[Clinical examination of the shoulder]

If the treatment of shoulder problems is to be successful, an accurate diagnosis is required. To achieve this, it is necessary to pay attention to some peculiarities of the shoulder joint. Because of the great importance of the soft tissues in dynamic and static stabilization, bony lesions will occur late when massive dysfunction of the shoulder has maybe just occurred. Imaging techniques as CT or X-ray will not give a diagnosis in the early phases. Therefore, an exact clinical evaluation with a history and assessment of motion and special muscle testing will permit an early diagnosis.