L5.4.1: Types of Body Movements

• TYPES OF BODY MOVEMENTS

  • Flexion
  • Extension
  • Rotation
  • Abduction
  • Adduction
  • Circumduction
• SPECIAL MOVEMENTS

  • Dorsiflexion and Plantar Flexion
  • Inversion and Eversion
  • Supination and Pronation
  • Opposition
• FLEXION

  ● Generally in the sagittal plane

  ● Decreases the angle of joint and brings two bones closer together

  ● Hinge joints or ball-and-socket joints

  ● Ex: bending the knee/elbow; bending forward at the hip

  
• EXTENSION

  ● Opposite of flexion

  ● Movement that increases the angle/distance between two bones/parts of the body

  ● Hyperextension - extension that is greater than 180°

  ● Ex: Straightening the knee or elbow

  
• ROTATION

  ● Movement of a bone around its longitudinal axis

  ● Ball-and-socket joints

  ● Describes the movement of the atlas around the dens of the axis

  ● Ex: Shaking your head “no”

  
• ABDUCTION

  ● Moving a limb away from the median plane

  ● Applies to the fanning movement of your fingers or toes when they are spread apart

  
• ADDUCTION

  ● Opposite of abduction

  ● Movement of a limb toward the body midline

  ● “Adding” a body part by bringing it closer to the trunk

  
• CIRCUMDUCTION

  ● Combination of flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction

  ● The proximal end of the limb is stationary, and its distal end moves in a circle

  ● The limb as a whole outlines a cone, as when you do big arm circles

  
• DORSIFLEXION AND PLANTAR FLEXION

  ● Up-and-down movements of the foot at the ankle are given special names

  ● Dorsiflexion - lifting the foot so that its superior surface approaches the shin (pointing your toe toward your head)

  ● Dorsiflexion of the foot corresponds to extension and hyperextension of the hand at the wrist

  ● Plantar Flexion - pointing the toes away from your head

  ● Plantar Flexion of the foot corresponds to flexion of the hand

  
• INVERSION AND EVERSION

  ● Special movements of the foot

  ● To invert the foot, turn the sole medially, as if you were looking at the bottom of your foot

  ● To evert the foot, turn the sole laterally

  
• SUPINATION AND PRONATION

  SUPINATION AND PRONATION

  ● Refers to the movements of the radius around the ulna

  ● Trick: If you lift a cup of soup up to your mouth on your palm, you are supinating (“soup”-inating)

  ● Supination - turning back

  ● Forearm rotates laterally so that the palm faces anteriorly and the radius and ulna are parallel

  ● Pronation - turning forward

  ● Forearm rotates medially so that the palm faces posteriorly

  ● Brings the radius across the ulna so that the two bones form an X

  
• OPPOSITION

  ● In the palm of the hand, the saddle joint between metacarpal 1 and the carpals allows opposition of the thumb

  ● This is the action by which you move your thumb to touch the tips of the other fingers on the same hand

  ● This unique action makes the human hand a fine tool for grasping and manipulating objects