Index finger longer than middle finger

[Mark_210]

I wasn't sure where to post this as it's not really a problem or concern but this seems like the best place.

I was born with my index finger longer than my middle finger on both hands and, obviously, it's been that way ever since. No one in my family ever noticed anything wrong with my hands and I didn't realize they weren't normal until a friend pointed it out when I was about 12.

I went to a doctor around that time (12 or 13) and was told that two bones in my middle two fingers (middle and ring) were shorter than they should be resulting in my index finger being the longest and causing my hands to appear as though they have no knuckles except the ones behind my index finger and pinkie.

I was told the only thing I had to worry about was easily breaking a knuckle if I ever got into a fight because all the impact of a punch would be on the two outer knuckles. When asked if he'd ever seen it before the doctor gave a very unconvincing yes and basically sent us on our way, informing us that this wasn't even documented in the book he took out.

I've never had a problem with my hands or anything like that but I can't find anything about this condition/situation or whatever you want to call it anywhere.

I guess my main question is has anyone ever heard about this or met someone whose hands were like this or anything? How rare is this? Are there any documented cases? Any information would be appreciated

[ShireLily]

Hi,
This is my first time here so I am not sure how this works. I stumbled on your post while searching for an answer to a similar question. My middle finger is also shorter than my ring finger it is actually shorter than my index finger too. I only have two knuckles on my left hand behind my ring finger and index finger.  But only on my left hand is my middle finger shorter. My brother's left hand is the same.  What we know is that it is hereditary, our great- grandfather on our father's side hand left was the same. I am 31 and have never met anyone else besides my brother whose hands are like this. Is there any history of this condtion in your family?
Would like to know more too, if there are answers to be found.

[joe757]

hi i this is also my first time here and i have somthing similar except my thumb is longer than my index and middle finger and my middle finger is the smallest, although my thumb cant bend because i have no knuckles in it and i only have i knuckle in my index and middle finger and because of this i cant make a fist but my ring and pinky finger are normal apart from my ring finger being the biggest out of all my fingers and my thumb this is the same on both my hands

[westcoastgirl]

Wow, I'm shocked that I'm not the  only one with this condition. I have never been able to find anything online about it before. My middle fingers are shorter than my ring and index on both hands and although my knuckles aren't missing, they have to be manually pushed up if i make a fist or it appears they aren't there. Noone knows how they got this way. I first noticed it around age 9, but i found a copy of my handprints made at school at age 6 and my middle fingers were the longest at that time. Because it is on both hands i would assume this is genetic but noone in my family has this. I would love to know where you are located. Maybe we were born near too many powerlines!!!

[joe757]

were u talking to me or the others?

[Priya1234]

I have a similar condition and three fingers on both my hands are shorter, resulting in a missing knuckle like appearance. Would like to know more about this defect. If you come across any documentation or info ,please provide it in this forum.

[Lexie2u2]

Hi, I have the same thing on both hands. I inherited it from my Mom. My Dad immediately checked my hands when I was born and they were normal. My family & I noticed it when I broke my index finger playing ball. On my left hand, my index finger is longer than my middle finger, my ring finger is shorter than my middle finger. On my left had, my middle finger is shorter than both other fingers (ring & middle). It's nver caused any problems but I've always wondered why my Mom & I had it.

[shweta87]

hey thts amazing ..i mean i thought m unique in this world with longer index finger on both hands...yeah longer than the rest of 3.....but yar i dint find anything online abt it.....everywhr it was written abt longer ring finger...guys plz tel me if u knw anything abt this matter..like how it happened.....i m not sure but heard it frm sumwhr tht its due to the excess secretion of testosterone whilst we r in the womb.......

[bonidik]

Hi there! Same here, i have the longer index finger as well. The difference is, they were all normal when i was born. I have photos of my chilhood.

I remember being a 4 or 5 year old kid, who coulnt sleep in the afternoon naps and thinking about having fingers in order. I remember deciding them to be in order. (Nobody told me i coulnt do it.)

I didnt pull them or such stupid things like that. I just decided and it happened in few years. Occationaly i was looking at them and watching my index fingers reaching my middle fingers month to month. Then they got longer and i finally noticed that it was a perfect ratio and decided to stop the process.

