Anatomy library
205 conditions across 18 anatomical views. Every red spot on a condition sits on the real structure.
Head
The skull, and the brain inside it.
Ear
Canal, eardrum, tiny bones, and the coiled inner ear.
Eye
A clear window at the front, a light-sensing layer at the back.
Mouth
Teeth, tongue, and the throat behind.
Neck
Windpipe and voice box in front, the thyroid around them.
Shoulder
A ball-and-socket joint held by a cuff of tendons.
Elbow
The hinge between the upper arm and the forearm.
Wrist and hand
Forearm bones, eight wrist bones, then the hand.
Heart
A four-chamber pump with its own arteries on the surface.
Hip
The ball of the thigh bone in its socket in the pelvis.
Lungs
Two spongy organs that pass oxygen into the blood.
Abdomen
Liver and stomach above, the coils of the bowel below.
Kidneys and bladder
Two filters that make urine, two tubes, the bladder.
Spine
A stack of bones with cushioning discs between them.
Knee
Thigh bone meets shin bone, kneecap in front.
Ankle and foot
Shin bones on the ankle bone, on the heel, out to the toes.
Skin
A thin outer layer, a thick layer beneath, fat below.
Whole body
For things that affect all of you at once.
Head & brain
10 conditions
Concussion
Your brain was shaken inside your skull. Nothing is broken, but it needs quiet and rest to recover.
Stroke
A blood vessel in your brain became blocked, so part of your brain did not get blood.
Mini-stroke (TIA)
Blood flow to part of your brain was briefly blocked. The symptoms passed, but it is a warning sign.
Migraine
This is a migraine. Nerves and blood vessels around your brain become irritated, which causes the pain and the light sensitivity.
Tension headache
This is a tension headache. The muscles around your head and neck are tight, and that tightness is what hurts.
Bell's palsy
The nerve that moves one side of your face is swollen, so that side is weak for now. Most people recover fully.
Seizures (epilepsy)
Your brain sometimes has a burst of extra electrical activity. That is what a seizure is.
Vertigo (BPPV)
Tiny crystals in your inner ear have moved into the wrong place. When you turn your head they send a false spinning signal.
Sleep apnoea
While you sleep, the back of your throat relaxes and closes off your airway for a few seconds at a time, over and over.
Dementia
Parts of the brain that handle memory and thinking are slowly working less well.
Eyes
8 conditions
Pink eye (conjunctivitis)
The thin clear layer over the white of your eye is inflamed. That is why it is red, itchy and weepy.
Stye
A tiny gland at the edge of your eyelid is blocked and infected. It is a small boil on the lid.
Scratched eye (corneal abrasion)
The clear front window of your eye has a scratch on it. It heals quickly but it is very sore while it does.
Cataract
The lens inside your eye has become cloudy, like looking through a fogged window.
Glaucoma
The pressure inside your eye is too high, and over time that damages the nerve at the back of the eye.
Dry eye
Your eyes are not making enough tears, or the tears dry up too fast, so the surface is dry and gritty.
Diabetic eye disease
High blood sugar over time has damaged the tiny blood vessels at the back of your eye.
Detached retina
The light-sensing layer at the back of your eye has pulled away from the wall behind it.
Ears
7 conditions
Middle ear infection
There is infection and fluid in the small space behind your eardrum. The pressure on the eardrum is what hurts.
Swimmer's ear
The skin of your ear canal is infected and swollen.
Blocked ear (wax)
Wax has built up and is blocking your ear canal, which is why sounds are muffled.
Perforated eardrum
There is a small hole in your eardrum. Most heal on their own within a few weeks.
Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
You hear a ringing or buzzing that is coming from inside your hearing system, not from outside.
Hearing loss
The part of your ear that turns sound into nerve signals is not working as well as it used to.
Ménière's disease
Fluid builds up in your inner ear, which brings on spells of spinning, ringing and muffled hearing.
Nose & throat
10 conditions
Common cold
This is a cold - a virus in your nose and throat. It runs its course in about a week.
