The Shoulder

Very rare disorders. The lesions are usualy the result of overuse or direct injury (contact sports). As a rule they are localised in the belly of the muscle.
Lesions of the adductors are characterized by a full range of passive movement in the shoulder joint together with pain on resisted adduction.
Elevation and/ or passive lateral rotation may be painful at the end of range.

diagnosis

An important element in the differential diagnosis is the localisation of the pain.
pain in the thorax or pectoral area suggests a lesion of the pectoralis major.
posterolateral pain is present in a lesion of the latissimus dorsi.
Besides this, the latissimis dorsi, pectoralis major and teres major are medial rotators; the teres minor is a lateral rotator.
Lesions in the adductors can also be differentiated by some specific, additional tests:
- test for the latissimus dorsi(resisted extension of the shoulder).
- test for the pectoralis major (resisted horizontal adduction).