Which Way Is Up?

Dear AnatomyWizard,

I am an ordinary, hardworking knee. Oh, sure, I have a few scars from playground accidents, but overall I’m in pretty good shape. And I’ve always had good relationships with my fellow body parts…until my owner took us to anatomy class. Suddenly the hip is telling me I’m “distal,” and the toes think I’m “proximal.” The spine actually referred to me as “appendicular,” whatever that means. The brain thinks I’m inferior. My owner says she has “superficial scars on her patellar region.”

Can you please explain what all this means? I just want to go back to being a regular ol’ knee.

Signed, Tired of All This Talk

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

I understand your confusion. I had felt the same way when I first started taking anatomy class. The terms used to describe your location are used to explain your location in relation to another part of the body. Distal to the hip means that you are farther away from the origin of the body part. Proximal to your toes means the opposite of distal, it means that you are closer to the origin of the body part. There are two fundamental divisions of our body parts. They are axial and appendicular. Axial refers to the axis of the body; head, neck, trunk. Appendicular refers limbs of the body; arms/legs. And since you are located on the knee which is on a limb, you are apprendicular to the spine. Inferior means you are away from the head or are located on the lower part of the body. That is why the brain thinks you are inferior. Superficial means that toward or at the body surface. Patella is used to describe the area which you are located. Your owner has just used the new terms learned to state that she had scars on her knee. Hope I was able to explain in easy terms.

Signed, Just Learned Anatomy Terms

 

Dear Tired of All of This,

It sounds as if you are feeling discouraged but fear not! You have nothing to worry about. These terms are simply a fancy way of telling directions from a central point. It is a way of being SENTIENT of your location. Appendicular means you are on a part of your owner that is attached to the big part of your owner. Distal is another fancy term meaning you are farther away, so basically the hip is simply saying you are far from him. Those toes are saying you are closer to the big part of your owner, so actually you could tell those toes they are distal since they are farther away from you! The brain, despite all its smarts, is saying you are below it. Although that does sound somewhat condescending, it only mean your are located lower compared to it. Don’t let that old brain worry you much. And your scars are beautiful the way they are! Your owner is describing how those scars on on the top layer, or superficial layer, of skin on you. Don’t let those words worry you! It doesn’t make you any less special or important than you are. You’re needed, wanted, and still a good ol’ knee.

Sincerely, AnatomyLover

 

Dear Knee,

I empathize with your plight. Sometimes when members of our community speak to us using jargon that we are not familiar with, it may feel like we are less intelligent than they are. It can come across as if they are assuming an air of superiority. Speaking of superiority, your friend, the brain, is actually telling you the truth. You are indeed inferior, but not in the assumed meaning of the word. In the anatomical sense of the word, inferior means “lower in the body”. In comparison to the brain, you are lower in the body, and the brain did use the term correctly. I hope you can come to terms with this, and maybe forgive it for offending you. The hip and toes are also using relative terms of distance to illustrate your own position to you. Distal means “farther away from the center of the body, or the point of attachment”, while proximal means “closer to from the center of the body, or the point of attachment”. The knee is father away from the trunk of the body than the hip, and closer to the trunk of the body than the toes are (one could argue that they are the farthest away, or most distal). The term appendicular has a similar meaning; it means “relating or pertaining to a part attached to a main structure”. As the knee, you are part of a group of appendages, or add-ons, if you will, that allow for the locomotion of the trunk parts of the body (or parts attached to the axial skeleton). The trunk portion of the body, contains the spine, so indeed you are appendicular to the spine. When your owner mentioned her “superficial scars on her patellar region”, she was merely using anatomical terminology to describe the scars from “playground accidents” that you are aware of. Superficial means “of or pertaining to the surface” of something, in this case the epidermis, or skin. This means that the wounds preceding these scars didn’t cause any deep tissue damage. I hope these explanations have brought you some well deserved closure. I implore you to stay open to learning new terms, as your owner is very likely to bring more of them to the brain, and the brain is very unlikely to RELINQUISH such knowledge. After all, learning more about how you fit in your community (the human body), can only help you all to work together more harmoniously. When times get tough, you’ll be able to help your owner identify her needs, so you can overcome those hurdles and go on to live long and prosperous lives. As a knee, you serve a very important bodily function. Do not belittle yourself by calling yourself a “regular ol’ knee”; respect yourself, and demand the respect of your fellow body parts by acquainting yourself with anatomical terms. Enlightenment = empowerment.

