All painful conditions of the shoulder was termed as 'periarthritis'. This non-specific term in inaccurate and is best avoided as it is equivalent of diagnosing 'heart-problem' for a patient who presents with cardiac symptoms.

While physical therapy and mobilisation is useful for some painful shoulder conditions it can be very detrimental in other conditions like impingement.

Recent Advance.

Due to better understanding of shoulder , detection of the specific causes of pain is now possible with a good clinical examination in combination with simple investigations. The common painful conditions of the shoulder are

1. Impingement
2. A-C joint dysfunction
3. Rotator cuff pathology
4. Calcific deposit
5. Instability
6. Bursitis

All of these conditions can be treated by key hole surgery with very consistent and predictable results.