The hip is a joint composed of the acetabulum and the femur just like the knee is a joint composed of the tibia femur and the patella (I know it is a sesamoid in case anyone decides to jump on that), but in essence the trochanter is just a part of the femur 'at the level of the hip joint'. Purely semantics in any event with regard to this discussion.

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That is just one more group of people that should be thrown screaming from a helicopter- George Carlin

i understood about 8 words in that reply, damn I'm stupid.................

The maleoulus is on the fibula, isn't it? And yes, the trochanter is part of the femur.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

There is a medial malleolus and a lateral malleolus (one for the tibia and one for the fibula) and yes they are part of the ankle joint.

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That is just one more group of people that should be thrown screaming from a helicopter- George Carlin

:)

I'm in an anatomy and physiology class right now, but we did the skeletal stuff before spring break. Yay for remembering some of it!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Ok I must be confused then...so here's a picture.





Is Slowman talking abot the bump on the top, what I'm calling the hip or the bump on the bottom what I understand to be the greater trochanter. Both are distinctly different bumps on my "hip".

~Matt

The bottom bump is the Greater Trochanter, the top one is the iliac crest.

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Dan Hollingsworth

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul." - Douglas MacArthur

The top arrow most likely pertains to the iliac crest, as the good Lt. states. It may also pertain to the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS), which can be found as you move your hand slightly anterior and inferior to the iliac crest.

Both may be used as positioning landmarks for the pelvis. The significance of the greater trochanter is that it lies directly lateral to the center of the hip joint itself - i.e., where the femoral head meets the acetabulum.

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Dan DeMaio
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Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein

"The greater trochanter is actually part of the femur not the hip"

if i said it's the "lateral bony protrusion of the femur, near it's origin," it would be fine if precision was the goal. but it would be less descriptive of what i want to do -- identify the point in question. when i say it's the bony protrusion on the side of the hip, people have no trouble identifying it.

the iliac crest, yes, that's a bony protrusion, but you can't easily palpate a simple point on the crest unless you're no longer talking about a point on the side (lateral), and that's REALLY a problematic palpation when you're on a bike in the aero position.

bony protrusion of the hip seems the best way to get people to find the greater trochanter.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman