Objective To investigate the application values of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in evaluating the condition of scapulohumeral periarthritis. Methods From December 2012 to November 2016, 78 cases of our hospital in patients with scapulohumeral periarthritis as scapulohumeral periarthritis group, and the normal adult 78 cases were selected as the control group at the same period, two groups were given MRI diagnosis, recorded imaging characteristics and imaging results, and were given the diagnostic value determination. Results Two groups of selected MRI quality were excellent; In the control group on MRI thermal imaging performance were more for the rotator cuff, synovial bursa and tendon structure clear, The observe group(78 cases) were showed supraspinatus tendon degeneration in 50 cases, subdeltoid bursa effusion in 29 cases, infraspinatus tendon degeneration in 22 cases, glenohumeral joint effusion in 16 cases, subscapularis muscle sliding bursa effusion in 14 cases, the biceps tendon degeneration in 10 cases. The the supraspinatus tendon, infraspinatus tendon and muscle fascia thickness in the scapulohumeral periarthritis group were significantly higher than the control group, the difference were statistical significance(P<0.05). The shoulder arthroscopy results were as the gold standard, MRI thermal imaging diagnosis were positive in 80 cases, 76 cases were negative. Therefore MRI thermal imaging diagnosis of scapulohumeral periarthritis sensitivity and specificity were 100.0% and 97.4%. Conclusion MRI has good image features in the application of scapulohumeral periarthritis, the supraspinatus tendon, infraspinatus tendon and muscle fascia thickness measurement can effectively reflect the condition, its diagnosis effects is relatively high that has very good application values.