Massage.
LandmarkLegDraft

Tibial tuberosity

The bump on the front of the shin just below the kneecap, where the patellar ligament attaches.

BoneTibia
RegionLeg

Find it

  1. Client supine with the knee straight or slightly bent over a bolster.
  2. From the lower point of the patella, follow the thick patellar ligament down to a firm bump at the top of the shin.
  3. From the tuberosity, continue down the sharp front edge of the tibia (the shin).
  4. Confirm by asking the client to tighten the thigh: the patellar ligament tightens onto the tuberosity.

The patellar ligament attaches here. It carries the pull of the whole quadriceps group (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and vastus intermedius) to straighten the knee.

Just inside it, on the upper inner surface of the tibia, the tendons of sartorius, gracilis and semitendinosus insert together. Tibialis anterior begins on the outer side of the tibia below it.

Muscles attaching or palpated here

  • Quadriceps — Group of four large muscles on the front of the thigh that join into one tendon over the kneecap and are the only muscles that straighten the knee.
  • Rectus femoris — Spindle-shaped muscle down the middle of the front of the thigh, the only quadriceps muscle that crosses the hip, so it both flexes the hip and straightens the knee.
  • Tibialis anterior — Long muscle beside the shin bone that lifts the foot up (dorsiflexion) and turns the sole inwards (inversion).
  • Vastus lateralis — The largest quadriceps muscle, covering the outer side of the thigh, which straightens and steadies the knee.
  • Vastus medialis — Quadriceps muscle on the inner side of the thigh, forming the teardrop bulge above the knee, that straightens the knee and helps the kneecap track in its groove.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Tuberosity of the tibia
  2. Gray's Anatomy (1918), The Tibia (Bartleby, archived)