The Joints

Fibrous Fibrous joints connect bones without allowing any movement. The bones of your skull and pelvis are held together by fibrous joints. The union of the spinous processes and vertebrae are fibrous joints. Cartilaginous Cartilaginous joints are joints in which the bones are attached by cartilage. These joints allow for only a little movment, such as in the spine or ribs. Synovial Synovial joints allow for much more movement than cartilaginous joints. Cavaties between bones in synovial joints are filled with synovial fluid. This fluid helps lubricate and protect the bones. Bursa sacks contain* the synovial fluid.
* to enclose within fixed limits

Hinge A hinge joint allows extension and retraction of an apendage.

Saddle A saddle joint allows movement back and forth and up and down, bot does not allow for rotation like a ball and socket joint.

Ellipsoid Ellipsoid joints are similar to a ball and socket joint. They allow the same type of movment to a lesser magnitude. The wrist is an ellipsoid joint.

Ball and Socket A ball and socket joint allows for radial movment in almost any direction. They are found in the hips and shoulders. Pivot Pivot joints allow rotation arround an axis. The neck and forearms have pivot joints. In the neck the occipital bone spins over the top of the axis. In the forearms the radius and ulna twist arround each other.

Gliding In a gliding or plane joint bones slide past each other. Midcarpal and

midtarsal joints are gliding joints

Bones of the torso

There are two main parts to your skeleton: the bones of your head and torso), and the bones in the arms and legs. (The torso is the main trunk of your body, including your chest and abdomen.) The bones in the head and torso (known as the "axial skeleton") have complicated shapes. If you look at the vertebral column (what we usually call the backbone) from the side, it is not a straight line, but curved like the letter S, and it is not really just one bone. The backbone is made of over 30 separate bones called vertebrae(VER-tuh-bray). Because it is made of so many bones, the backbone can bend and twist in many different directions. At one end of the backbone is a very important set of bones, the skull. Part of the skull protects the brain, while part of the skull forms the jaw. The rib cage is attached to the vertebral column a little lower down. The ribs form a light cage around the chest and protect the heart and lungs. At the lower end of the backbone is the pelvis, a group of wide, large bones which protects the organs and keeps them in place. The pelvis also anchors the legs. Above the rib cage, the collarbones ("clavicles") and shoulder-blades ("scapula") help anchor the arms.

Joints
Bones can move because of the way they are joined together. The place where two or more bones come together is called a joint. The bones at a joint are held together by strong bands of tissue called ligaments which allow the bones to move. However, there are several different kinds of joint, and each one moves differently. The ball-and-socket joint is found in the hip-bone and the shoulder and allows the most movement of all the joints. One bone (like the femur my student found) has a ball-like knob at the end of it, and the knob fits into a cup-like space on the other side. The balland-socket joint is what allows baseball pitchers to throw a ball with such tremendous speed. The sliding joint is found in the vertebral column and allows small sliding movements. The vertebrae have pads of cartilage between them, and the bones slide over these pads. This is what makes the backbone so flexible.

The pivot joint allows movement turning from side to side, and your head is attached to your vertebral column with this joint. A hole in one bone fits over a pointed part of the other bone, so that one bone can turn on top of the other. The hinge joint allows bones to move back and forth, and is found in your elbow and knee. It allows bones to move like a hinge in a door. It might seem funny, but there is one type of joint which doesn't allow any movement at all. A joint between bones that do not move at all is called a fixed joint, and one place the fixed joint is found is in your skull. When babies are born, their skull bones are not joined together yet. In fact, there is a gap between them called the fontanel, or soft spot. However, the bones quickly grow together to protect the brain.

1. fixed joint 2. pivot joint 3. ball-and-socket joint 4. sliding joint 5. hinge joint

In fact, all your life the bones of your skeletal system are changing. They are constantly renewing themselves, making new bone tissue. That is because the bones inside your body are living organs, made of cells and tissues, working together to help your body live and move.

