Skeletal system anatomy and physiology

We all have 206 bones, and together they make up the skeleton which gives the body structure, protects important organs like the brain and heart, and allows muscles to facilitate movement.

Without bones you’d be a shapeless, immobile blob.

Normally, the skeleton can be broken down into the axial and the appendicular skeleton.

The axial skeleton consists of bones located along the vertical axis of your body. It contains 80 bones; 22 bones that make up the skull, 33 vertebrae, 24 ribs, and the sternum.

The appendicular skeleton consists of bones in your limbs as well as the bones that attach the limb bones to the axial skeleton, like the pelvis and the scapulae.

The appendicular skeleton is made up of around 126 bones; 4 bones in both shoulders, 6 bones in the arms, 54 bones in the hands, 2 hip bones that form the pelvic girdle, 8 bones in the legs, and 52 bones in the feet.

Now there are 5 types of bones based on their shape - long bones, short bones, flat bones, sesamoid bones, and irregular bones.

Long bones are longer than they are wide, and they’re in the limbs and include the humerus, radius, and ulna in the arms; as well as the metacarpals and phalanges of the hand and fingers.

Long bones also include the femur, tibia, and fibula in the leg as well as metatarsals and phalanges of the feet and toes.

During childhood and adolescence, long bones continues to grow and are the bones that are responsible for your height.