We use our fingers and hands every day. EVERY DAY!  But what do you really know about your fingers other than they work, and when they don’t, you’re really in a bind? Here are some fun facts about your fingers…

• There are actually no muscles in your fingers!  That’s right, just tendons and bones.  The muscles that make your fingers work are located clear down in the palms of your hands.
• Fingers are never straight.  Check out your own fingers.  In order for them to bend and work for us, the bones on the outside of our fingers appear straight but the inside of the bones curve slightly.
• The thumb is controlled by 9 separate muscles.  Those muscles function with three nerves.  That’s a lot of stuff going on so we can have opposable thumbs!
• It takes 6 months for your finger nails to grow from the root to the tip!  Why does it feel like forever to grow out a nail once it breaks?
• Wrinkles and creases in your fingers is a good thing.  It means that your joints and nerves are working properly.  If you can’t move your fingers due to disease or injury, eventually, those wrinkles will just smooth out.

While the human body is pretty amazing, the fingers are so complex and sophisticated yet we rarely stop to consider how incredibly lucky we are to have fingers and thumbs that work.  The strength in our fingertips alone could support entire body weight if necessary.  You can see this incredible feat in the activity of rock climbers.  The force on the muscles in order to do this is four times what it is in the finger tips!  That’s incredible and amazing! Now that you know some pretty cool facts about fingers, you have to know that there are a few things that can go awry.  It’s critical that you visit an Orthopedic Doctor who specializes in the hand.  Idaho Hand Institute has you covered.  We have decades of combined experience in caring for those precious hands of yours and can get you back in the game in no time!