Sinus infection
The air spaces behind your cheeks and forehead are blocked and inflamed. That is the pressure and the thick mucus.
Hay fever (allergies)
Your nose is reacting to something in the air - pollen, dust, pets - as if it were harmful.
Strep throat
A bacteria called strep is infecting your throat. Antibiotics clear it.
Sore throat (viral)
Your throat is inflamed from a virus. Antibiotics do not help a virus; time and comfort do.
Tonsillitis
The two lumps of tissue at the back of your throat - the tonsils - are swollen and infected.
Glandular fever (mono)
A virus is causing a very sore throat, swollen glands and deep tiredness. It can take weeks to fully pass.
Laryngitis
Your voice box is inflamed, which is why your voice is hoarse or gone.
Nosebleed
Small blood vessels just inside your nose broke and bled. It looks like a lot but it usually is not.
Croup
A virus has made the airway just below the voice box swell, which causes the barking cough.
Mouth & teeth
8 conditions
Wisdom tooth extraction
The teeth at the very back of your jaw were taken out. There is now a small hole in the bone where each one sat, and it will fill in over the next few weeks.
Dry socket
The blood clot that should be protecting the hole where your tooth was has come out too early, so the bone underneath is exposed. That is why it hurts more now than it did.
Tooth abscess
There is a pocket of infection at the root of one of your teeth. Antibiotics calm it down, but the tooth itself will need treating.
Cavity (tooth decay)
Acid from bacteria has eaten a hole in the hard outer layer of a tooth.
Gum disease
Your gums are inflamed where plaque sits along the teeth. That is why they are red and bleed when you brush.
Oral thrush
A yeast that normally lives in the mouth has overgrown, leaving white patches on the tongue and cheeks.
Mouth ulcer (canker sore)
A small, shallow sore has opened on the soft lining inside your mouth. It is not contagious and heals on its own.
Jaw joint pain (TMJ)
The hinge joint just in front of your ear, where your jaw opens and closes, is strained and sore.
Neck
5 conditions
Neck strain
The muscles and soft tissue of your neck were overstretched. It is painful, but nothing is damaged in the bones.
Pinched nerve in the neck
A nerve where it leaves your neck is being squeezed by a disc or bone spur. That is why the pain runs down your arm.
Wear and tear in the neck
The discs and joints in your neck have worn with age. It is very common and usually manageable.
Wry neck (torticollis)
A muscle on one side of your neck has gone into spasm, pulling your head to one side.
Swollen glands
The glands in your neck are swollen because they are fighting an infection nearby.
Shoulder
8 conditions
Rotator cuff tear
You tore one of the tendons that lifts and turns your shoulder.
Shoulder impingement
A tendon in your shoulder is getting pinched under the bone above it each time you lift your arm.
Dislocated shoulder
The ball of your arm bone came out of its socket. We have put it back.
Frozen shoulder
The lining around your shoulder joint has tightened, so the joint cannot move through its full range.
Separated shoulder (AC joint)
The ligaments holding your collarbone to the top of your shoulder blade were stretched or torn.
Biceps tendon inflammation
The tendon that joins your biceps muscle to the front of your shoulder is inflamed.
Broken collarbone
You broke your collarbone - the bone that runs from your shoulder to the top of your chest.
Broken upper arm (near the shoulder)
You broke the top of your upper arm bone, close to the shoulder joint.
Elbow & arm
7 conditions
Tennis elbow
The tendon on the outside of your elbow is overworked and sore. You do not have to play tennis to get it.
Golfer's elbow
The tendon on the inside of your elbow is overworked and sore.
Swollen elbow tip (bursitis)
The small fluid sac over the point of your elbow is inflamed and swollen.
Broken elbow (radial head)
You broke the top of one of your forearm bones where it meets the elbow.
Pulled elbow (children)
A bone in the forearm slipped slightly out of the ring that holds it at the elbow. It goes back with a quick movement and heals with no lasting harm.
