Anatomical Terms of Movement:

In anatomical terminology, various movements describe how muscles act upon the skeleton. These terms help precisely describe different actions.

Here are some key movements:

Flexion: Decreasing the angle between two body parts (e.g., bending the elbow).

Extension: Increasing the angle between two body parts (e.g., straightening the elbow).

Abduction: Moving away from the midline of the body (e.g., raising the arms out to the sides).

Adduction: Moving toward the midline (e.g., squeezing the legs together).

Medial Rotation (Internal Rotation): Rotating a limb toward the midline (e.g., rotating the hip to point the toes inward).

Lateral Rotation: Rotating a limb away from the midline (opposite of medial rotation).

Elevation: Moving in a superior direction (e.g., shoulder shrug).

Depression: Moving in an inferior direction.

Protraction: Anterolateral movement of the scapula (shoulder blade) on the thoracic wall, allowing the shoulder to move anteriorly.

Retraction: Opposite of protraction; it describes the posterior movement of the scapula.