From the outside, it may seem easy to grasp an object with your hand or walk. However, this is possible because our body is made up of hundreds of components that make all these achievements of nature possible. Although bones and muscles are fundamental, there is one component without which we could not move a single millimeter: the joints.
It’s not just about the elbow, hands, or knees. In our body, there are hundreds of joints that allow even the smallest movement to be carried out without complication. In this new OneHOWTO article, we tell you what the main joints of the human body are, with the name and functions of the different types of joints.
Types of joints in the human body
Joints are fragments of soft tissue that lie between bones, joining them together and giving them movement and flexibility. They are responsible for making it possible for us to move and for us to keep all our bones together, despite the efforts of everyday life. Also, as if it were glue, they manage to hold our entire body together.
However, not all joints are the same. Each one has a different mechanism and functionality. What are the main joints of the human body? These are the names of the joints in the human body:
- Immobile or fibrous: their function is to hold two bones together without allowing any type of mobility. They work like glue on certain parts of our body, such as the cranial vault, where all the bones of the skull are joined to protect the brain.
- Semi-mobile or cartilaginous: semi-mobile joints are halfway between those that move and those that are immobile since their degree of movement is reduced. Within their union radius, they are composed of cartilage, which limits movement but has a certain flexibility. This is the case of the union between the vertebrae of the spine.
- Mobile or synovial: are those joints that have the ability to move in many directions. Within this category, we can find different types according to their range of motion. A very clear example of them can be the extremities, such as arms and legs.
It is precisely in this last type where we are going to stop to learn a little more about what the different types of mobile joints are like.
Hinge joints
Hinge joints are a type of mobile joint whose movement is very characteristic of our extremities, that is, of the arms and legs. The movement that it gives to the bones that it joins is, as its name suggests, like a hinge, coming to have a really similar appearance to this mechanism. This means that the movement only goes in one direction, forwards and backward.
The classic example of hinge joints is the knees and elbows, whose union allows the bones to come together and then return to their linear position.
Pivot joints
Pivot joints go a step further than hinge joints in that they allow some expansion of mobility in the areas where they are located. Its function and physiognomy make it possible for the different parts of the body to have a more rotating movement. Specifically, they allow lateral rotation and medial rotation movement.
A good example of this type of joint could be the neck or the wrists, whose movement can cause us to turn and rotate one of the parts that hold the joint, in this case, the head on the trunk or the hand on the arm.
Ball joints
Ball and socket joints go a step further than the previous two in terms of their degree of mobility. They allow a certain part of the body greater freedom of movement, being able to go from front to back as well as turn and rotate, in such a way that we can make circular movements.
Examples of this type of joint are the hip and shoulders, joints that we can fully rotate. This is because they are made up of a circular bone that is covered by the joint tissue, fitting easily into the other bone to which it joins. One of the most graphic examples is the hip cavity, to which the femur bone is attached, allowing us, for example, to spread our legs.
Now that you know what the main joints of the human body are, keep learning about anatomy with these articles:
- What are the limbs of the human body
- Human body systems and their functions
- What is the longest bone in the human body
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