Muscles, Bones & Joints Signs

Signs and tests of the muscles, bones and joints: impingement tests for the shoulder, stability tests for the knee ligaments and menisci, hip tests from newborns to adults, and the bony nodes of osteoarthritis.

This page lists all 42 of them in the guide. Open any sign for how it is elicited, what it suggests, and its eponym story where it has one.

Sign	System	A positive finding is associated with
Adam's forward bend test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with structural scoliosis (curvature of the spine).
Adson's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with thoracic outlet compression of the subclavian artery, classically by a cervical rib or scalene muscles.
Anterior drawer test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with injury of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Apley's grind test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with meniscal tears of the knee.
Barlow test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with a dislocatable hip in developmental dysplasia of the hip.
Bouchard's nodes	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with osteoarthritis of the fingers.
Boutonnière deformity	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with injury to the central slip of the extensor tendon, and with rheumatoid arthritis.
Bulge sign	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with a small effusion (fluid collection) inside the knee joint.
Cozen's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with lateral epicondylitis — 'tennis elbow'.
Crossed straight leg raise	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with a large or central lumbar disc prolapse irritating the nerve roots.
Dupuytren's contracture	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with Dupuytren's disease of the palmar fascia; it runs in families and is more common in men of Northern European descent.
Ely's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with tightness of the rectus femoris muscle at the front of the thigh.
FABER test (Patrick's test)	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with hip joint disease when groin pain is produced, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction when buttock pain is produced.
Finkelstein's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with de Quervain's tenosynovitis — inflammation of the thumb tendon sheaths.
Galeazzi sign	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with congenital dislocation of the hip (developmental dysplasia of the hip).
Gowers' sign	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with proximal muscle weakness, classically Duchenne muscular dystrophy in boys.
Hawkins–Kennedy test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with subacromial impingement of the rotator cuff tendons.
Heberden's nodes	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with osteoarthritis of the fingers.
Jobe's test (empty can)	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with injury or weakness of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff.
Lachman test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee.
Mallet finger	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with rupture or avulsion of the extensor tendon at the fingertip, often from a ball striking the finger.
McMurray's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with tears of the medial or lateral meniscus of the knee.
Mill's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with lateral epicondylitis — 'tennis elbow'.
Neer's sign	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with subacromial impingement of the rotator cuff.
Ober's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with tightness of the iliotibial band and tensor fasciae latae.
Ortolani test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with developmental dysplasia of the hip with a reducible dislocation.
Patellar tap	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with a moderate or large effusion inside the knee joint.
Pivot shift test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency and anterolateral instability of the knee.
Roos test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with thoracic outlet syndrome.
Schober's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with reduced lumbar spine flexibility, classically in ankylosing spondylitis.
Shoulder apprehension test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with anterior shoulder instability after dislocation.
Slump test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with irritation of the sciatic nerve and its roots (neural tension).
Speed's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with disease of the long head of the biceps tendon (biceps tendinopathy or SLAP lesions).
Spurling's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with compression of a cervical nerve root in the neck, as in cervical radiculopathy.
Swan-neck deformity	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with rheumatoid arthritis and with mallet finger injuries left untreated.
Thessaly test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with meniscal tears of the knee.
Thomas test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with flexion contracture of the hip, classically from hip joint disease or psoas irritation.
Thompson test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with rupture of the Achilles tendon.
Trendelenburg sign	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with weakness of the gluteus medius, hip dislocation or hip joint disease on the standing side.
Waddell's signs	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with a significant non-organic, psychological or behavioural component to chronic low back pain; they do not prove symptoms are feigned.
Wright's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with thoracic outlet compression under the pectoralis minor muscle.
Yergason's test	Muscles, Bones & Joints	Associated with inflammation or instability of the long head of the biceps tendon.

Please note: This page is an educational reference about clinical examination signs. A clinical sign supports — and never replaces — a full clinical evaluation, examination and appropriate testing. A sign being present does not by itself prove a diagnosis, and an absent sign does not rule one out. If you have symptoms that worry you, see a health professional.

Muscles, Bones & Joints Signs

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