Joint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Joint (disambiguation).

Typical Joint

A joint is the location at which two or more bones make contact. [1] They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.[2]

[edit]Classification

Depiction of an intervertebral disk, a cartilaginous joint.

Diagram of a synovial (diarthrosis) joint.

Joints are mainly classified structurally and functionally. Structural classification is determined by how the bones connect to each other, while functional classification is determined by the degree of movement between the articulating bones. In practice, there is significant overlap between the two types of classifications. Terms ending in the suffix -sis are singular and refer to just one joint, while -ses is the suffix for pluralization.
[edit]Structural

classification

Structural classification names and divides joints according to how the bones are connected to each other.[3] There are three structural classifications of joints:

fibrous joint - joined by fibrous connective tissue

Fibrous joint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fibrous joint
Latin junctura fibrosa

Fibrous joints are connected by dense connective tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. [edit]

Types

The fibrous joints are further divided into three types:[1]

Sutures are found between bones of the skull. In fetal skulls the sutures are wide to allow slight movement during

birth. They later become rigid (synarthrodial). Syndesmosis are found between long bones of the body, such as the radius and ulna in forearm and

the fibula and tibia in leg. Unlike other fibrous joints, syndesmoses are moveable (amphiarthrodial), albeit not to such degree as synovial joints. Gomphosis is a joint between the root of a tooth and the sockets in the maxilla or mandible.

cartilaginous joint - joined by cartilage

Cartilaginous joint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cartilaginous joint
Latin junctura cartilaginea

Cartilaginous joints are connected entirely by cartilage (fibrocartilage or hyaline). [1] Cartilaginous joints allow more movement between bones than a fibrous joint but less than the highly mobile synovial joint. An example would be the joint between the manubrium and thesternum. Cartilaginous joints also forms the growth regions of immature long bones and theintervertebral discs of the spinal column. [edit]Primary

cartilaginous joints

Known as "synchondroses". Bones are connected by hyaline cartilage or fibrocartilage, sometimes occurring between ossification centers. This cartilage may ossify with age. Examples in humans are the "growth plates" between ossification centers in long bones. These joints here allow for only a little movement, such as in the spine or ribs. [edit]Secondary

cartilaginous joints

Known as "symphyses". Fibrocartilaginous joints, usually occurring in the midline. Examples in human anatomy would be the manubriosternal joint (between the manubrium and the sternum), intervertebral discs, and thepubic symphysis. Articulating bones at a symphysis are covered with hyaline cartilage and have a thick, fairly compressible pad of fibrocartilage between them.

synovial joint - not directly joined

Synovial joint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Typical Joint

A Synovial joint, also known as a diarthrosis, is the most common and most movable type of joint in the body of a mammal. As with most other joints, synovial joints achieve movement at the point of contact of the articulating bones. Structural and functional differences distinguish synovial joints from cartilaginous joints (synchondroses and symphyses) and fibrous joints (sutures, gomphoses, and syndesmoses). The main structural differences between synovial and fibrous joints is the existence of capsules surrounding the articulating surfaces of a synovial joint and the presence of lubricating synovial fluid within that capsule (synovial cavity).
Contents [hide]

1 Structure 2 Nerve Supply of Synovial Joint 3 Blood Supply of Synovial Joint 4 Movements possible 5 Types

6 Factors Influencing Joint Stability 7 References

[edit]

Structure

articular capsule: The fibrous capsule is continuous with the periosteum of bone. It is also highly innervated but avascular (lacking blood and lymph vessels) articular cartilage: lines the epiphyses of joint end of bone. Provides the loading and unloading mechanism to resist load and shock

synovial membrane: the inner layer of the fibrous articular capsule. The synovial membrane covers the lining of the synovial cavity wherearticular cartilage is absent.

[edit]

Nerve Supply of Synovial Joint Blood Supply of Synovial Joint Movements possible
Abduction: movement away from the mid-line of the body. Adduction: movement towards the mid-line of the body. Extension: straightening limbs at a joint. Flexion: bending the limbs at a joint. Rotation: a circular movement around a fixed point.

