Pterygium, Filtrum, Glabella: How well do you know your body?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Are you sure you know all the nooks and crannies of your body well? Well, then it's no secret for you how thoroughly you need to clean the fissure, what protects the pterygium, what the axilla smells like, and how the hallux literally helps us not to fall face down in the mud. For those for whom all these words are an unknown set of letters, a small educational program.

Meet your body. Body, meet, your master, who knows nothing about you

Fissure

Are you aware that you have molars in your mouth? No, we're not talking about workers with rollers and brushes in their hands, we're talking about teeth. Molars and their colleagues, premolars, are responsible for thoroughly chewing food, they are larger than the rest of the teeth and have a bumpy surface, which some people call hemp in everyday life, with grooves at the base - this is a fissure (translated from Latin - "gap").

Over time, these grooves deepen, food debris quickly accumulates in them, which can provoke caries. Dentists have a solution - when indicated, they seal the fissures with a composition that includes fluoride. There is a much simpler and less expensive way: just brush your teeth thoroughly, and your molars, the ones in your mouth, will thank you.

Filtrum

One of the beautiful legends says that at the birth of a baby, a guardian angel comes down to him and, putting his index finger on the lips of the newborn, says "Forget all your past lives so that they do not become an obstacle to you in a new one." After that, the person is left with a dent under the nose from the tip of the angel's finger.

The legend, although beautiful, but the labial groove, aka filterum, aka paper, is a rudimentary medial cavity between the nose and upper lip. We got it from our ancestors and has not been used for a long time. In most mammals, the filterum is a narrow slit through which moisture, due to the capillarity of the surface, enters the nose, thereby keeping it moist. This helps to locate the sources of odors.

Pterygium

Fear not, this is not at all the name of some creepy creature that lives within you. We are talking about a small film of dead cells of the epidermis and the nail plate, located on the toes and hands. Despite the fact that manicurists are actively fighting with the pterygium, it has a serious protective function.

It prevents the penetration of dirt and, accordingly, pathogenic bacteria into the nail root (matrix), which is located at the back of the nail bed. On the other hand, the pterygium, which has grown wildly like a burr, is not a sight for the faint of heart. So we delete, but carefully.

Glabella

In some sources, this is the mistaken name for fused eyebrows. In fact, in craniometry (a science that measures the human skull), this is the name of the point on the nasal process of the frontal bone of the human skull, where the frontal bone forms a more or less pronounced bulge, that protrudes forward in the medial-sagittal section. It is located between the brow ridges and is the most anterior point of the frontal bone on the midline of the skull. Glabella is Latin for “hairless, smooth”.

And if you think that this information will not be useful to you at all in life, then keep in mind - if you slightly pinch this place and the skin on it does not smooth out, you have a clear sign of dehydration.

Hallux

When a person is standing or walking, the hallux helps to maintain balance. The larger the hallux, the less attractive your feet, but you are much more stable. It's about the big toe. As an important part of the locomotor system, like the rest of the toes, during walking and running, it together with the foot supports the weight of the body, moves it and helps to maintain balance when the position of the center of gravity changes.

According to the majority, another equally important function of the hallux (like the little finger) is to experience incredible pain during a collision with the legs of tables and chairs. True, this information has not yet been confirmed by extensive scientific research.

Frenum

It's just a frenum to you, but biologists have a more scientific definition: a fold of mucous membrane located under the tongue or between the gum and the upper or lower lip. By the way, another bridle is called frenum, which only men have. Hence, among lovers of merciless piercing, the term of the same name appeared to describe punctures, including intimate places.

Axilla

Perhaps there is no other part of the body that we mock so much. People shave them, epilate them, smear them with all kinds of chemistry that hides the natural odor. Our poor axillas, that is, armpits, as we only mock them. And all because there are many sweat and sebaceous glands, which secrete substances the more actively, the more active we are.

In the meantime, there is an operation called underarm aspiration curettage. The sweat glands are removed and the nerve endings in the armpit are severed. The operation is performed under local anesthesia and can significantly reduce sweating.

By the way, axillae, that is, the sinuses between the papillae or tubercles, are also found in some genera of cacti. Moreover, they also have hairy ones.

Gnation

It can be strong-willed, it can be dimpled, round, sharp, naked or with dense vegetation. Yes, we're about the chin. More precisely, scientifically speaking, about a point on the lower edge of the lower jaw at the intersection with the medial-sagittal plane. Fun fact: not a single mammal, except you and me, has a chin protrusion at all.

Our closest relatives - primates - have a sloping lower jaw. Even the Neanderthals didn't have it! Scientists are still not completely sure why we need a chin. They believe that it is more convenient for us to chew with it, others believe that it helps to speak, and still others believe that its function is to seduce. None of the hypotheses have been scientifically proven.

Columella

And a seemingly small part of the body, but how important it is, both from an aesthetic point of view and from a practical one. Columella is a small piece of the nose that separates our nostrils. And what is it about him, you ask?

First, the appearance of the nose directly depends on its size. Plastic surgeons even have special parameters for an ideal columella: the width is no more than 5-7 mm, the angle between the nose and the lip should be 100 degrees for women and 95 for men, it should be located below the wings of the nose. If there are deviations from these parameters, then the face and in particular the nose is considered not harmonious. In this case, they resort to rhinoplasty.

Secondly, columella is responsible for a number of important functional tasks in the normalization of the respiratory process. It allows you to freely inhale and exhale air, supporting the tip of the nose and maintaining an optimal opening of the nostrils. In other words, columella provides the body with oxygen, which is involved in all biochemical processes.