Authors: Wali, Cris Hernandez, Delroy Daley, Patrick Price of the AUC School of Medicine and Dr. Colin Michie, Paediatrician.
Hi Kids! It’s Medical Student Wali here! In school, we have just learned about elbows and how they work – I wanted to share some excitement with you!
Your elbow is an amazing joint because it can do so many things to help you put your hands where they are useful! It is amazing how it works so smoothly without you even thinking about it!
You can bend and straighten the elbow like a hinge; it can be twisted too, like when you turn a doorknob, throw a baseball or bowl a cricket ball! Just look what it does when you run, or hug a friend!
The elbow is made up of three bones. The humerus connects your shoulder to your elbow. The two bones from the elbow to your wrist are the radius (on the side of your thumb, or laterally) and ulna: they can turn around or rotate at the elbow and allow you to twist your arm. The elbow joint is held tight by strong tendons, ligaments and many muscles too.
When you flex your arm, that is, bringing your hand to your shoulder, your biceps muscle will bulge at the front of your arm. When you straighten your arm, your triceps muscle behind the humerus will do this work. Your muscles can get more efficient and bigger if you train in a gym – not like skinny Wali and his lizard friends! I mean, even T Rex had pathetic elbows!
Have you ever hit your “funny bone”? It’s not very funny is it? There is no actual bone. This weird tingling like an electric shock happens if you knock the ulnar nerve against the humerus, as it sends sharp pain signals to your brain and numb signals to some of your fingers too.
There is a Wali joke about this: “What bone in your body cannot be broken?” The funny bone, of course!
Throughout history, parts of the body have been used for measurement of length, just like the foot, a pace or a span. In the Old Testament, the measurement of a man’s lower arm, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, was used as a measurement called the Ell, or the cubit!
So we must take care of our elbows with exercises and always warm up and stretch them before sport. You will not develop tennis elbow or golf elbow and your skills will improve!
