Tips and tricks for memorizing the bones. Clavicle: How do I tell which is the anterior versus the posterior? The anterior side is curved
outwards. If you feel your collarbone or clavicle, you will notice there is not a dip, so the
curvature always faces the anterior.
How do I know if I have the left or right
clavicle? As you see in the picture, there
are two ends to the clavicle, one end is flat.
It is known as the sternal end. If you were
holding the model bone, you would be able
to place your palm flat against this end.
As long as you know where your sternum is,
this should be really easy, because the sternal
end of the clavicle attaches to the sternum.
In other words, the sternal end is medial
to the body. The other end of the clavicle
is known as the acromial end, it is lateral
to the body.
Scapula: How can I tell which direction the scapula faces? The acromial end lies close
to the acromial end of the clavicle and the
glenoid cavity is where the head of the humerus
attaches to the shoulder. This means the glenoid fossa always faces lateral to the body.
Now how do we tell the anterior from the posterior of the scapula? If you look at this figure, you see a line
coming across the scapula. This is known as the spine of the scapula. The spine will
always face the posterior or back side of the body. Another tip for this, is locating the subscapular
fossa. Thinking about the word sub, which means underneath just like a submarine goes
underwater. This means the subscapular fossa will always face underneath or the anterior side.
One of the trickiest parts of the
humerus is remembering the many bone pieces named at the
bottom of the bone. Here's a fun way to remember the order of the parts of the bone. Mother
trucker can chug real liquor. Mother stands for medial epicondyle. Trucker stands for
trochea. Can stands for coronoid process. Chug stands for capitulum. Real stands radial fossa
and liquor stands for lateral epicondyle.
Remember to always start with the medial epicondyle.
That is always the closest to the median or middle the body. Also, remember to tubercles are bumps.
The greater tubercle is the larger bump seen
on the humerus.
Radius and ulna: The styloid process of the
radius will always point to the thumb and
the styloid process of the ulna will always
point to the pinky finger. The ulna notch
is on the radius. It's called the ulna notch
because it is where the ulna connects to the
radius. Similarly, the radial notch is located
on the ulna. Don't let the words fool you.
Wrist bones: Remembering the bones of the wrist can be tricky for some. Here's
a helpful way to remember the wrist bones. So long to pinky, here comes the thumb. So
stands for scaphoid. Long stands for lunate. To stands for triquetrum. Pinky stands for pisiform.
Here stands for hamate. Come stands for capitate.
The stands for trapezoid, and thumb stands
for trapezium.
