Directional Terms: Limbs - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems
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1
concept
Proximal and Distal
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2m
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We start talking about directional terms. We introduce the idea of having an axial portion of your body, your head and trunk and an appendicular portion of your body, your arms and legs. This is where that becomes important. When talking about your appendicular portion of your body or your limbs. We're gonna have a different set of directional terms. That set of directional terms is going to be proximal and distal and proximal and distal is gonna refer to the distance to the limb attachment. In other words, how far down the arm or leg something is? Now first, we have proximal and proximal means closer to the attachment. You can se think something that is in close proximity is closer to something it's closer to the attachment. Now, distal means farther from the attachment, something that is distal is at a distance from the attachment. So we can look at the arms and legs over here and do a couple of examples. First off, we can pick the elbow and the elbow will be proximal to the wrist. The elbow is closer to the attachment point than the wrist. The wrist will be distal to the elbow. The wrist is further from the attachment point than the elbow. We can pick something on the leg. Let's pick the ankle. The ankle will be proximal to the toes. The toes will be distal to the ankle. Ok. With that in mind, remember, whenever you're doing the arms and legs try to use proximal and distal, you may be tempted to say superior, inferior. So yes, technically, the knee is superior to the ankle, but a better way to say it is proximal. If you're comparing something on the body to an arm and leg, for example, if you're comparing the abdomen to the knee, then you can use that superior inferior, the abdomen is superior to the knee, but you're usually not comparing things that are that far away. So almost always when talking about the arms and legs, you're gonna be using proximal and distal. OK. With that, try the practice problems below and we'll see you in the next video.
2
example
Directional Terms: Limbs Example 1
Video duration:
2m
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This example again, wants us to mark up a body using those directional terms that we just learned. So let's give a look. It says to put an asterisk immediately proximal to the right ankle. All right, take a second and see if you can figure out where that goes. All right. The first thing I wanna do, I'll remember which way this body is facing. So I'm gonna give it a little smiley face and then I'm gonna remind myself of my left and my right sides because that can confuse me sometimes. Now, immediately proximal proxy means closer to the body, closer to the attachment point. So I'm gonna put that asterisk just above the right ankle, sort of right on the shin here. All right, let's look at the next one, an o distal, the right shoulder, but proximal to the elbow, right. Take a second to look at that. OK. So distal to the right shoulder, but proximal to the el elbow, distal means farther down the arm, proximal means closer up the arm. So farther away from the shoulder, but closer to the elbow. That means that on the right side, I'm gonna put this O right up here on the upper arm. All right. Next, it says the most proximal place on the left arm. Take a second. All right, the most proximal place is as close as you can possibly get to the attachment point of the body. So it's gonna be right up by the shoulder. I'm gonna put a plus sign right up there. Finally, we have an X immediately distal to the left knee. Take a second. All right, distal to the knee. Distal means farther down the limb away from the attachment point. So I'm gonna put a mark just under the knee sort of at the top of the shin. I'm gonna put an X right here on the left side and there you have it. I think we did it.
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Problem
Problem
The elbow is ________________ to the wrist.
A
Proximal
B
Medial
C
Distal
D
Lateral
4
Problem
Problem
Your study partner tells you that the wrist is superior to the elbow. How do you correct them?
A
The wrist is inferior to the elbow; the wrist is further from the head/closer to the ground.
B
The wrist is distal to the elbow; superior and inferior are generally not used for limbs structures.
C
The wrist is lateral to the elbow; in anatomical position arms are to the side.
D
The wrist is anterior to the elbow; in anatomical position the palms face forward.
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