The movements that occur within your body primarily happen at the joints and are produced by muscle contractions. These movements can be categorized as follows:
- Flexion : Decreases the angle between two bones, such as bending the elbow or knee.
- Extension : Increases the angle between two bones, like straightening the elbow or knee.
- Abduction : Movement of a limb away from the midline of the body, for example, raising the arm sideways.
- Adduction : Movement of a limb toward the midline of the body, such as lowering the arm back to the side.
- Rotation : Movement of a bone around its longitudinal axis, like turning the head side to side.
- Circumduction : A circular movement combining flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction, seen in shoulder or hip joints.
- Elevation and Depression : Elevation moves a body part upward (e.g., shrugging shoulders), while depression moves it downward.
- Pronation and Supination : Rotational movements of the forearm; pronation turns the palm downward, supination turns it upward.
- Medial (Internal) and Lateral (External) Rotation : Rotating a limb toward (medial) or away (lateral) from the body's midline.
- Dorsiflexion and Plantar Flexion : Movements at the ankle; dorsiflexion lifts the foot upward, plantar flexion points the toes downward.
These movements occur in different anatomical planes-sagittal (forward and backward), coronal/frontal (side to side), and transverse (rotational)-and depend on the type of joint involved (e.g., hinge, ball-and-socket, pivot) and the muscles acting on them
. In summary, your body performs a variety of joint movements that enable complex and coordinated actions, essential for daily activities and overall mobility.
