anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, flexor carpi radialis is a

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

of the human

forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anatomy, techn ...

that acts to flex and (radially) abduct the

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

. The Latin ''carpus'' means wrist; hence flexor carpi is a flexor of the wrist.

Origin and insertion

The flexor carpi radialis is one of four muscles in the superficial layer of the

anterior compartment of the forearm The anterior compartment of the forearm (or flexor compartment) contains the following muscles: The muscles are largely involved with flexion and supination. The superficial muscles have their origin on the common flexor tendon. The ulnar nerve ...

. This muscle originates from the medial epicondyle of the

humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...

as part of the common flexor tendon. It runs just laterally of

flexor digitorum superficialis Flexor digitorum superficialis (''flexor digitorum sublimis'') or flexor digitorum communis sublimis is an extrinsic flexor muscle of the fingers at the proximal interphalangeal joints. It is in the anterior compartment of the forearm. It is s ...

and inserts on the anterior aspect of the base of the

second metacarpal The second metacarpal bone (metacarpal bone of the index finger) is the longest, and its base the largest, of all the metacarpal bones.''Gray's Anatomy'' (1918). See infobox. Human anatomy Its base is prolonged upward and medialward, forming a ...

, and has small slips to both the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

metacarpal In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus, also known as the "palm bones", are the appendicular bones that form the intermediate part of the hand between the phalanges (fingers) and the carpal bones ( wrist bones), which articulate ...

and trapezium tuberosity.Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
/ref> The tendon of the flexor carpi radialis is visible on the anterior surface of the forearm, just proximal to the wrist, when the wrist is flexed. It is the tendon seen most lateral, closest to the thumb.

Nerve and artery

Like most flexors of the anterior compartment of the forearm, FCR is innervated by the

median nerve The median nerve is a nerve in humans and other animals in the upper limb. It is one of the five main nerves originating from the brachial plexus. The median nerve originates from the lateral and medial cords of the brachial plexus, and has cont ...

, specifically by axons from cervical nerve roots C6 and C7. The muscle receives its blood supply from the

ulnar artery The ulnar artery is the main blood vessel, with oxygenated blood, of the Human Anatomical Terms#Anatomical directions, medial aspects of the forearm. It arises from the brachial artery and terminates in the superficial palmar arch, which joins ...

Exercises

The muscle, like all flexors of the forearm, can be strengthened by exercises that resist its flexion. A wrist roller can be used, Zottman Curls, and wrist curls with

dumbbell The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It is usually used individually and/or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as li ...

s can also be performed.

Additional images

File:Gray417 color.PNG, Cross-section through the middle of the forearm. File:Gray421.png, Transverse section across distal ends of radius and ulna. File:Carpal-Tunnel.svg, Transverse section across the wrist and digits. File:Gray423.png, The mucous sheaths of the tendons on the front of the wrist and digits. File:Gray427.png, The muscles of the left hand. Palmar surface. File: Muscles of forearm.jpg, Flexor carpi radialis muscle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flexor Carpi Radialis Muscle Muscles of the upper limb Forearm

Origin and insertion

Nerve and artery

Exercises

See also

Additional images

References