The various terminologies related to movement are as under:
- Flexion: Movement occurring in a sagittal plane, in which a joint angle is decreased or closed. e.g. flexion of the elbow brings the anterior surface of forearm closer to the anterior surface of the arm.
- Extension: Movement in the sagittal plane, in which the joint angle is increased or opened. e.g., extension of elbow moves the forearm away from the anterior surface of arm.
- Dorsiflexion: It is equivalent to extension and used to describe the movement of foot. It refers to lifting the top of the foot superiorly toward the shin.
- Plantar flexion: It is similar to flexion and is used to describe the movement of foot. It refers to moving the sole of the foot inferiorly, as in standing on the toes.
- Abduction: It is the movement away from the midline of the body in the coronal plane. Sometimes, lateral flexion is used to refer sideways bending movement of the trunk in the coronal plane, however, it is not correct, and abduction is the more correct term.
- Adduction: It is the movement toward the midline of the body in the coronal plane.
- Circumduction: It involves a complex sequence of movements combining flexion, abduction, adduction and rotation, resulting in transcribing a cone through space. The apex of the cone is formed by the more proximal articular cavity of a joint, and base of the cone is more distal end of a bone or limb segment. It can be seen in shoulder movement.
- Inversion: It refers to turning the sole of the foot so that the sole faces in a medial direction, towards the midline.
- Eversion: It refers to turning the sole of foot, so that it faces in a lateral direction.
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Rotation: It is the movement of a structure around its long axis, with little or no movement through its space.
- Medial or internal rotation is movement that results in anterior surface of the structure facing medially.
- Lateral or external rotation is movement that results in the anterior surface of the structure facing laterally.
- Pronation: It refers to turning the forearm medially in such a manner that the palm of the hand faces posteriorly.
- Supination: It involves turning the forearm laterally so that the palm of the hand faces anteriorly.
- Protraction: It is the forward movement of a body part. eg, forward movement of the lower jaw (chin) at the temporomandibular joint.
- Retraction: It is the backward movement of a body part. e.g., backward movement of lower jaw (chin).
References
- Snell's Clinical Anatomy By Regions, Lawrence E. Wineski, Wolters Kluwer.
- 9.5 Types of Body Movements, Oregon State University.
- Image Source: https://open.oregonstate.education/aandp/chapter/9-5-types-of-body-movements/
*This article is an excerpt from the above mentioned sources and Medical Sutras does not make any ownership or affiliation claims.