With the patient relaxed, gently place your fingers on the clavicle. Either guide or demonstrate motions and have the patient move through clavicular elevation and depression, forward and backward rotation, and protraction and retraction. Observe the joint as the motions occur. Sternoclavicular Joint Motions are referenced to motions of the clavicle as a whole bone rather than actual motion at the sternoclavicular joint. These motions are easier to observe when viewing the whole clavicle. This occurs because the axis of rotation for joint motion is not within the anatomical joint. For example, clavicular elevation actually involves depression of the medial head of the clavicle at the sternoclavicular joint. Referencing the joint motion would result in observing elevation or raising of most of the clavicle while calling this motion sternoclavicular depression.