What Is the Flexor Carpi Radialis?
The flexor carpi radialis is a muscle found in the palm side of the forearm. One of eight muscles located here, it is one of the most superficial in that it is close to the skin. Situated alongside the palmaris longus, pronator teres, and flexor carpi ulnaris, this muscle is involved in flexion of the forearm, or curling the palm side of the wrist inward toward the elbow. It also is an abductor of the wrist, meaning that it waves the hand laterally toward the thumb side. A long and narrow muscle, the flexor carpi radialis is centrally located on the anterior forearm. It originates on the medial epicondyle of the humerus, one of the two rounded bony prominences at the lowest point on the large bone in the upper arm. The medial epicondyle, which is the prominence closest to the trunk of the body, can easily be palpated about an inch above the elbow on the inside of the upper arm.