Pinched nerve at the elbow
The nerve that runs behind your elbow - the funny bone nerve - is being squeezed. That is the tingling in your ring and little fingers.
Broken forearm
You broke one or both of the bones between your elbow and your wrist.
Wrist & hand
12 conditions
Broken wrist
You broke one of the two bones in your forearm, close to your wrist.
Scaphoid fracture
You broke a small bone on the thumb side of your wrist. This one heals slowly because it has a poor blood supply.
Sprained wrist
The ligaments that hold your wrist bones together were stretched. The bones are not broken.
Carpal tunnel syndrome
A nerve is being squeezed as it passes through a narrow tunnel in your wrist. That is why your fingers tingle.
Thumb tendon inflammation (De Quervain's)
The tendons that move your thumb are inflamed where they pass over the wrist. Gripping and lifting is what sets it off.
Trigger finger
A tendon in your finger has a swollen spot that catches as it slides, so the finger locks and then snaps straight.
Broken hand (boxer's fracture)
You broke the long bone in your hand that leads to your little finger, usually from punching something.
Broken finger
You broke one of the small bones in your finger.
Mallet finger
The tendon that straightens the tip of your finger has torn away, so the tip droops and cannot lift on its own.
Ganglion cyst
A small sac of joint fluid has bulged out to form a lump on your wrist. It is harmless.
Arthritis in the hand
The smooth surfaces in the small joints of your fingers have worn, so the joints are stiff and sore.
Dupuytren's contracture
The tissue under the skin of your palm is thickening into cords, which slowly pull one or more fingers toward the palm.
Chest & heart
11 conditions
Atrial fibrillation
The top chambers of your heart are beating irregularly instead of in a steady rhythm. That lets blood pool, which can form a clot.
Heart attack
One of the arteries feeding your heart muscle became blocked, so part of the muscle was starved of blood.
Angina
Your heart muscle is not getting quite enough blood when it works hard. That is the chest tightness you feel.
Heart failure
Your heart is not pumping strongly enough, so fluid backs up into your lungs and legs.
High blood pressure
The pressure inside your blood vessels is higher than it should be. It does not usually cause symptoms, which is why it gets missed.
Palpitations
You are feeling your own heartbeat - racing, pounding or skipping. Your tests will say whether the rhythm itself is a problem.
Pericarditis
The thin sac around your heart is inflamed. It hurts more when you lie flat or breathe in.
Chest wall pain
The cartilage where your ribs join your breastbone is inflamed. It feels like a heart problem but it is the chest wall.
Narrowed heart valve
The valve that lets blood out of your heart has stiffened and narrowed, so the heart has to push harder.
High cholesterol
There is too much fat in your blood. Over years it can build up inside your arteries.
Blood clot in the leg (DVT)
A clot has formed in a deep vein in your leg. The danger is a piece breaking off and travelling to your lungs, which is why it is treated straight away.
Lungs & breathing
10 conditions
Pneumonia
There is an infection in part of your lung. The small air sacs there have filled with fluid, so less air gets through.
COPD flare
The airways in your lungs are narrowed and inflamed, which is why breathing out is harder than breathing in.
Asthma flare
The airways in your lungs tightened and swelled, so air cannot move through them easily.
Chest cold (bronchitis)
The tubes that carry air into your lungs are inflamed by a virus. That is the cough, and it can last a few weeks.
Bronchiolitis (babies and toddlers)
A virus has swollen the very smallest airways in the lungs, which is why breathing is fast and wheezy.
Flu
This is influenza - a virus that hits the whole body at once. Fever, aches and exhaustion are the virus, not a complication.
COVID-19
You have COVID-19. Most people recover at home; the thing to watch is your breathing.
Blood clot in the lung
A blood clot travelled to your lung and blocked one of its blood vessels.
Fluid around the lung
Fluid has collected in the space between your lung and your chest wall, so the lung cannot fully expand.
Collapsed lung
Air has leaked into the space around your lung and is pressing on it, so part of the lung has collapsed.
