Measurement of the So-called “Sloping Shoulders”

Abstract

[Purpose] We evaluated the shoulder alignment by measuring the sloping angles of shoulders. Materials and Methods: Photos were taken of 362 male sloping anglesof their shoulders were measured on the photos. The angle was measured by two lines; one line was drawn from the neck to the acromion. The other line was drawn between bilateral acromions. All the athletes were evaluated their shoulder type by three methods. First, they gave their impressions of their own shoulders. Secondly, they were evaluated by seven trainers. Thirdly, Iseki's method of measuring sloping shoulders was used to evaluate the position of the acromion in relation to the upper edge of the sternum. The athletes were also questioned about their shoulder injury history and the sports they played.
[Results] The average sloping angle was 24.2 ±3.6° on the right side,25.1 ±3.7° on the left side. There was no lateralization. According to the trainers evaluation 42 cases (12%) displayed sloping sh oulders, the so called nadegata type; 98 cases(27%) had square shoulders, ikarigata; and the remaining 222(61%) were classified as namigata. The sloping angle was 28.2±2.6° in nadegata,25.0±2.7° in namigata and 20.9±3.1° in ikarigata. The angles of the three groups were all significantly different. The angles of the gymnasts were the greatest and the angles of the swimmers and the volleyball and soccer players were the smallest. There was no difference between the angles of athletes with shoulder injuries and those with no injuries.
[Conclusion]The measurement of the sloping angle of shoulders is useful for the evaluation of shoulder alignment.