Where is the scaphoid bone of the wrist?
The anatomy of the wrist joint is extremely complex–probably the most complex of all the joints in the body. The joint is actually a collection of many joints and many bones. These joints and bones let us use our hands in many ways. The wrist must be extremely mobile to give our hands a full range of motion. At the same time, the wrist must provide the strength for heavy gripping. The wrist is made up of eight separate small bones, called the carpal bones . The scaphoid bone is a carpal bone near the base of the thumb. The carpal bones connect the two bones of the forearm, the radius and the ulna , to the bones of the hand. The metacarpal bones are the long bones that lie underneath the palm. The metacarpals attach to the phalanges , which are the bones in the fingers and thumb. One reason that the wrist is so complicated is because every small bone forms a joint with the bone next to it. This means that what we call the wrist joint is actually made up of many small joints. Ligaments