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Sep 3, 2008 · But on closer inspection, only one digit is really different from the rest - the thumb (digit 1). Digit 1 has two bones (phalanges) whereas all the other fingers have three. Only the thumb can be moved away from the other digits, a phenomenon called opposability, and on a more subtle anatomical level, growth of the corresponding metacarpal bone in the hand is proximal for the thumb but distal ...
- Günter P Wagner, Alexander O Vargas
- 10.1186/gb-2008-9-3-213
- 2008
- Genome Biol. 2008; 9(3): 213.
Dec 5, 2016 · Extension returns the thumb back toward its anatomic position. Abduction is the forward movement of the thumb away from the palm in a sagittal plane. Adduction returns the thumb to the plane of the hand. Opposition is a special term that describes the movement of the thumb across the palm, making direct contact with the tips of any of the ...
- Opposable Thumbs May Have Freed Up Our Ancestors' Mouths For Language.
- Thumbs Have Their Own Pulse.
- The Thumb Separates Us from Other animals. Mostly.
- Toes Can Become Thumbs.
- … But Is A Thumb Worth Losing A Toe Over?
- It's Better Than Having Your Hand Sewn to Your Foot.
- Your Thumb Makes An Astonishingly Wide Variety of Motions.
- That Dexterity Also Makes It Fragile.
- Pain in Your Thumb May Require Lifestyle changes.
- Swiping Right Might Be Dangerous.
The evolution of a thumb helped our ancestors evolve to be better at defense, allowing for throwing and clubbingactivities. Moreover, Fishman says, it may have even contributed to our cognitive function. "Some say this is why we have language," he says, "because we can hold things in our hands and [therefore] use our mouths for something else—such ...
You might have noticed that medical professionals take a pulse with the middle and index finger. The reason is because there's a big artery in the thumb, the princeps pollicis artery,and arteries pulse, making it difficult to feel a pulse in a neck if you're using your thumb.
"The thumb is wonderful. It evolved in such a way that we can use it to do so many amazing things, and it's one of the things that separates us from other animals," Bergin says. A handful of other animals, mostly primates, have opposable thumbs, or toes, as the case may be. These include orangutans, chimpanzees, a phylum of frogs known as phyllomed...
If you should lose a thumb, fear not, says Katz. "It can be rebuilt by surgeons using your big toe." This specialized surgery uses microvascular surgery techniques to transfer your big toe to your hand, where it will function almost exactly as your thumb did. "The toe is then brought to life by sewing together small arteries and veins under a micro...
It may not seem like a big deal to lose one thumb—after all, you've got another one. But Katz cites the American Medical Association's "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment" [PDF], which states your thumb is so important that a complete amputation "will result in a 40 percent impairment to the whole hand." In fact, they claim that it wo...
Katz also points out that "there used to be a common surgical procedure for thumb reconstruction, where the patient's hand was sewn to their foot for a period of time." This procedure was called the Nicoladani procedure, after the German surgical innovator Carol Nicoladoni. "It was a precursor to transplant surgery and plastic or reconstructive sur...
Other than pinching and grasping, Katz points out that the thumb "translates, rotates, and flexes all at once." This coordinated set of motions provides strength and dexterity. "Thus it's the thumb that allows us to easily pen an essay, turn a nut, pick up a coin, or button a shirt."
The thumb may appear to only have two knuckles, but it actually has a third, right above the wrist. This is called the first carpometacarpal joint. If that starts to hurt, or gets big enough to look like a bump or a mass, you may have carpometacarpal joint disorder (CMC), a common condition that is partly genetic and partly from repetitive use, acc...
Bergin suggests small lifestyle changes so you don't need to grip anything too hard can make a huge difference, such as buying milk jugs with handles or using an electric toothbrush. "There are a lot of things we can do [to help] on a daily basis that shouldn't affect our quality of life," she suggests.
While we generally associate thumb arthritis with older people, Bergin says she now sees it in people in their forties and even thirties. Other studieshave suggested that frequent phone use can be damaging. "There must be a genetic component to premature wearing of the thumb," she says. If it runs in your family, it's a good idea to be proactive an...
- Jordan Rosenfeld
Jul 6, 2020 · Thumb. The thumb is the first of the hand’s five digits, but it is typically not referred to as a finger. The thumb possesses a unique and wide range of motion not shared by the hand’s other ...
The Opposable Thumb and Prehensile Thumb. The thumb can be rotated so that it comes to face the palm and can touch all the other fingers. This property, called the opposability of the thumb, is a unique feature seen not only in human beings but all primates. Prehensility is the property that makes an organ or appendage suitable for grasping.
Contents. Thumb. This article is about the digit of the hand. For other uses, see Thumb (disambiguation). The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. [ A ] When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit.
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Mar 4, 2008 · But on closer inspection, only one digit is really different from the rest - the thumb (digit 1). Digit 1 has two bones (phalanges) whereas all the other fingers have three. Only the thumb can be moved away from the other digits, a phenomenon called opposability, and on a more subtle anatomical level, growth of the corresponding metacarpal bone in the hand is proximal for the thumb but distal ...
