Synovial Joints: Types of Movement (Nursing)

00:01 So now let's discuss the different movements of the synovial joints.

00:05 Here you can see the gliding movement.

00:09 In the gliding movement the carpals are the joints between the bones in the carpals are going to be gliding over each other.

00:19 The second type of movement at synovial joints are going to be angular movements.

00:24 We refer to them as angular movements because we're going to be increasing the size of the angle along one of the body's axes.

00:33 We can divide the body into three major axes.

00:37 You can either divide them sagittally, separating the right and the left of the body, or you can divide it from the frontal plane, in which you separate the anterior and the posterior section of the body.

00:51 The third plane is the transverse plane.

00:53 Where we're going to divide the body from the top to the bottom or superior and inferiorly.

01:01 The first angular movement that we're going to discuss today is flexion.

01:06 In flexion, we are going to decrease the size of the angle along the frontal plane.

01:14 An example of this would be lifting the arm at the shoulder joint toward the head.

01:21 The opposite of flexion is going to be extension.

01:24 In extension, we're going to return the arm back to its original point, or we're going to now increase the angle.

01:34 Another example of extension and flexion would be nodding the head at the atlantoaxial joint of the spine.

01:45 Another type of angular movement that we can do at the synovial joint is moving away from the sagittal plane of the body.

01:54 An example of this would be abduction, where we move the arm away from the body like you would do if you're doing a jumping jack, or abduction, where we bring the arm back toward the body.

02:09 In abduction, we're going to increase the size of the angle from the sagittal plane.

02:14 And in adduction, we're going to return or decrease the size of the angle.

02:21 A third type of angular movement is going to be circumduction.

02:26 In circumduction, we are going to create a circular movement around one of the synovial joints.

02:36 The third type of synovial joint movement is going to be rotation.

02:41 In rotation, we are going to rotate at the joint.

02:45 This can be done by the head such as in shaking your head no, as well as other body parts, such as rotating the arm or rotating the leg in or outward.

03:01 There are also several types of special synovial joint movements.

03:06 An example of this is going to be retraction as well as protraction.

03:13 This can be done by the joint of the mandible.

03:16 In retraction, we pull the mandible back toward the spine, and in protraction we protrude the mandible out away from the body.

03:29 Another type of special movement is elevation versus depression.

03:34 This is what we do when we chew our food.

03:37 In elevation, we can decrease the size of the angle of the mandible by bringing the mouth or the jawbone up and in depression, we can open the mouth or increase that angle and bring the jaw bone down.

03:55 Another type of special joint movement for the synovial joints is opposition.

04:00 This is unique to the thumb of the hand.

04:04 And this when you make the okay symbol or the number four, you are moving the joint across or at a diagonal angle.

04:18 Other special movements also include pronation and supination at the wrist joint.

04:25 In pronation, the hands are going to be facing behind or posteriorly.

04:31 And in supination The hands are going to be facing anteriorly.

04:36 Recall that in standard anatomical position, your hands are in a supinated form.

04:44 The next type of special movement is going to be plantar flexion and dorsiflexion.

04:50 In plantar flexion, we are pointing our toes or if you're short like me and you want to reach something on a high shelf, you need to plantar flex the ankle joint so that you can reach up higher.

05:04 The opposite of this is dorsiflexion.

05:07 And this we decrease the size of the ankle joint and the toes move up toward the leg.

05:14 The last type of special movement that we'll talk about today is inversion and eversion.

05:21 These both occur at the ankle joint.

05:24 In inversion, you move the foot or the ankle toward the inside of the body or medially.

05:31 And an eversion, you're going to move it away from the body or laterally.