Finger Injuries and Disorders

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Images
• Health Check Tools

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• 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, 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.

Start Here

• Fingertip Injuries (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bone X-Ray (Radiography) (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Hand/Wrist/Arm Problems (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Stiffness in the Hand (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)

Treatments and Therapies

• Joint Replacement (Finger and Wrist Joints) (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Replantation (Finger, Hand, or Arm) (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Replantation of digits - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tendon Transfer Surgery (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)

Living With

• Exercising Your Finger After an Injury (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Hand and Finger Exercises (Ohio State University Medical Center) - PDF

Related Issues

• How to Remove a Stuck Ring Safely (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• What Is Raynaud's (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Specifics

• Extensor Tendon Injuries (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Flexor Tendon Injuries (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Thumb Arthritis (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Thumb Arthritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Thumb Sprains (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Trigger Finger (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Trigger Finger (Stenosing Tenosynovitis) (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) Also in Spanish

Genetics

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

Images

• Herpetic Whitlow (Logical Images)
• Myxoid Cyst (Logical Images)

Health Check Tools

• Finger Injury (DSHI Systems)

Clinical Trials

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

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

• Article: Dorsal versus lateral plate fixation of finger proximal phalangeal fractures:...
• Article: Annual Hospital Volume and Success of Digital Replantation.
• Article: Reconstruction of large area defect of the nail bed by...
• Finger Injuries and Disorders -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Hand Anatomy (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)

Find an Expert

• American Society for Surgery of the Hand
• Find a Hand Surgeon (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish

Children

• Repair of webbed fingers - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Supernumerary Digit (Logical Images)
• X-Ray Exam: Finger (Nemours Foundation)

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