Left radius

Looks like

The forearm bone on the thumb side, narrow at the elbow and wide at the wrist.

What it does

Carries most of the load from hand to forearm and rolls around the ulna to turn the palm up and down.

Keeping it well

Its lower end is the most commonly broken bone in adults (fall on an outstretched hand). A wrist fracture after minor fall suggests checking for osteoporosis.

Related conditions

• Acromegaly
• Compartment syndrome
• De Quervain's tenosynovitis
• Fractures
• Fragility fracture
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Lymphangitis
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Osteomalacia & rickets
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Osteoporosis
• Paget's disease of bone
• Sarcoma
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
• Vitamin D deficiency