Wrist and Hand joint

The Wrist and hand, lying at the end of the forearm, consists of the nine bones of the wrist (called carpal bones of) which are joined to the five bones (called metacarpal bones) which are in the palm of the hand, each of which joins to one of the fingers or the thumb. Each finger is made up of three bones called phalanges, while the thumb has two. The wrist joint allows movements up and down and side to side, together with a circular movement which is a combination of the other four. Similar movements can occur at the joints between the fingers and thumb with their corresponding metacarpal bone. The joints between the phalanges in the fingers (called interphalangeal joints) - only allow more restricted movement: the fingers can bend and straighten (called flexion and extension). The wrist is acted upon by muscles in the forearm which end in tendons contained in sheaths lined with synovial membrane. The fingers are moved both by tendons from muscles in the forearm and by muscles within the hand itself.

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