Limbs

The limbs serve several crucial functions in the human body. They enable mobility and movement, allowing us to walk, run, reach, and manipulate objects with our arms and hands. The limbs provide dexterity and fine motor control, enabling us to perform intricate tasks. They also contribute to our stability and balance, supporting our weight and facilitating standing and posture. Sensory receptors in the limbs provide feedback about touch, pressure, temperature, and pain, helping us navigate and interact with the environment.

The limbs play a role in non-verbal communication, expressing emotions and conveying messages through gestures. Collectively, these functions make the limbs essential for our physical abilities and interactions in daily life.

The limbs consist of several key body parts and organs that work together to facilitate movement and function. In the upper limbs (arms), the major components include: 

• Shoulders: It is a set of muscles on an important joint since it allows the support and movement of the shoulder girdle. This allows the arm to move in a circular fashion, but also to move towards the ends of the body. The joints have a synovial bag. 

• Arms: The arms have different muscle groups that allow different functions. The biceps allow you to flex your arms, the triceps to stretch them. The deltoid muscles raise the arms, among others. The arm extends from the shoulders to the elbow and the elbow creases. 

• Elbows: The elbows are the joints where the humerus bone meets the ulna and radius, which are bones of the forearm. The main function of the elbow is to allow flexion and extension movements. 

• Forearms: It is the part of the body that is between the elbow and the wrist. It is in the forearm that the muscles responsible for rotating the forearm up (supination) and down (pronation) are located. 

• Wrists: The wrist is a joint made up of numerous tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones whose function is to transmit strength and stability to the hand as well as allow many movements. 

• Hands: The hands can perform various functions, such as grasping, touching, feeling, holding, among others. The hands go from the wrists to the base of the fingers. 

• Fingers: The fingers are the most distal or far part of the upper extremities. They can perceive shape, temperature, texture, and size. They are characterised by flexion and extension movements necessary to allow grip. 

The lower extremities or legs are the part of the body that goes from the trunk to the feet. It is made up of various parts necessary to fulfil its functions. 

• Hips: The hip is a large ball-and-socket joint that connects the thigh bone (femur) to the pelvis, providing stability, flexibility, and support for various movements of the lower limbs. 

• Thighs: The thighs can flex the legs on the trunk and also allow extension of the leg in a sagittal or longitudinal plane. Various muscles are part of the thighs such as the pectineus muscle, the sartorius and the quadriceps femoris. 

• Knees: The knee is a joint that allows extension and flexion movements of the leg. It is a joint reinforced by a set of ligaments and a joint capsule for greater stability. The Knee is capable of supporting the weight of the body when the person is standing. 

• Calves: The calves run from the knees to the ankles. There are two main muscles in this region which are the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The calves help the body maintain balance and correct posture. 

• Ankles: The ankles are joints through which the foot can perform flexion and extension movements, they are also involved in maintaining balance and act as shock absorbers. 

• Foot: it plays an important role in supporting the body and allows us to walk bipedally. 

• Toes: The toes help maintain balance and move on your feet.