The Anatomical Position

The anatomical position is the standard reference orientation of the human body.

It is used to provide a clear and consistent mechanism of describing the location of structures.

In this article, we shall look at the anatomical position in more detail – its features and applications in describing human anatomy.

Description of the Anatomical Position

The standard anatomical position is described as a person in the following orientation:

• Standing upright and facing forward.
• Mouth closed with neutral facial expression.

• Arms straight, hands held by the hips with palms facing forward.

• Feet together and parallel, toes pointing forward.
• In biological males, the penis is described as erect.

By Connexions [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Fig 1 – The standard anatomical position used when describing human anatomy