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

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 (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.

Start Here

• Broken Finger Tip (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
• Stiff Hands (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• X-Ray Exam: Finger (Nemours Foundation)

Treatments and Therapies

• Arm, Hand, and Finger Replantation (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Knuckle, Wrist, and Finger Joint Replacement (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

Related Issues

• How to Get a Ring Off (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Arthritis of the Thumb (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
• Extensor Tendon Injury (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Flexor Tendon Injury (American Society for Surgery of the Hand)
• Sprained Thumb (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) Also in Spanish
• Thumb Arthritis (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) Also in Spanish
• Thumb Arthritis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Trigger Finger (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Trigger Finger (Stenosing Tenosynovitis) (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) 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: Classification and treatment of congenital central slip hypoplasia.
• Article: 'It's just a finger isn't it…': patients' perspectives of recovery following...
• Article: A suture anchor-based repair technique for type IV jersey finger injuries:...
• 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

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