When i was 8, moms cousin figured that out and it was a big thing all of a sudden. Then i learned that someone cant do it by only desicion. I still dont know if it happened because of me or it was just a coincidance. But i do know that my fingers are kinda freaky but still very talented.

Its nice to know about people like me. Lets make a community and make group hugs sometimes! Eheh!

;)

[liv3url1f3w1thn0r3gr3ts]

i actualy hav da same thing as westcoastgirl  nd i want 2 know y it happened nd if their is something u can do 2 hav it back 2 da way it should be like mabey surgery or something
if anyone has any answers please let me know  
thnx  4 da help :)

[fels23]

I have the same thing.
my right hand middle finger is shorter then my index and my knuckles appear to be not there on my right ring finger and index.
on my left hand my rig finger and pinkie also show no knuckles.

I want surgery really bad or just somewaay to fix this abnorality.

[Dr Vinod]

Many people have symptomless deformities which are by birth and these do not need any modification till you have a desire to correct them cosmetically.
Visit an orthopaedician to find out about your phalanges and interphalangeal joints which cause the knuckles and understand the anatomy for future course of action.
Take care!

[Simba61]

The middle finger on my left hand is shorter than the index and ring finger. When I make a fist the knuckle on my middle finger is back further from the rest and barely sticks out and neither of my pinkie knuckles stick out at all. My brothers pinkie knuckles dont stick out either. I got my hand x-rayed and the doctor said my lefthand middle finger had a short metacarpal. Apart from my brothers pinkie knuckles , no-one else in my family that I know of has anything like it. I found out a few years ago when I was about 8

[raulna]

Ever heard about ET Phone Home, or Evolution....Darwin?  I've seen people with slit pupils like cats,  A baby with cat like fur on his neck and back........If it's not a problem , document it as ' strange but true' officially.  That might put your mind at ease...

[blueowl180]

My middle finger on my left hand is shorter than my index and ring finger, and both my little fingers are really short..none of these fingers appear to have knuckles. I noticed this when i was about 10 years old, and when pointing this out to my mum was told she believed this was heriditary as she has the same thing in both her little fingers and her auntie had the same in her middle finger.  When my son reached the age of 6 I noticed he also has no knuckle in one of his litttle fingers too.  Id love to know more about why I have this, but cant seem to find much information on it...although it is nice to know im not alone when it comes to this

[kati_m]

I HAVE THIS TOO! On my ring finger of my right hand. My knuckle is further back then it's supposed to be. It's good to know I'm not alone, and I really don't think it's that big of a deal, although I feel like sometimes it causes pain in my right arm, cuts off veins, and I constantly have to 'pop' it by pulling on it or it bothers me... we should all post pictures of our weird hands. :)

[va1205]

WOW what a relief to know I'm not the only one who has their hand like this! My middle finger on my left hand is also shorter than my index finger and I also have poorly developed knuckles that are pushed back with every finger except the index finger. I first noticed my hand when I was about 11 years old, but in childhood pictures my fingers looked normal. The only people that know about my hand is my family and I recently worked up the guts to show my long-term boyfriend. I was always embarrassed to tell or show people because I just felt like I was the only one who had it this way, plus I was afraid they'd find it weird. I would LOVE to have surgery done on it but not sure what my condition is and I haven't been able to find any info until now. If anybody has any information on the condition, please let me know! So happy to know I'm not alone :)

[Ginny606]

I have never seen this topic discussed!  My index finger is the longest finger on both of my hands.  My fingers actually slope down -- index finger is the longest, followed by middle finger and ring finger, with my pinky being the shortest.  I only have knuckles on my thumb and index finger, which explains why the other three fingers on each hand are shorter.  I always figured that my hands were going to be too big for my body (I'm pretty petite), and maybe this was my body's way of correcting that.  A lot of the kids in elementary school noticed my fingers, but no one seems to care these days.  I've always thought it was pretty cool!

