--it means BOTH.

Typical skin biopsy sites are the lower leg near the ankle, the outside of the thigh, and often right above the elbow int he fleshy part of the arm. This is done to see how "length-dependent" any neurological process may be; many neuropathies show slow progression from the nerves farthest away from the center of the body to those closer over time ("distal to proximal gradient").

Since skin biopsy is a quick, relatively non-invasive procedure, it can be repeated in the same locations over time to track progression and patterns. I've had four in nine years. They have shown my re-enervation--I went from being in the second percentile originally three months into my neuropathic syndrome to the eighteenth percentile on the last one almost two years ago (which technically makes me "normal"--though I doubt I was at the eigtheenth percentile before all this began).