The lower limb, popularly called the leg, consists of a total of 31 bones. These are distributed to form the hip, thigh, knee, leg, and foot.
Hipbones
The hip is the structure that joins the lower limb to the trunk. It consists of one bone, the innominate bone.
Coxal bone. This bone is located at the level of the pelvis and shapes the hip. On the inside it joins the sacrum through the sacroiliac joint and on the outside it joins the femur forming the hip joint, also known as the hip joint. This bone emits an extension in its anterior part that joins the analog of the contralateral hip bone to form the pubis.
Thigh bones
The thigh is the area of the lower limb located between the hip and the knee. It consists of one bone, the femur.
Femur. It is the longest bone in the body. Its upper end has a rounded shape and is known as the head of the femur, it joins the iliac bone to form the hip joint. The head of the femur is a vulnerable point in the elderly, since it is a frequent seat of fractures due to osteoporosis.
Knee bones
The knee consists of its own bone which is the patella.
Ball joint. It is a small, flattened, triangular-shaped bone with a lower vertex. The patella is located in front of the lower end of the femur, however it does not join directly to it, so it is a bone of the sesamoid type. The patella is contained within the tendon of the quadriceps muscle, which is the muscle located on the front of the thigh.
Leg bones
The leg is made up of two bones: the tibia and the fibula.
Tibia. It is the main bone of the leg, it is located in its anterior part. Its upper end is wide with a flattened surface called the tibial plateau through which it articulates with the femur and the fibula, in its lower part it articulates with the talus, forming the ankle joint. The prominence located on the inner part of the ankle, called the medial malleolus, is the prominence of the lower part of the tibia.
Fibula. It is a thin bone located outside the tibia. The fibula articulates with the tibia in its upper part and with the talus in the lower part, at that level the fibula forms the prominence located on the external part of the ankle known as the external malleolus.
Foot bones
The foot is a complex structure that consists of 26 bones distributed as follows:
Rear: Astragalus, calcaneus, scaphoid, cuneiform (3) and cuboid bones.
Front part: Metatarsals (5) and phalanges (14).
Photo: Fotolia - Pic4u / Maya2008