It is derived from the nerve supply of muscles acting on the joint. [edit]

From the arteries sharing in the anastomosis around the joint. [edit]

The movements possible with synovial joints are:

[edit]

Types

There are seven types of synovial joints. Some are relatively immobile, but are more stable. Others have multiple degrees of freedom, but at the expense of greater risk of injury. In ascending order of mobility, they are:[1]

Name Gliding joints (or planar joints)

Example the carpals of the wrist, acromioclavicular joint

Description These joints allow only gliding or sliding

movements. These joints act like a door hinge, allowing flexion and extension in just one plane. One bone rotates about another. A condyloid joint is where two bones fit together with an odd shape (e.g. anellipse), and one bone is concave, the other convex. Some classifications make a distinction between condyloid and ellipsoid joints.

Hinge joints

the elbow (between the humerus and the ulna)

Pivot joints

Atlanto-axial joint, proximal radioulnar joint, anddistal radioulnar joint

Condyloid joints (orellipsoidal the wrist joint (radiocarpal joint) joints)

Saddle joints

Carpometacarpal or Trapeziometacarpal Joint of thumb (between the metacarpal and carpal the trapezium ) , sternoclavicular joint the shoulder(glenohumeral), and hip joints the knee joint

Saddle joints, which resemble a saddle, permit the same movements as the condyloid joints.

Ball and socket joints Compound joints

These allow a wide range of movement. condylar joint(condyles of femur join with condyles of tibia) and saddle

joint(lower end of femur joins with patela). [edit]Factors

Influencing Joint Stability

The shape of articular surfaces. capsule & ligaments. Muscle Tone. Atmospheric Pressure.

[edit]Functional

classification

Joints can also be classified functionally, by the degree of mobility they allow:[4] synarthrosis - permits little or no mobility. Most synarthrosis joints are fibrous joints (e.g., skull sutures). amphiarthrosis - permits slight mobility. Most amphiarthrosis joints are cartilaginous joints(e.g., vertebrae). diarthrosis - permits a variety of movements. All diarthrosis joints are synovial joints (e.g., shoulder, hip, elbow, knee, etc.), and the terms "diarthrosis" and "synovial joint" are considered equivalent by Terminologia Anatomica.[5]

[edit]Biomechanical

classification

Joints can also be classified based on their anatomy or on their biomechanical properties. According to the anatomic classification, joints are subdivided into simple and compound, depending on the number of bones involved, and into complex and combination joints:[6] Simple Joint: 2 articulation surfaces (eg. shoulder joint, hip joint) 2. Compound Joint: 3 or more articulation surfaces (eg. radiocarpal joint)
1.

Complex Joint: 2 or more articulation surfaces and an articular disc or meniscus (eg. knee joint)
3.

[edit]Anatomical The joints may be classified anatomically into the following groups:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Articulations of hand Elbow joints Wrist joints Axillary articulations Sternoclavicular joints Vertebral articulations Temporomandibular joints Sacroiliac joints Hip joints Knee joints Articulations of foot

[edit]Arthritis Main article: Arthritis Arthritis and direct physical trauma to a joint are the causes of joint damage. Arthritis is a group of conditions where there is damage caused to the joints of the body. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in people over the age of 55. There are many different forms of arthritis, each of which has a different cause. The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease) occurs following trauma to the joint, following an infection of the joint or simply as a result of aging. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that abnormal anatomy may contribute to early development of osteoarthritis. Other forms of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, which are autoimmune diseases in which the body is attacking itself. Septic arthritis is caused by joint infection. Gouty arthritis is caused by deposition of uric acid crystals in the joint that results in subsequent inflammation. Additionally, there is a less common form of gout that is caused by the formation of rhomboidal shaped crystals of calcium pyrophosphate. This form of gout is known as pseudogout.