What are your fingers called in medical terms?

(Plural: phalanges.) There are 3 phalanges (the proximal, middle, and distal phalanx) in most of the fingers and toes. The bones in the fingers and toes were first called “phalanges” by the Greek philosopher-scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC) because they are arranged in ranks suggesting the military formation.

What is the anatomy name for fingers?

Human hands contain fourteen digital bones, also called phalanges, or phalanx bones: two in the thumb (the thumb has no middle phalanx) and three in each of the four fingers. These are the distal phalanx, carrying the nail, the middle phalanx, and the proximal phalanx.

What are the 5 fingers called?

index finger, pointer finger, or forefinger. middle finger or long finger, ring finger. little finger, pinky finger, or small finger.

How many fingers do humans have in total?

five digits
The human hand normally has five digits: four fingers plus one thumb; these are often referred to collectively as five fingers, however, whereby the thumb is included as one of the fingers.

Is the thumb a finger medically?

A thumb is a digit, but not technically a finger. Many people don’t make the distinction between thumbs and other digits.

Do we have 8 or 10 fingers?

Ask an evolutionary biologist, however, and you’re likely to get a much simpler answer: We have 10 fingers and 10 toes because, somewhere in our species’ past Darwinian wanderings, those numbers gave us an evolutionary advantage. Had events tumbled differently, we might have eight fingers and twelve toes.

Do we have 5 fingers or 4?

One of the basic facts about our hands is that they each possess four fingers and a thumb: five digits in total.

Why do we have 4 fingers and 1 thumb?

Originally Answered: Why have we evolved to have 4 fingers and 1 thumb on each of our hands? The vast majority of terrestrial vertebrates have five digits. Most of the ones that don’t have five digits as adults actually have five digits in early embryonic stages; their digits fuse together before they’re born.

What are the names of the fingers on the hand?

For the purpose of this page, the following common part names are used: “Tip Segment” – The phalanx with the fingernail. “Middle Segment” – The middle phalanx. “Base Segment” – The phalanx closest to the hand.

Which is the joint that straightens the fingers?

These joints are called the metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP joints). The MCP joints work like a hinge when you bend and straighten your fingers and thumb. The three phalanges in each finger are separated by two joints, called interphalangeal joints (IP joints).

How many fingers does the middle finger have?

For example: In hand analysis the tip segment of the middle finger is called the 2nd finger’s 1st phalanx, whereas in anatomy the same body part is considered the 3rd finger’s 3rd phalanx. A normal hand has a thumb and 4 fingers. Each finger has 3 bone segments and 3 joints. The thumb has 2 bone segments and 2 joints.

Which is the IP joint at the end of the finger?

The joint near the end of the finger is called the distal IP joint (DIP joint). The thumb only has one IP joint between the two thumb phalanges. The IP joints of the digits also work like hinges when you bend and straighten your fingers and thumb. The joints of the hand, fingers, and thumb are covered on the ends with articular cartilage.