{"id":7205,"date":"2019-07-05T09:49:38","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T09:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=7205"},"modified":"2021-06-12T16:23:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T16:23:57","slug":"14-types-and-functions-of-ligaments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/14-types-and-functions-of-ligaments\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Types and Functions of Ligaments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The ligaments are considered bands of elastic tissue that are tough around your joints. They are important because they connect bone to bone, limit their movement, and provide support to the joints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ligaments are all around your bodies, such as your knees, elbows, shoulders, and ankles. The more you stretch and injure your ligaments makes your joints unstable. Most people injure their ligaments through physical activity, accidents, or wear and tear. When they become unstable, you can self-treat at home with rest and icing it. If the ligament is in bad shape, surgery will be needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to know the eight types of functions of ligaments. Some people don\u2019t even know the functions, but once you know you\u2019ll know to take better care of your body instead of pushing yourself when playing sports or exercising. The more you know about how your ligaments work, the more you will appreciate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The range of motion is a type of function of the ligaments.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It determines how much the joint and\/or muscle<\/a> can extend. It will prevent the dislocation of the joint. It holds the joints together when they are flexed or extended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you overextend a joint and\/or muscle the ligament becomes injured. A lot of the times the only way a ligament can be fixed is through surgery. For instance, a ballerina is expected to extend her leg as high as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When stretching she has to throw her leg up as high as possible. If she does this too many times at a high rate of speed, she can injure herself. That\u2019s why a lot of times ballerinas have to cut their dance careers short because of an injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They pushed themselves too hard and it caused them to be unable to dance the same again. Even if they have the injury fixed, they could cause more injury to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. It protects the bones and joints. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It prevents the bones from breaking or fracturing. It prevents the bones from having any injuries. The ligaments <\/a>connect bone to bone to keep the joints combined. It allows us to move. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to keep your bones strong by drinking milk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The milk will make your bones strong. Some women end up with osteoporosis because their bones have become weak as they get older. As you get older the bones become weak and can cause arthritis. It is important to take care of your bones now while you\u2019re still young so that when you get older and fall down, you won\u2019t break any bones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ligaments will do their job by protecting your bones and joints. It\u2019s up to you to maintain what the ligaments are doing. On the other hand, sometimes we can\u2019t protect our bones if we injure ourselves in a car accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Make your joints stable is a function of the ligaments. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whenever you make any kind of movement, the ligaments are involved. They control how far you extend your legs or arms. When you overextend your arms and legs, you will cause an injury <\/a>and make the joints unstable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019ll cause you to not be able to walk, especially if the injury is in the leg or knees. If you have ever noticed that some people walk with a limp. This is probably because their joints are unstable. Sometimes a person is born with unstable joints, but a lot of the times the joints are stable and we make them unstable through repetitive activities, such as sports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to be competitive, so we figure the harder we play, the likelihood we\u2019ll win. It is more than likely that over time you\u2019ll do damage to your joints and you won\u2019t be able to compete. You\u2019ll just watch on the sidelines like everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Helps your knees to bend is a function of the ligaments. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An injury to the knees can cause pain to the entire leg. For instance, a pedestrian that is hit by a car and when he or she makes an impact to the ground it is likely that their leg will fly up in the air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ligament that is protecting the knee becomes injured. If the injury is minor, icing and elevating the leg can help, but in serious cases, the joint has to be put back into place, which is painful. If that doesn\u2019t work, surgery <\/a>is needed to fix the bone in the knee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The knee won\u2019t be the same because any force applied to the knee will cause pain. Some people who have been physically active for years, have knee surgery and are able to go back to running after eight weeks. No matter what, they still need to take it slow because they can reinjure the knee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Make stretching possible with ligaments. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ligaments <\/a>allow you to stretch the amount that it will allow. This will protect your ligaments from tearing and causing an injury. A lot of times when people stretch, they try to stretch way beyond what their ligaments will allow so that they can become flexible quicker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can cause the ligaments to snap and prevent the person from getting any gains. He or she will have to go back to square one because whenever he or she stretches, pain will be felt. If the person would have taken their time and stretched properly, he or she would be at where they needed to be now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, a person wanting to achieve splits can get splits by stretching slowly, but a lot of the times they are pushed into splits, which causes injury. Splits take a long time to achieve, but there is no need to force them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Preventing dislocation of the joints is a function of the ligaments.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ligaments are connected by a tough elastic band, which prevent your joints from becoming dislocated. When an injury occurs or you fall, your joints can become dislocated. When they become dislocated, health professional, such as a chiropractor <\/a>has to put the joint back into place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be painful and may have to be done more than one time because since there has been an injury to the ligament the joint may continue to become dislocated. After a while, the chiropractor may suggest surgery to fix the ligament, so that the joint is able to stay in place. After surgery, you will have to walk to help in the healing process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be painful, but with pain medication, you should be able to manage it. A dislocation of a joint is painful. For instance, in the knee, there may be a tingling sensation in the back of the knee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Providing stability for the shoulders is another function of the ligaments.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the shoulder, there is a joint <\/a>capsule is formed by a group of ligaments. The humerus and glenoid is connected to these ligaments that make the shoulders stable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They hold the shoulders together to prevent them from dislocating. When the shoulders are dislocated, there is a pain. It has to be put back into place, which is painful. Shoulder surgery is needed when icing and trying to put the shoulder back into place doesn\u2019t work. Some people have to have more than one surgery when they have an injury to their shoulder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ligaments allow the shoulder to move up and down and back and forth when relaxing or stretching. A person can cause injury to the shoulders by lifting on heavy items, such as weights or grocery bags. Also, wearing heavy bookbags can cause injury to the shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Preventing sprains is a function of ligaments. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sprains <\/a>can happen easier when the area is already weak. For instance, if you have worn a part of your body out, when you have an injury, it will become sprained easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have a sprain it\u2019s painful and difficult to move. The ligaments that support and connect the bones and joints become damaged. You can prevent sprains by watching every movement you make, if possible. Some movements occur are out of your hands, such as being injured through an accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to everyday activities, you can prevent it by taking your time and not overdoing it. For instance, if you are prone to sprains when running, it\u2019s best to walk or do another form of low-impact exercise. The same thing applies to do everyday chores. Instead of straining on heavy grocery bags, use a grocery basket.
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