Glossary

  • Abduction – spread apart
  • Adduction – bring together
  • Boutonniere – joint assumes a flexed (bent) position
  • Bowstringing – pulling of the tendon away from the bone in the finger because of a disruption of the sheath which normally holds a tendon in place
  • Contracture – joint assumes a flexed (bent) position
  • Deviation – movement to the side or departure from a straight line in a sideways direction
  • DIP – distal interphalangeal joint; joint farthest away from the hand (closest to the nail)
  • Distal – away from the hand, farthest from the hand
  • Dorsal – back of the hand/finger
  • Edema – swelling
  • Extension mobilization – to move from a bent position to an extended position
  • Flexion – bending
  • Flexor tendon – tendon which bends the finger
  • Fusiform – spindle-shaped; wide in the middle and narrow at each end
  • Hyperextension – extension or straightening of a joint past the neutral (zero degrees) or straight position
  • Hypermobile – abnormal laxity of the joint in one or more directions
  • IP – interphalangeal joint of the thumb; joint farthest away from the base of the thumb (closest to the nail)
  • Lateral – side, sideways
  • Lateral deviation – movement to the side
  • Mallet finger – inability to actively straighten the DIP joint
  • MCP – metacarpal phalangeal joint of the finger or thumb; joint at the base of the finger (knuckle joint) or joint closest to the base of the thumb
  • MCP flexion – bending at the metacarpal phalangeal joint
  • Neutral position – a straight position or zero degrees
  • PIP – proximal interphalangeal joint; middle finger joint
  • Prehension – the act of grasping with the fingers
  • Proximal – toward the hand, closest to the hand
  • A1-A2 pulley – sheath that holds the flexor tendon close to the bone
  • Radial – “thumb” side of the finger
  • Range of motion – the range through which a joint can move from neutral (zero degrees) to a fully flexed position
  • Reducible – to lessen or correct; to restore to normal
  • Subluxation – partial dislocation of a joint; joint surfaces no longer in contact with each other causing abnormal joint motion
  • Swan neck – joint assumes a hyper-extended position
  • Tenosynovitis – inflammation of the tendon
  • “Tip-to-tip” prehension – using the tip of the thumb and the tip of the index finger or index and middle fingers to grasp
  • Ulnar – “little finger” side of the finger
  • Ulnar drift – deviation toward the ulnar side
  • Volar – palm side of the hand/finger
  • Volar crease – crease directly under the joint (palmer side)
  • Webspace – space between the fingers/thumb