Dermatomes Memory Aid (Cervical and Thoracic)

I don't have a good mnemonic to remember every dermatome, but I have some memory tips to approximate the possible dermatomal level of some parts of the body. If you know the dermatomal level before and after the dermatome which is being asked, you will have a good guess of its level.

Here are my visual memory aids for some of the dermatomes.

C2 - base of the skull
T4 - nipple

C5 - tip of the shoulder
C6 - thumb
T10 - umbilicus

So if we are asked what the dermatomal level of xiphoid process is, we can deduce that it's between T4-T10 because we know that it's below the nipple (T4) and above the umbilicus T10. You can count from the nipple using two fingerbreadths to narrow down the approximation.

C6 - thumb

Using this hand position, count from the thumb to the little finger (C6--> C7 --> C8)