Anatomy Insight - Bones of the Hand Anatomy

Bones of the Hand Anatomy

Listen to this guide 🎧

Audio version available to support all learning styles. Press play to listen!

English (US)

English (UK)

Image by Anatomy Standard, cropped from the original, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

The bones in your hand create a strong but flexible structure that supports the soft tissues like muscles, tendons, and skin.

They give your hand its shape and make it possible to perform precise movements like gripping, writing, or typing. The joints between these bones allow your fingers and wrist to bend, twist, and rotate. Without these bones, the hand wouldn’t be able to move or hold its form. There are three main types of hand bones:

Carpal bones
Metacarpal bones
Phalanges

The carpal bones

The carpal bones are eight small bones in the wrist, arranged in two rows:

Proximal row (closer to the forearm): Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, and Pisiform (a small bone found inside a tendon)
Distal row (closer to the fingers): Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, and Hamate (it has a small hook-like bump)

The scaphoid and lunate connect to the radius bone of the forearm to form the wrist joint. The bones in the distal row connect to the metacarpals at the carpometacarpal joints.

Together, the carpal bones form a curved shape called the carpal arch. A strong band called the flexor retinaculumstretches across this arch, creating the carpal tunnel, a passageway where important nerves and tendons pass into the hand.

Image by Anatomy Standard, cropped and color-edited from the original, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Metacarpal Bones (Palm Bones)

The metacarpals are the long bones of the palm. They connect to the wrist bones at the base and to the finger bones at the top. Each metacarpal is numbered and matched to a finger:

Metacarpal I – thumb
Metacarpal II – index finger
Metacarpal III – middle finger
Metacarpal IV – ring finger
Metacarpal V – little finger

Each metacarpal has three parts: a base, a shaft (middle), and a head (top). The sides of the metacarpals curve inwards, which helps muscles attach to them.

Common Metacarpal Fractures:

Boxer’s fracture: This is a break in the neck of the 5th metacarpal (the bone of the little finger), usually caused by punching something hard. The finger may look shorter or bent.
Bennett’s fracture: This is a break at the base of the 1st metacarpal (the bone of the thumb), often caused when the thumb is pulled back too far. This injury can make the joint unstable and may need surgery.

Phalanges (Finger Bones)

The phalanges are the bones of the fingers. Each phalanx has three parts: a base, a shaft, and a head.

The thumb has two phalanges: a proximal (closer to the palm) and a distal (tip) phalanx.
The other fingers each have three phalanges: proximal, middle, and distal.