulders can become painful and restricted seemingly out of the blue, and the term frozen shoulder is quite often used.

Shoulder problems need really careful examination, they can be very difficult to diagnose because the whole mechanism is so intricate. Not only that, a significant number of pain patterns will appear to be arising from the shoulder when in fact the problem lies in the neck and the pain is actually referred to the shoulder, shoulder blade or down the arm.