In medicine, the term supination describes the movement of an extremity. The word supination comes from Latin and means “bent back position”. The opposite movement to supination is pronation. There is the supination of the hand or forearm and the supination of the foot. Both are introduced in the following text.
Supination of the forearm
In supination of the forearm, the radius (spoke) and ulna (ulna) play a role. The ulna and radius are brought into a parallel position in the supination position. In the supination movement of the forearm, the arm turns “outwards”.
Thus, with an outstretched arm with the palm facing down, the arm is turned so that the palm is facing up and the thumb is facing away from the body. This movement thus turns the hand and the forearm. This is caused by the movement of the forearm muscles that originate and begin at the ulna and radius. The joints involved are called Articulatio radioulnaris proximalis and Articulatio radioulnaris distalis. The following muscles are involved in the supination of the forearm:
- Brachioradialis muscle
- Biceps bracchii muscle
- Musculus supinator.
Supination of the foot
Supination of the foot involves moving the outer side of the foot downwards and the middle side of the foot upwards. The heel is not moved during this process. The foot therefore bends outwards.
The muscles responsible are called: The joints involved are called: The first two mentioned are the main muscles for this movement. Foot malpositions can lead to over- or under-supination. This can lead to an incorrect load on the foot, which in turn can be harmful to tendons and muscles.
Therefore, there are different shoes for different foot positions for walking. The causes of the foot malposition are usually congenital, acquired through overweight or caused by severe fatigue. To remember supination and pronation better, there are two mnemonic devices. “In supination, the hand is in the shape of a bowl for soup and in pronation the hand is like cutting bread”.
- Musculus gastrocnemicus
- Musculus soleus
- Posterior tibial muscle
- Musculus flexor hallucis longus
- Musculus flexor digitorum longus
- Musculus tibialis anterior.
- Articulatio subtalaris
- Articulatio talocalcaneonavicularis
