JOINTS

• A joint is the part of the body where two or more

bones meet to allow movement. Every bone in
the body – except for the hyoid bone in the throat
– meets up with at least one other bone at a joint.
The shape of a joint depends on its function. A
joint is also known as an articulation.
• Joints support your body. They help you sit, stand and move.
• Some joints provide structural support. Others let you move.
Depending on how much a joint moves, it fits into one of
three categories:
• Synarthroses: Joints that don’t move at all. These joints
provide structural support.(Sutures,gomphoses)
• Amphiarthroses: Joints with limited movement that give
you a mix of stability and some motion.(vertebrae in spine,)
• Diarthroses: These are joints you can move freely in most
directions. These joints allow the most movement.
• Joints are made of bones and the connective tissues
that hold them together, including:
• Cartilage.
• Tendons.
• Ligaments.
• Nerves.
• Classify joints into three categories
depending on how much connective tissue
they contain:
• Fibrous joints.
• Cartilaginous joints.
• Synovial joints.
• What are fibrous joints?
• Fibrous joints aren’t very flexible. Some of them
don’t move at all. Their name reflects what
they’re made of — thick connective tissue that’s
tightly woven together like fiber. Fibrous joints
usually contain a lot of collagen.
• There are three types of fibrous joints, including:
• Sutures: The joints that hold the plates of your
skull together.
• Gomphoses: Joints that hold your teeth in place
in your jaw bones (mandibles).
• Syndesmoses: Joints that hold two closely
related bones together in place. A syndesmosis
joint keeps your tibia (shin bone) connected to
your fibula (calf bone).
• What are cartilaginous joints?
• Cartilaginous joints are cushioned by a layer of
cartilage that joins the bones together. Most
cartilaginous joints have some movement, but don’t
move far or in many directions.
• The joints where your ribs meet your sternum
(breastbone) are cartilaginous. The pubic symphysis
joint that joins your left and right pelvic bones
together is another cartilaginous joint.
• What are synovial joints?
• Synovial joints have the most freedom to move.
They’re made of a cavity in one bone that another
bone fits into. Slippery hyaline cartilage covers the
ends of bones that make up a synovial joint. A
synovial membrane — a fluid-filled sac that
lubricates and protects the joint — lines the space
between the bones. This extra cushioning helps
synovial joints move with as little friction as
possible.
• There are six types of synovial joints:
• 1.Hinge joints: Joints that open and close in
one direction. Your knees and elbows are
hinge joints.
• 2.Ball and socket joints: In a ball and
socket joint, the rounded end of one bone
fits into an indentation in another bone. They
can rotate and turn in almost any direction.
Your shoulders and hips are ball and socket
joints.
• 3.Condyloid joints: Condyloid joints are made
of two oval-shaped bones that fit together.
They’re similar to ball and socket joints, except
they can’t rotate in a full circle (360 degrees).
Your wrist and the joints where your toes meet
the rest of your foot are condyloid joints.
• 4.Pivot joints: Pivot joints rotate in place
without moving out of their original position. A
pivot joint in your neck lets your head move
from one side to another.
• 5.Planar joints: Planar joints are formed when
two mostly flat bones come together. They move
by one piece of bone sliding over the other
without rotating. The carpal bones that join your
wrist to your forearm and the joints between the
vertebrae in your spine are planar joints.
• 6.Saddle joints: Saddle joints are formed when
two curved bones meet. U-shaped bones fitting
together in the curved space between each other.
Saddle joints can move in any direction, but can’t
twist or rotate. The joint where your thumb joins
your hand is a saddle joint.
• Joints can be affected by anything that damages
your bones or connective tissue, including:
• Arthritis.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Bursitis.
• Tendinitis.
• Osteoporosis.
• Arthritis is a disease that causes damage in your joints.
• Types of arthritis
• There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. Some of
the most common types include:
• Osteoarthritis: Wear and tear arthritis.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: Arthritis that happens when your
immune system mistakenly damages your joints.
• Gout: Arthritis that causes sharp uric acid crystals to form
in your joints.
• Psoriatic arthritis: Arthritis that affects people who have
psoriasis.
• Juvenile arthritis: Arthritis in kids and teens younger than
16.
• Where is cartilage located?
• Almost any place where two bones meet in your body
is cushioned by cartilage. It’s also at the ends of all
your bones that form joints.

• Types of cartilage
• There are three types of cartilage in your body:
• Hyaline cartilage.
• Elastic cartilage.
• Fibrocartilage.
• Hyaline cartilage
• Hyaline cartilage is the most common type of cartilage in
your body. It lines your joints and caps the ends of your
bones. Hyaline cartilage at the ends of your bones is
sometimes referred to as articular cartilage.
• Hyaline cartilage is slippery and smooth which helps your
bones move smoothly past each other in your joints. It’s
flexible but strong enough to help your joints hold their
shape.
• Hyaline cartilage locations in your body include:
• At the ends of bones that form joints.
• Between your ribs.
• In your nasal passages.
• Fibrocartilage
• Fibrocartilage is what its name sounds like: tough
cartilage made of thick fibers. It’s the strongest and
least flexible of the three types. It’s tough enough
to hold parts of your body in place and absorb
impacts.
• Fibrocartilage locations in your body include:
• The meniscus in your knee.
• In disks between the vertebrae in your spine.
• Supporting muscles, tendons and ligaments
throughout your body.
• Elastic cartilage
• Elastic cartilage is your most flexible cartilage. It supports
parts of your body that need to bend and move to function.
Elastic cartilage can bounce back to its original shape, even
after a strong force. Your ear is made of elastic cartilage. It
can bend and move without hurting you before returning to
its usual shape.
• Elastic cartilage locations in your body include:
• Your external ears (the parts of your ear that are outside your
body).
• Your eustachian tubes (the tube that carries sounds from your
external ear into your head).
• Your larynx (your voice box).