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Basics

• Summary
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

You use your fingers and thumbs to do everything from grasping objects to playing musical instruments to typing. When there is something wrong with them, it can make life difficult. Common problems include:

• Injuries that result in fractures (broken bones), ruptured ligaments and dislocations
• Osteoarthritis - wear-and-tear arthritis. It can also cause deformity.
• Tendinitis - irritation of the tendons
• Dupuytren's contracture - a hereditary thickening of the tough tissue that lies just below the skin of your palm. It causes the fingers to stiffen and bend.
• Trigger finger - an irritation of the sheath that surrounds the flexor tendons. It can cause the tendon to catch and release like a trigger.

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bone X-Ray (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Hand/Wrist/Arm Problems (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• X-Ray Exam: Finger (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Replantation (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Replantation of digits - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Exercising Your Finger after an Injury (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• What Is a Hand Surgeon? (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)

Specifics

• Arthritis of the Thumb (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Fingertip Injuries and Amputations (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Flexor Tendon Injuries (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - PDF
• Nerve Injuries in the Hand and Fingers (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Sprained Thumb (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Thumb Arthritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Trigger Finger (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) Also in Spanish
• Trigger Finger (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Dupuytren contracture: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Poland syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Images

• Herpetic Whitlow (VisualDX)
• Myxoid Cyst (VisualDX)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Dupuytren Contracture (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Thumb (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Impact of metacarpal shortening on finger strength following non-surgical treatment of...
• Article: Efficacy of ultrasound-guided capsular hydrodilatation for refractory post-trauma finger joint stiffness...
• Article: Clinical and psychosocial characteristics of persistent finger post-traumatic segmentary exclusion syndrome:...
• Finger Injuries and Disorders -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish

Children

• Repair of webbed fingers - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Claw hand (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Clubbing of the fingers or toes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Finger pain (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Mallet finger - aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Polydactyly (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Smashed fingers (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Trigger finger (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish