Sidelying
If you wish to palpate on the skin, provide a private room and/or sheet for cover. Ask the patient if he/she is willing to wear shorts and allow direct palpation on the skin. Provide a towel for between the lower limbs if the shorts have wide pant legs and the patientÃs modesty is compromised. While the skin can not be viewed with clothes covering the area, the gracilis muscle may be palpable over clothing.
Posterior to the patient as the patient is in sidelying.
Please lie on your side. May I touch the inside of your thigh on your bottom leg? (or point to the demonstrated area). I am going to raise your top leg and hold it. Now please raise your bottom leg.
Guide the patient to lie on his/her side. Raise the whole top lower limb and hold it. With the patient relaxed and with permission, place your fingers in the midline of the medial thigh of the bottom lower limb. Ask the patient to adduct the bottom hip and palpate the gracilis. This muscle is the most superficial of all the hip adductors, and therefore is the most likely palpable individual hip adductor muscle. With unclear muscle activity, increase the contraction of the gracilis by asking the patient to hold while you provide a push on the bottom thigh in the direction of hip abduction.
VH - Gracilis