Human body is something that never fails to amaze us. So many organ systems that contain different organs and help in carrying out different bodily functions. The more you get to know about it the more surprised you will feel. Where health is not just supposed to be about diseases, conditions and disorders, knowing your body and its different parts is important as well. Here we are going to learn about the difference between two of the most confusing body parts that are ligaments and tendons. As these two are generally mixed up by people, let us take a minute to understand both these body parts in brief and get to know how one differs from the other.
What are Ligaments?
The tough elastic band tissues present around your joints that are responsible for connecting one bone to the other are known as ligaments. These ligaments are made up of collagen fiber that takes up the shape of dense connective tissue bundles. As these fibers are densely packed with each other, there is a very little space present between them. They are arranged parallel to each other and this parallel arrangement helps in providing them with maximum strength that helps in preventing injuries and resists mechanical distress. These tissue bundles limit the movement of your joints and provide them with necessary support.
These dense connective tissues made up of collagen fiber are generally present in body joints such as ankles, elbows, knees and shoulders. Without the presence of these collagen fibers a person would not be able to move. These collagen fibers help in providing strength and structure where mucopolysaccharides hold them together and allow them to perform activities such as bending, stretching and flexing.
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The ligament comprising fibers are either collagen or elastic fibers, where both of these are synthesized by fibroblasts. Depending upon the type of fibrous tissue that is mostly present in the ligament, it can be categorised into two types
White ligament- Compromising of sturdy collagen fibers, these white ligaments are a bit rigid in nature. These ligaments are generally found in the knee joint and are known as anterior cruciate ligament.
Yellow ligament- Flexible in nature and consisting of some elastic properties, yellow ligaments are made up of elastic fibers. These flexible yellow ligaments are generally found in the ligamentum flavum of the vertebral column.
What are Tendons?
High tensile strength bands that are made with dense fibrous connective tissues, tendons are responsible for connecting bones with the muscles. It plays a crucial role in strengthening, supporting and providing movement to the skeletal system. Tendons consist of fiber bundles made up of collagen protein that are surrounded by the endotenon tissues. The presence of this tissue allows the tendon fiber bundles to move against each other and hence support different body movements.
As these tendons help in connecting muscles to the bones, it allows the muscles to provide movement to various body parts. It also allows the limb movement to prevent muscle injuries by absorbing the shock that your muscles might get impacted by sudden movements, jumping or running. These tendons are not very stretched but have a high resistance towards tearing. This lack of stretchiness of the tendons make them prone towards injuries and hence they tend to get teared up if stretched beyond a point. These injuries of stretched tendons take a lot of time to heal.
These dense fiber bundles work as a lever that helps in moving the bones by squeezing, contracting and expanding your muscles. These tendons come with great strength as they are tougher than the muscles. These tendons are present all over your body and their size usually depends upon the muscles that they are attached to.
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Where tendons are usually said to be a bundle of tough fibers made up of collagen protein, they have a lot more than that. A tendon dies not just from collagen fibers but also has nerves and blood vessels in it. A single tendon generally comprises of five parts that are-
- Sheath- Sheath is a protective covering that produces a lubricating fluid known as synovial fluid. This protective covering present on some tendons helps them to slide down smoothly as the muscle meets the bone.
- Epitenon- A layer of thin layer of connective tissue that surrounds the tendon
- Sharpey fibers- Thin collagen fibers that are responsible for attaching the bone to tendons.
- Endotenon- A connective tissue that helps the collagen bundle to glide inside the tendons
- Paratenon- A layer of connective tissues that is located outside the epitenon and allows the tenson to move against the other tissues.
Difference between Ligament and Tendons
By now we know all about the structure, function, types, and parts of these two connective tissues namely the ligaments and the tendons. Let us now take a look at the points of difference between the two connective fibrous tissues made out of the collagen fibers.
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- Function- Before getting ahead and going any deeper one needs to understand that the basic difference between these two connective tissues is that ligaments are responsible for connecting two bones with each other whereas the function of a tendon is to connect a bone with a muscle.
- Position- As both these fiber bundles carry out different functions, it makes it obvious that their placement and positioning will also be different from one another. At one hand where the ligaments are positioned between the joints in order to connect the bons, tendons are placed in between the muscles and bones.
- Arrangement- The arrangement of fibers in tendons is in parallel bundles which makes them very compact. On the other hand in ligaments the arrangement of the fiber bundles are not parallel but are still very compact.
Where both ligaments and tendons are fibrous bundles of connective tissues that are made up of collagen, they serve different purposes and even after having so many similarities have their own points of differences. Where a ligament is responsible for connecting the two bones with each other, a tendon plays the crucial role of connecting skeletal muscles to the bones. Both of the fibrous tissues are an integral part of the skeletal system and helps to provide strength, stability and movement to the body.