Quick Self-Tests to Identify Your Shoulder Pain 🔍

Quick, simple tests you can do on your shoulder to figure out what’s causing your shoulder pain.
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Fix Shoulder Pain, Rotator Cuff Injuries & Impingement For Good...
popular: https://youtu.be/rk4k-pbN1ts
updated: https://youtu.be/enbTSR0DP9Y

Fix biceps tendinopathy...
https://youtu.be/cZgE-cQwFWI

Fix AC joint pain...
https://youtu.be/nRuK_Iw6lek


0:09 Frozen Shoulder
0:39 Pain above shoulder
1:07 Pain behind shoulder or deep
1:32 Pain in front of shoulder
2:07 Impingement or bursitis
2:41 Pain on outside of shoulder, or deep
4:31 Shoulder Osteoarthritis


FROZEN SHOULDER / ADHESIVE CAPSULITIS
If you can’t lift your arm all the way up... even when someone else is helping, it very likely this is your problem. (Affects 3-5% of the population. 84% of people are 40-60 y/o. An MRI or MRA can confirm.)

AC JOINT INFLAMMATION
If your pain is right on top of your shoulder… especially with your arm in the highest position (Painful Arc Test) … or right across your body (Scarf Test / Cross body Adduction Test)… this indicates you have an inflamed AC joint. It’ll often be tender just to press.

LABRAL TEAR or SLAP LESION
If O'Brien's Test causes pain “deep” in your shoulder or “at the back” … but is noticeably less painful if you resist with your palm up, it’s likely you have damaged the cartilage surrounding your shoulder socket. CT & MRI can confirm.

BICEPS TENDINOPATHY
Biceps Tendinopathy is painful, and often tender to press, right in the little groove in the front of your deltoid. It can sometimes refer pain further down over your actual biceps muscle. The best way to confirm Biceps Tendinopathy is with the ‘Upper Cut Test’, which is positive if you get pain at the front of your shoulder with a sudden upper cut movement, up and across the body, against resistance from with your other hand.

SHOULDER IMPINGEMENT & BURSITIS
Shoulder Impingement occurs when structures like the biceps tendon, shoulder bursa, or Supraspinatus tendon get compressed between the arm bone and the top of the shoulder joint when you lift your arm.

If you turn your arm thumb down in front of you, relax your arm and keep it relaxed as you push it to the vertical position using the other arm (Neer’s test) this reduces the space inside the shoulder socket. If it hurts that’s a positive test for impingement.

ROTATOR CUFF TENDINOPATHIES OR TEARS
The 4 muscles that hold the head of your arm bone down within the shoulder socket, to reduce impingement, are the Rotator Cuff muscles. They can get strained, inflamed, or torn.

The Rotator Cuff muscles can hurt in various places but they often cause pain that’s deep in the shoulder, or referred to the outer arm. It can feel like it’s coming from your outer Deltoid muscle. If the Rotator Cuff is strained or damaged it can hurt raising or lowering your arm, or putting on a jacket. You may even hear little clicks or crackling in your shoulder.

SUPRASPINATUS
(Jobe’s, or the Empty Can Test) With your arm 90 out from your body, 30 degrees forward and thumb down … resist downward pressure. If that’s weak, or reproduces your pain, your Supraspinatus, or in fact any of your Rotator Cuff muscles are likely involved.

SUBSCAPULARIS
To isolate the issue more to your Subscapularis muscle, put the hand of your sore shoulder on your opposite shoulder, lift your elbow, then resist as your other hand tries to pry it off your shoulder. It’ll be weak or painful to do if you have tendinopathy or a tear in your Subscapularis. (Bear Hug Test) Or you’ll feel pain or weakness pushing against a wall behind you. (Gerber’s Lift-Off test)

INFRASPINATUS
If your Infraspinatus is involved, when your elbow is against your body and your arm is turned out… it’ll be hard or painful to resist inward pressure. (Infraspinatus Test)

TERES MINOR
And the way to isolate your Teres Minor more, is to put your arm out, 30 degrees forward and hand up and resist forward pressure from your other hand. (Hornblower’s Sign)

SHOULDER OSTEOARTHRITIS
And finally, if you’re over 60, and you’ve just been getting a gradual increase of general shoulder pain, especially if you get shoulder noises with movement, then it’s likely that you have osteoarthritis of your shoulder. (X-rays can confirm)