[tn2stepper]

My left hand fingers go down in stairsteps from the index finger.  My right hand has the middle finger much shorter than the index and ring finger which are the same length.  A doctor noticed it one day and got very excited about it.  She said it was very rare and heredity and that I wasn't born that way, it grew that way.  I've never seen anyone else that has the same condition.  Guess I'm not as "special" as I thought I was.  lol

[EasyD]

I am honestly amazed to find so many out there that have an identical or similar condition to my own.  In reading these postings it is scary how similar other's stories of discovery and puzzlement mirror my own.  For starters I am 31 years of age and have never had any kind of physical impairment save for the absence of knuckles on each my hands.  Although, that statement is somewhat deceiving considering I have knuckles on each of my index and pinky fingers, however my middle and ring fingers are recessed to the point that they appear hidden.  Thus, when I make a fist you can see knuckles on each of my index and pinky fingers, but there appears to be a gap inbetween on each hand.  I had never noticed this before until middle school while playing a hand slapping game with my classmates.  They pointed it out to me which prompted me to go home to show my parents.  In looking at pictures when I was a younger boy I could see that my hands appeared to be normal and not as they were now with my index finger being the longest, then middle, ring, and pinky.  I was taken to multiple doctors, as well as a genetic expert.  I was diagnosed with psuedo psuedo hypo-thyroidism.  Essentially, I was told that the platelets in the bones inside each of my hands did not receive the proper singles during my growth period to prompt them to grow with me.  Therefore, they were shorter than they otherwise should have been.  I was presented with the option of bone lengthening surgery which I declined to pursue.  This was diagnosed around 16 years ago, and I have lead a completely normal life since.  Although, I have always been curious to see if anyone else has this type of condition, and am constantly looking at other people's hands to see if they have it as well.  I have never seen nor found anyone else who has had this.  

[halit]

Hi There.
I am a paediatrician living in İstanbul in Turkey. I am 47 years old. I have the same problem. My index finger in my both hands is longer than my middle finger.I have never seen anyone like me before. Therefore I was very excited when I found this page. As far as I know this entity is seen less than 1/million. I am not sure if there is any cure for this disorder. Lengthining of the bones may be an alternative. Custom made hand prosthesis may be used. İs there a community on the internet about this abnormality.İf so please write to the forum. It is good to see that I am not the only person with this disorder.

[LMDB910]

My PEOPLE!!!

My index fingers are the longest fingers on both of my hands, and I only seem to have actual knuckles on my index and pinky fingers.  What causes this?
I do not think I was born like this, and no one noticed it until I was 9.

I love that there are so many of us!!

[Sabby347]

I have this and my story is exactly like yours no one noticed until my friend pointed it out in middle school. I have never talked to a doctor about it and I never met anyone like me. I tried looking it up but can't find anything on it.

[westcoastgirl2]

OMG OMG!

I am not the only one!!  I have the index finger longer than the other three in both of my hands.  So I only have a visible knuckle on my index fingers. I have pictures of my kindergarden graduation (age 5) and the middle finger is longer than the rest at that time.  

I just had an xray done in my left hand yesterday (sprain wrist) and the doctor showed me my abnormality (not that I hadn't noticed it BUT doc just made it official lol).  Pretty much metacarpal bones (google it) on the last three fingers of  both of my hands didn't grow normally as it did in the index fingers. They are just short... something happened in our developing years that these matacarpal bones stopped growing early or just not at the same rate.

Go to an orthopedic and do an xray of your hands its so obvious once you see it.. It was an eye opener for me.  Please be happy like we are I am always told that my hands are so cute cause they are small LOL!  We are special and not like the rest of the world peeps.

Doctor did told me that due to this "abnormality"  we are more flexible or are able to bend our hands to the outside more that a normal person so if doing planks or exercising and we loose balance (like what happened to me) we can sprain our wrist easier.  So if you play tennis, gymnastics, yoga, weights anything that put pressure on your hands use wrist support.

Those are my two cents ..hope it helps! :)

[Sabby347]

Omg I have this too. Glad to know im not the only one. I'm definitely going to an ortho now. Thanks for sharing and now I understand why I have so much pain in my wrists and hands.

[forzagirl]

Hi Priya:  I know your post was a long time ago, but I was recently searching on the internet to see if other people had this situation since I have the identidal situation.  No doctor was ever able to tell me what was wrong.  One said genetics and one said it was a problem while in the womb as my parents were in a car accident.  Maybe that was meant to make me feel better.  I just wish I understood it more.  Thanks so much and please let me know your thoughts.

[HeatherRedStouffer]

Don't judge I couldn't find anything else for a nickname.:)
My hands are like that but the weird thing is that they used to be normal. Good thing I'm not one to fight.