Stomach & gut
16 conditions
Stomach bug
A virus or bacteria is irritating your stomach and gut. The vomiting and diarrhoea are your body clearing it.
Acid reflux (GERD)
Acid from your stomach is washing back up into your food pipe, which is what burns.
Stomach ulcer
There is an open sore in the lining of your stomach or the first part of your gut. Usually a bacteria or anti-inflammatory painkillers caused it.
Irritated stomach lining (gastritis)
The lining of your stomach is inflamed and sore.
Appendicitis
Your appendix, a small pouch attached to your bowel, is inflamed and needs to come out.
Gallstones
Stones have formed in your gallbladder and it has become inflamed. That is the pain under your right ribs.
Diverticulitis
Small pouches in your large bowel have become inflamed and infected.
Irritable bowel (IBS)
Your gut is oversensitive and its muscles squeeze in a jumpy way. It is uncomfortable, but it does not damage the bowel.
Constipation
Stool is moving through your bowel too slowly, so it becomes hard and difficult to pass.
Haemorrhoids
Veins just inside or around your back passage have swollen, like varicose veins. They bleed a little and itch.
Hernia (groin)
A bit of the inside of your abdomen is pushing out through a weak spot in the muscle wall of your groin. That is the bulge.
Pancreatitis
Your pancreas - the organ behind your stomach that makes digestive juices - is inflamed. Gallstones and alcohol are the usual causes.
Fatty liver
Fat has built up inside your liver. It causes no pain, but over years it can scar the liver.
Coeliac disease
Your immune system reacts to gluten - the protein in wheat, barley and rye - and damages the lining of your gut.
Crohn's or colitis (IBD)
Your immune system is attacking the lining of your own gut, causing long-term inflammation.
Blocked bowel
Something is stopping food and gas from moving through your bowel, so it backs up.
Kidney & bladder
8 conditions
Bladder infection (UTI)
Bacteria have got into your bladder and are irritating its lining. Antibiotics clear it.
Kidney infection
A bladder infection has travelled up to one of your kidneys. That is why you have fever and pain in your back.
Kidney stone
A small hard stone formed in your kidney and is now moving down the narrow tube to your bladder. That movement is the pain.
Chronic kidney disease
Your kidneys are filtering your blood less well than they should. The aim now is to slow that down.
Acute kidney injury
Your kidneys suddenly stopped filtering as well as they should - often from dehydration or a medicine. They usually recover.
Enlarged prostate
Your prostate has grown with age and is squeezing the tube that carries urine out. That is the slow stream and the night-time trips.
Overactive bladder
Your bladder muscle squeezes before the bladder is full, which is the sudden urge to go.
Prostate infection
Your prostate is inflamed, usually from an infection.
Lower back
8 conditions
Lower back strain
The muscles and ligaments in your lower back were overstretched. It is painful, but nothing is damaged in the spine itself.
Slipped disc
One of the cushions between the bones of your lower back is bulging and pressing on a nerve. That is why the pain runs down your leg.
Spinal stenosis
The channel your spinal nerves run through has narrowed, so they get squeezed when you stand and walk.
Compression fracture
One of the bones in your spine has collapsed a little, like a can pressed from both ends.
Slipped vertebra
One of the bones in your lower back has slid forward a little on the one below it.
Sacroiliac joint pain
The joint where your spine meets your pelvis - low down, just off centre - is irritated.
Bruised or broken tailbone
You landed on your tailbone, the small bone at the very bottom of your spine, and bruised or cracked it.
Scoliosis
Your spine curves to the side more than it should.
Hip
8 conditions
Broken hip
You broke the top of your thigh bone, near where it meets your hip.
Arthritis in the hip
The smooth surface in your hip joint has worn away, so the bones grind instead of gliding.
Hip bursitis
The small fluid sac over the bony point on the outside of your hip is inflamed. That is why lying on that side hurts.
Torn hip cartilage (labrum)
The ring of cartilage that deepens your hip socket has a tear in it.
