Joints and cartilage and ligaments:
Keeping your bodies in motion!
J
oints are the places in your body where bones connect.
Without them, we wouldn’t be able to move. In both of
your hands and wrists alone, you have about 80 joints.
Cartilage protects your bones at the joints, preventing them
from rubbing against each other. Cartilage is a slippery sub-
stance that can soak up and push out water like a sponge.
It’s ideal for joints, because it can absorb shocks.
Think about the stress that running puts on your knees
Cartilage helps take the pressure off your joints.
It also lubricates joints and allows them to move
smoothly. When you’re running, for example,
your joints move in a seamless motion.
Even when you’re not physically active, your
cartilage is still working. While you are seated,
cartilage stores the knee’s joint fluid. When you
get up, the fluid squeezes out of the cartilage and
into the joint. This lubrication and cushion is
what makes it possible to stand up or run.
Ligaments, made up of strong bundles of
elastic fiber, reinforce your joints and
help guard against dislocation. They
tighten when your joints are stressed,
and release when they’re at rest.
Whether you’re playing hard on
the basketball court or just
waving to a friend, all of
these parts work together.
The
in your
bon
More than half of the
bones in the human body are
in the hands and feet
The longest and strongest bone in the body is you
