There are 27 bones, 29 joints and at least 123 named ligaments in the human hand.
What sets our hands apart from other animals is our opposable thumbs—this means our thumbs and fingers can work together ( fun fact: koala bears also have opposable thumbs).
You cannot get a tan on your palm and underside of your fingers.
The average hand length for adult women is 6.7 inches. The average length for men is 7.4 inches.
Fingers don’t have muscles—tendons in our fingers are moved by the muscles of the forearm.
Men tend to have longer ring fingers than index fingers—ladies vice versa.
Hand surgeons say that the index finger is the best one to lose—if you had a choice. The index finger is needed the least.
Children under the age of six are at the greatest risk for crushing or burning injuries of the hand.
Our fingers are even more sensitive than the eyes—the fingertips have a large number of receptors responsible for sending messages to the brain.
Structurally, fingernails are actually modified hairs.
6% of all men and 9.9% of all women are left-handed.
Remote controlling is not a thing of the digital age. Our fingers do not have muscle, they are remotely controlled by muscles in our palms and mid-forearms.
The muscles which control our fingers are so powerful that some people can support their entire body weight on just a few fingertips when climbing.
One third of all acute injuries seen in emergency rooms involve the upper extremities.
One fourth of athletic injuries involve the hand and wrist.
Did you know that Advance Therapy has an occupational therapist who is a Certified Hand Therapist? OT, Ginny Rieger, has been treating patients for over 20 years and is a whiz with upper extremity impairments and issues. Call our clinic today to schedule a no-cost consultation with any of our therapists if you have an issue you’d like them to evaluate.