Pulled groin
You overstretched the muscles on the inside of your thigh where they attach near the groin.
Hip flexor strain
You overstretched the muscles at the front of your hip that lift your knee.
Pulled hamstring
You tore some fibres of the big muscle at the back of your thigh.
Bone death in the hip (AVN)
The ball of your hip joint lost its blood supply and part of the bone is dying.
Knee
11 conditions
Torn cartilage (meniscus)
You tore the cushion of cartilage that sits between the two bones of your knee.
ACL tear
You tore one of the ligaments that holds your knee steady from the inside.
MCL sprain
You stretched or tore the ligament on the inside edge of your knee.
Arthritis in the knee
The smooth surface inside your knee has worn down, so the bones rub instead of gliding.
Kneecap pain (runner's knee)
Your kneecap is not tracking smoothly in its groove, so the cartilage behind it gets irritated - stairs and sitting make it worse.
Jumper's knee
The tendon just below your kneecap is overworked and sore.
Swollen kneecap (bursitis)
The small fluid sac in front of your kneecap is inflamed and swollen, usually from kneeling.
Baker's cyst
Fluid from inside your knee has bulged out into a sac at the back. It is a sign of something irritating the knee, not a danger in itself.
Broken kneecap
You broke your kneecap - the small bone at the front of the knee.
Broken shin bone at the knee
You broke the top of your shin bone, where it forms the bottom of the knee joint.
Osgood-Schlatter (growing knees)
The tendon below the kneecap pulls on a growth area of the shin bone. It is common in active teenagers and settles as growth finishes.
Ankle & foot
12 conditions
Sprained ankle
You stretched or tore the ligaments on the outside of your ankle. The bone is not broken.
Broken ankle
You broke one of the bones that forms your ankle joint.
Torn Achilles tendon
The thick cord connecting your calf muscle to your heel has torn.
Achilles tendon pain
The thick cord above your heel is inflamed from overuse. It is stiff first thing and sore after activity.
Plantar fasciitis (heel pain)
The band of tissue along the sole of your foot is inflamed where it attaches at the heel. That is the stab of pain with the first steps of the day.
Gout
Crystals of a waste product called uric acid have formed inside a joint - often the big toe - and the joint is reacting as if it were infected.
Bunion
The joint at the base of your big toe has drifted outward, making a bony bump on the side of your foot.
Broken foot bone (metatarsal)
You broke one of the long bones in the middle of your foot.
Broken toe
You broke one of the small bones in a toe.
Ingrown toenail
The edge of your toenail has grown into the skin beside it, and that skin is now sore and often infected.
Morton's neuroma
A nerve between the bones of your forefoot is thickened and pinched. That is the burning under the ball of your foot.
Diabetic foot ulcer
A sore on your foot is not healing because diabetes has reduced feeling and blood flow there. It needs careful looking after.
Skin
14 conditions
Skin infection (cellulitis)
You have a bacterial infection in the skin and the tissue just under it.
Abscess (boil)
A pocket of pus has formed under your skin. Draining it is what fixes it; antibiotics alone often cannot reach it.
Eczema
Your skin's outer barrier is weak, so it dries out, gets irritated and itches. It comes and goes.
Contact rash
Your skin reacted to something it touched - a plant, a metal, a soap.
Psoriasis
Your skin cells are being made far faster than normal, so they pile up into thick, scaly patches.
Shingles
The chickenpox virus, which has been sleeping in a nerve since childhood, has woken up. That is why the rash follows a stripe and why it hurts.
Hives
Your skin released histamine in response to something, which raised itchy welts. They move around and usually fade within a day.
Acne
Oil and dead skin are blocking the tiny pores in your skin, and bacteria inside them cause the spots.
Impetigo
A bacterial infection on the surface of the skin is causing honey-coloured crusted sores. It spreads easily by touch.
Ringworm (fungal rash)
A fungus is growing on the surface of your skin in a ring shape. It has nothing to do with worms.
