The bones of the human body provide protection, support and shape. Parts of bones protruding outward from the skin enable clinicians to identify points of interests for treatment and rehabilitation of injuries. There are 206 separate bones in an adult. Bones begin to lose their density and strength around age 40, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, which may be slowed with highly-intense, weight-bearing aerobic and resistance training.
Head and Trunk
Step 1
Put three fingers on the participant's forehead or frontal bone. Slide the fingers to the side of his head or parietal bone. Place an index finger under the outer border of his eye socket or zygomatic bone. Press on the bone directly behind his ear, his temporal bone. Touch the very top of his nose or nasal bone. Massage the bone at the back of his head, his occipital bone.
Step 2
Gently palpate her chin or mandible. Lightly press the bone under her nose, the maxilla.
Step 3
Touch the center of the participant's chest to feel his breastbone or sternum, the compression point for CPR chest compression, according to the American Red Cross.
Step 4
Run two fingers from the breastbone along the collar bone or clavical which connects her sternum to her shoulders.
Step 5
Feel for the acromion process of the shoulder blade or scapula, at the very top of his shoulder; it connects with his collarbone. Trail three fingers from the acromion process along the bony ridge or spine of the scapula, running along the back of his shoulders.
Arms
Step 1
Instruct the participant to flex her bicep muscles of her right arm, then press against the inside of her arm underneath her bicep muscles, feeling her humerus or arm bone.
Step 2
Touch the back of the participant's elbow, palpating the olecranon process of his ulna, the bone running along the pinky side of his forearm, advises Peggy Houglum and colleagues in their book, "Examination of Musculoskeletal Injuries."
Step 3
Feel for his radius, the bone opposite his ulna, running along the thumb side of his forearm.
Legs
Step 1
Place one hand on the bony part of either side of her hip, the iliac crest of her iliac bone.
Step 2
Push one palm into the middle of his thigh, pressing against his femur bone. Hold the top of the participant's knee with the fingers of one hand as he flexes and extends his leg, cradling his patella bone or knee cap. Run three fingers from his knee down the bony ridge of his tibia bone, on the front of his shin.
Step 3
Touch the bulging bone or lateral malleolus of her fibula on the outside of her ankle; feel for the inner bone of his ankle or the medial malleolus of her tibia, according to Houglum and colleagues.
Step 4
Squeeze the sides of his heel between the thumb and two fingers, compressing her calcaneus bone.
References
- "Anatomy & Physiology"; Gary Thibodeau, Ph.D. and Kevin Patton, Ph.D.; 2007
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Bone Health
- "First Aid/CPR/AED for Schools and the Community"; American Red Cross; 2006
- "Examination of Musculoskeletal Injuries"; Sandra Shultz, Peggy Houglum and David Perrin; 2005
