Shoulder joint


The flexible ball-and-socket joint formed by the junction of the humerus and the scapula. This joint is cushioned by cartilage that covers the face of the glenoid socket and head of the humerus. The joint is stabilized by a ring of fibrous cartilage (the labrum) around the glenoid socket. Ligaments connect the bones of the shoulder, and tendons join these bones to surrounding muscles. The biceps tendon attaches the biceps muscle to the shoulder and helps stabilize the joint. Four short muscles that originate on the scapula pass around the shoulder, where their tendons fuse together to form the rotator cuff.

See also shoulder.

Read Also:

  • Shoulder pain

    Pain in the shoulder due to an injury or disease. The design of the shoulder joint is such that it sacrifices stability for mobility. As an extremely mobile joint that plays a central role in the action of a major extremity (the arm), the shoulder is at high risk for injury. An injury can involve […]

  • Shoulder, frozen

    Permanent severe limitation of the range of motion of the shoulder due to inflammation and subsequent scarring around the shoulder joint (adhesive capsulitis). Frozen shoulder may occur following an injury or immobilization of the shoulder joint, and it occurs more commonly in people with diabetes and certain other health conditions than in the general population.

  • Show

    1. An appearance. 2. Short for bloody show.

  • shRNA

    Short hairpin RNA. A short sequence of RNA which makes a tight hairpin turn and can be used to silence gene expression.

  • Shulman's syndrome

    See eosinophilic fasciitis.


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