Cut (laceration)
You have a cut that went through the full thickness of the skin. It has been cleaned and closed.
Burn
Heat damaged the top layers of your skin. How deep it went decides how it heals.
Wart
A virus in the top layer of your skin is making it grow a small rough lump. Harmless, but slow to clear.
Skin cancer (basal cell)
A patch of skin cells has started growing out of control. This is the most common and least dangerous kind, and it is removed with a small procedure.
Mind & mood
10 conditions
Depression
This is depression - a medical condition, not a weakness. The chemistry and wiring of mood in the brain are out of balance, and that is treatable.
Anxiety
Your body's alarm system is switched on too easily and stays on too long. The racing heart and tight chest are the alarm, not a heart problem.
Panic attacks
A panic attack is a sudden surge of the body's alarm response. It feels dangerous and it is not; it passes within minutes.
Insomnia
You are having trouble falling or staying asleep, and it has gone on long enough to affect your days.
Post-traumatic stress (PTSD)
After something frightening, your brain is still treating it as happening now. The flashbacks and jumpiness are that, and it can be treated.
ADHD
The part of your brain that manages attention and impulse works differently. It is not laziness, and there are good treatments.
Bipolar disorder
Your mood swings between much higher and much lower than normal for weeks at a time. Medicine steadies it.
Alcohol dependence
Your body has come to depend on alcohol. Stopping suddenly can be dangerous, which is why it is done with support.
Opioid dependence
Your body has come to depend on opioids. That is a medical condition with medical treatments, and recovery is normal.
Postnatal depression
Depression in the months after having a baby. It is common, it is not your fault, and it responds to treatment.
Women's health
7 conditions
Vaginal yeast infection
A yeast that normally lives in the vagina in small numbers has overgrown. That is the itching and thick discharge.
Bacterial vaginosis
The normal balance of bacteria in the vagina has shifted. It is not a sexually transmitted infection.
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Your ovaries are making more of certain hormones than usual, which affects periods, skin and weight.
Endometriosis
Tissue like the lining of the womb is growing outside it, and it bleeds and scars each month the way the lining does.
Fibroids
Non-cancerous lumps of muscle have grown in the wall of your womb. They can make periods heavy.
Menopause
Your ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and are making much less oestrogen. Hot flushes and sleep changes are the body adjusting.
Painful periods
The womb squeezes hard to shed its lining, and those cramps are the pain.
Whole body
15 conditions
Type 2 diabetes
Your body is not using insulin properly, so too much sugar stays in your blood.
Type 1 diabetes
Your pancreas has stopped making insulin, the hormone that lets sugar into your cells. Insulin from outside replaces it.
Underactive thyroid
The gland in your neck that sets your body's pace is making too little hormone, so everything runs slow - energy, warmth, weight.
Overactive thyroid
The gland in your neck that sets your body's pace is making too much hormone, so everything runs fast.
Anaemia
You have fewer red blood cells than you should, so less oxygen reaches your muscles and brain. That is the tiredness.
Dehydration
Your body has lost more fluid than it has taken in.
Obesity
Your body is carrying more fat than is healthy for it. It is a medical condition with medical treatments, not a character flaw.
Osteoporosis
Your bones have lost density and break more easily than they should.
Low vitamin D
Your body is short of vitamin D, which it needs to use calcium for bones and muscles.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Your immune system is attacking the lining of your own joints, which is why several of them are swollen and stiff at once.
Lupus
Your immune system is attacking your own tissues - skin, joints, sometimes organs. It flares and settles.
Fibromyalgia
Your nervous system is turning up the volume on pain signals, so you hurt all over even though the tissues are not damaged.
Allergic reaction
Your immune system reacted to something as if it were dangerous. That is the rash, swelling or wheeze.
Febrile seizure (children)
A fast rise in temperature triggered a brief seizure. It is frightening to see, but it does not harm the brain and most children never have another.
Hand, foot and mouth disease
A common childhood virus causing small blisters on the hands, feet and in the mouth. It clears on its own in about a week.