Joints are anatomical tissues that facilitate mechanical movements, provide elasticity and serve as a union between bones, bone and cartilage or bone tissue and between teeth.
The main functions of the joints are to keep the bones of the skeleton together and thus facilitate the movement of the body, so we can walk, sit, run, talk, make things with our hands, among many other activities.
Therefore, the joints, together with other important tissues, allow movements of the neck, knees, arms and shoulders, fingers and toes, hip, among others, with the exception of the bones that they form the skull, that although they are conformed by joints, their movement is almost null.
Types of joints
The human body is composed of 360 joints, which are classified according to their composition and the movements they allow to perform.
Joints according to their composition
Fibrous: these are the joints that are composed of collagen fibers.
Cartilaginous: these are the joints that are composed of bands of cartilage that connect to the bones.
Synovial: these joints are connected by a dense and irregular tissue that forms a capsule with a liquid that allows the bones to articulate.
Joints for its movement
Synarthrosis: they are immobile, rigid joints. These joints are held together by bone growth or by a cartilage. Examples of these joints are the bones that make up the skull, nose, among others.
Anfiarthrosis: are the joints that can make slight movements and are characterized by being cartilaginous. These joints are at the junction of the bones of the spine.
Diarthrosis: these are the joints that can perform the greatest amount of movements and that there are more in the body.
By means of these joints, movements of flexion and extension, of displacement, turns, lateral and medial rotation, abduction, circunduction, among others, can be performed.
