FEMUR
--femur: body's longest & heaviest bone
--head fits in acetabulum;
fractures in the neck are the
most common cause of a "broken hip"
--greater & lesser trochanters for muscle
attachment (2 gluteal muscles insert on the
greater trochanter)
--on the posterior
side, the gluteal tuberosity
(where the gluteus maximus inserts) and the
linea aspera (where
the adductors insert) are distal to the lesser trochanter
--lateral & medial condyles articulate
with the lateral & medial condyles of the tibia; the regions proximal
to the condyles are the lateral
& medial epicondyles
--you can palpate the greater trochanter & the 2 epicondyles
--patella: kneecap; the largest sesamoid bone in the body (a bone that develops within a tendon;
there are others that you can palpate at the distal ends of your first
metacarpel & metatarsal)
--if you stand up and lean forward, you can move your patella back and forth because your rectus femoris is at rest
