What the Acetabulum Can Teach Us About Marriage |
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My partner, a retired surgeon, described what the acetabulum is in the human body: the cup-shaped socket into which the top of the femur fits. The femur is the thigh bone. The acetabulum (a·suh·ta·byuh·luhm) is on the outer sides of the large pelvis bone about two-thirds of the way down.
Both the acetabulum and femur head are lined with “articular cartilage”—slippery tissue that allows the motion of the bone in the socket to rotate smoothly. When both structures fit perfectly into each other, that cartilage creates a smooth, low-friction surface that helps the bones glide easily across each other during movement.
This is like the beginning of a happy marriage, when two people fit together well enough that their interactions cause only minor or transient pain for some years. When the bones don’t form so well during childhood growing years, they can develop an irregular shape. Then, because they don’t fit together perfectly, the bones rub against each other during........