it consist of detailed description about joints, their number and location. we briefly explained about the types of joints with colorful images. easy to understand for students with the help of pictures. language is also simple.it will be helpful for the beginners.

1. JOINTS
MS. BHARTI SHARMA
M.SC NURSING
BEE ENN COLLEGE OF
NURSING, JAMMU.

2. DEFINITION:
 A joint is the site at which any
two or more bones articulate or
come together.
 Joints allow flexibility and
movement of the skeleton and
allow attachment between
bones.

3. TYPES OF JOINTS:
 The various types of joints are:
A. Fibrous joint
B. Cartilaginous joint
C. Synovial joint-
a. Ball and socket joint
b. Hinge joint
c. Gliding joint
d. Pivot joint
e. Condyloid joint
f. Saddle joint

4. A. FIBROUS JOINT
 The bones forming these joints
are linked with tough, fibrous
material. Such an arrangement
often permits no movement.
 The joints between the skull
bones, the sutures, are
completely immovable.
 The tibia and fibula in the leg are
held together along their shafts
by a sheet of fibrous tissues
called the interosseous
membranes.
 This is a fibrous joint that allows
a limited amount of movement
and stabilizes the alignment of
the bones.

6. B. CARTILAGINOUS JOINT:
 These joints are formed by a pad of
fibrocartilage, a tough material that
acts as a shock absorber.
 The joint may be immovable, as in
the cartilaginous epiphyseal plates,
which in the growing child link the
diaphysis of a long bone to the
epiphysis.
 In other joints, a limited degree of
movement may take place, as
between the vertebrae, or at the
symphysis pubis, which is softened
by circulating hormones during
pregnancy to allow child birth.

7. C. SYNOVIAL JOINT:
 Synovial joints are
characterized by the
presence of a space or
capsule between the
articulating bones.
 The ends of the bones are
held close together by the
sleeve of fibrous tissue,
and the capsule is
lubricated with a small
amount of fluid.
 Most synovial joints
permit a range of
movement.

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF A SYNOVIAL
JOINT:
All synovial joints have certain characteristics in common.
 ARTICULAR OR HYALINE CARTILAGE: The parts of the bones which are
in contact are always covered with hyaline cartilage. This provide a smooth
articular surface and is strong enough to absorb compression forces and bear
the weight of the body.
The cartilage lining, which is upto 7mm thick in young people, becomes
thinner and less compressible with age. Cartilage has no blood supply and receives
its nourishment from synovial fluid.
 CAPSULE OR CAPSULAR LIGAMENT: The joint is surrounded and
enclosed by a sleeve of fibrous tissues which holds the bones together. It is
sufficiently loose to allow freedom of movement but strong enough to protect
it from injury.

9.  SYNOVIAL MEMBRANE: This is composed of epithelial cells and is
found:
 Lining the capsule
 Covering those parts of the bones within the joint not covered by articular cartilage
 Covering all intracapsular structures that do not bear weight.
 SYNOVIAL FLUID: This is a thick sticky fluid, of egg-white consistency,
secreted by synovial membranes into the synovial cavity, and it:
 Provides nutrients for the structures within the joint cavity
 Contains phagocytes, which remove microbes and cellular debris
 Acts as a lubricant
 Maintains joint stability
 Prevents the ends of the bones from being separated, as does a little water between
two glass surfaces.

11. TYPES OF SYNOVIAL JOINTS:
Synovial joints are classified according to
the range of movement possible or to the
shape of the articulating parts of the bones
involved.
a) Ball and socket joints – The head of one
bone is ball-shaped and articulates with
a cup-shaped socket of another. The
joint allows for a wide range of
movement, including flexion,
extensions, adduction, abduction,
rotation and circumduction. E.g.
shoulder and hip joints.

12. b). HINGE JOINTS: The
articulating ends of the bones
form an arrangement like hinge
on a door, and movement is
therefore restricted to flexion
and extension. The elbow joint is
one example, permitting only
flexion and extension of the
forearm.
Other examples includes the
knee and the joints between the
phalanges of the fingers and toe
(interphalangeal joints)

13. C). GLIDING JOINTS: The
articular surfaces are flat or very
slightly curved and glide over one
another, but the amount of
movement possible is very
restricted; this group of joints is
the least movable of all the
synovial joints.
Examples include the joints
between the carpal bones in the
wrist and the tarsal bones in the
foot.

15. D). PIVOT JOINTS: These joints allow a
bone or a limb to rotate. One bone fits into a
hoop- shaped ligament that holds it close to
another bone and allows it to rotate in the
ring thus formed.
Example includes the head rotates on the
pivot joint formed by the dens of the axis
held within the ring formed by the transverse
ligaments and the odontoid process of the
atlas.

16. E). CONDYLOID JOINTS: A condyle is
a smooth, rounded projection on a bone
and in a condyloid joint it sits within a
cup-shaped depression on the other bone.
Examples include the joint between the
condylar process of the mandible and the
temporal bone, and the joints between the
metacarpal and phalangeal bones of the
foot.
These joints permit flexion, extension,
abduction, adduction and circumduction.

17. F). SADDLE JOINTS: The
articulating bones fit together like a
man sitting on a saddle. The most
important saddle joint is at the base of
the thumb, between the trapezium of
the wrist and the first metacarpal
bone.
The range of movement is similar to
that at a condyloid joint but with
additional flexibility; opposition of
the thumb, the ability to touch each of
the fingertips on the same hand, is
due to the nature of the thumb joint.

19. ASSIGNMENT:
 Draw a labelled diagram of main synovial joints:
1. Shoulder joint
2. Elbow joint
3. Wrist joint
4. Knee joint
5. Ankle joint