To better understand finger pain, it helps to understand the anatomy of the finger.

Each finger contains three bones (phalanges), while the thumb contains two bones. At each joint, the bones are held together by ligaments. Muscles in the hand or forearm turn into tendons, which also attach to the bones in the finger: the muscles move the fingers by pulling on the tendons.

The phalanges attach to the 5 metacarpal bones that make up the body of the hand.

Anatomy examples:

• Hand bones
• X-ray of the hand
• Bones and tendons of the finger
• Fingertip
• Finger fracture