How does the shoulder work?
It seldom occurs to us, if we knew it at all, that the arm and shoulder structure is attached to the rest of the body skeletally at only one joint: the sternoclavicular joint, which is the joint of the clavicle (collarbone) with the sternum (breastbone). That’s those two knobby protrusions on the upper chest just under the throat. The only other connections of the arm and shoulder are by means of soft tissue — muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia. This design gives us tremendous freedom and range of motion in our arms and shoulders, but it also presents challenges and dangers for the soft tissues involved.
It seldom occurs to us, if we knew it at all, that the arm and shoulder structure is attached to the rest of the body skeletally at only one joint: the sternoclavicular joint, which is the joint of the clavicle (collarbone) with the sternum (breastbone). That’s those two knobby protrusions on the upper chest just under the throat. The only other connections of the arm and shoulder are by means of soft tissue — muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia. This design gives us tremendous freedom and range of motion in our arms and shoulders, but it also presents challenges and dangers for the soft tissues involved.