Signed, Hygieia

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

First of all, I am suprised that you and your pals are SENTIENT beings. You should not be capable of talking, listening, or even thinking. Be happy with the fact you can do all those things. Second, you should not fear what the others are saying about you. All those terms that you are talking about describe you; they are in fact true! The hip says you are distal, that means you are further way from the torso than he is. The toes tell you that you are proximal because you are closer to the torso than they are. Brain says you are inferior, thats just a prissy word for below. Appendicular refers to you being a part of the appendicular skeleton. Finally, the superficial scars on the patellar region, that means your face is messed up. Yes, the patellar region is your face. Embrace it.

Signed, Get some sleep

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

From all that you have mentioned, there is nothing for you to be worried about. All your fellow body parts are just telling you where they are located on your owner and how it’s different from your location. What the hip means by “distal” is that you’re further away from where he is on the body. From his perspective your further down on the body than he is. When the toes say you’re “proximal,” they just mean that you are closer to the point of origin. Just like the hip thinks you’re distal, the toes say you’re proximal because they are further down and have to look up to you. What the spine means by “appendicular” is that you are a limb that is added on to the main part of the body. In anatomy, the body is composed of two regions, the axial and appendicular. The axial region is the central part of the body which consistis of the head, neck, and abdomen. The appendicular region consists of the other add-ons, such as the arms and legs. So when the spine refers to you as “appendicular,” all it means is that you are part of the leg, which is added on to the axial part of the body. The brain thinks you’re “inferior” because you are located near the feet. It may sound as if the brain is insulting you or degrading you but, don’t worry, it only means that on the body you’re further down toward the feet than he is. On the bright side, you can say that the feet are inferior to you. Lastly, when your owner says she has “superficial scars on her patellar region,” it means she has scars that are external to her body, or on her skin. If she had a deep scar on her patellar region, it would be a much more serious case, because then it would be internal and inside the skin. So take heart and keep on being the hardworking knee that you are. Don’t be rough on your fellow body parts; even though they may seem a little OSTENTATIOUS at the moment they’re just learning their places in anatomy and testing them out. You are still a regular ol’ knee, so continue to do what you do best.

Sincerely, Dr. Know It All

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

Your fellow body parts are using the lingo that they learned in your owner’s recent anatomy class. The hip calls you distal because you are farther from the origin of the point of attachment to the trunk while the toes call you proximal because you are closer to the trunk (so go ahead, call them distal!). The spine is correct in calling you appendicular because you are part of your owner’s appendage (or a limb). Brain called you inferior not to insult you but, to say you are away from the head. The superficial scars on your owner’s patellar region are referring to those scars from the playground accidents (which couldn’t have been too bad since the scarring is superficial or, at the body surface). Take a load off your mind, your still just a regular ol’ knee- they just have new ways of saying where you are! Hope this helps!

Anatomy Wizard

 

Dear Tired of All This Talk,

The hip is telling you that you are distal because you are farther away from the body and the toes are calling you proximal because you are closer to the trunk of the body than they are. The spine referred to you as appendicular because you are not attached to the truck of the body like the spine. You are part of an appendage. The brain called you inferior? Go figure…everyone is beneath the brain! Last but not least your owner is just referring to your battle wounds….those scars on the surface of your cap. It may sound MORBID but those scars build character!

Signed, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes