|
If you want to know what cartilage feels like, , feel your ear lobe or the tip of your nose. They are made of a type of cartilage. Most people have heard of the cartilage in your knees (there are two semi-circular “menisciii” in each knee made of cartilage), but there are lots of other places which have cartilage.
The ends of the bones that form the surfaces of the joints are made of a smooth cartilage. If you have osteo-arthrosis in the joints, the surface of the cartilage wears away and becomes roughened, so that instead of a smooth surface it is more like sand paper.
In children there are plates of cartilage near the ends of the bones. This is where the long growth occurs before the cartilage itself turns to bone .
The outer rings of the intervertebral discs are made of a type of cartilage.
Cartilage has a poor blood supply (unlike bone and muscle) and is therefore slow to regenerate and repair, Cartilage gets its nutrition from the underlying bone or the fluid around it (The synovial fluid in the joints). The nutrition of cartilage is dependant on the movements of its joint, which is why proper joint movement helps keep healthy cartilage
|