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I was bored the other day and decided to see if there was a precise term to describe my thumbs and I stumbled upon a wealth of information.
Behold my funny thumbs:
It is called brachydactyly - type D. The 'type D' means that only the thumbs are involved and no other fingers. I learned that it is an autosomal single dominant gene with incomplete penetrance in men but complete in women. (Meaning that women who have the gene will always express it fully, men who have it might not, even though it's dominant). My father had one thumb like this and the other was normal so I know exactly where it came from.
On my way to this information I learned a lot more. First there is this article about thumbs in general using the term "stub thumb". Wikipedia uses the term "clubbed thumb" to describe it and has a pretty good photo. According to them it was used as an indication of royalty (crazy, inbred royals.) It is also historically been described as "potter's thumb" and, more ominously, "murderer's thumb". The last seems to be related to the many, many hits I got on palmistry. If I ever have a palm reading done I now expect to be told that I am filled with an implacable burning rage. Consider yourselves warned.
Last, I found a blog where someone complained that a guy in his class had thumbs that looked like toes and it was distracting him from his work. This unleashed a flood of comments from people who all said they, themselves, had thumbs like that and had never seen it on anyone else. (I've never seen it except on my father). It apparently really bothers some of the women who have it because they wanted to know if there was some surgery available to correct it as they spend all their time hiding their thumbs from view. I had no desire to hide them from view right up until I heard it described as "murderer's thumb".
2009 Update: I just found a website that invites people to join the brachydactyly club. It hasn't been updated for a while, but there it is.
2011 Update: the Wikipedia entry for 'clubbed thumb' is now boring but there is this better one for brachydactyly.
Megan Fox and the 2009 thumb scandal.
A rather thorough article on Health Line.
Facebook page on Brachydactyly D.
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March 25 2007, 15:32:17 UTC 5 years ago
March 25 2007, 15:38:57 UTC 5 years ago
March 25 2007, 17:46:08 UTC 5 years ago
March 25 2007, 18:24:50 UTC 5 years ago
September 17 2007, 16:05:55 UTC 4 years ago
I have this!
You are the only other person I've found brave enough to post a pic of your thumb. You rock!AmysMO
4 years ago
4 years ago
Anonymous
2 years ago
Anonymous
July 5 2008, 19:19:38 UTC 3 years ago
Me too!! Or, one, I guess....
I laughed when I saw the picture of your thumb because it looks exactly like mine - I can't tell the difference!! I only have one special thumb - I got it from my great-grandmother, and my grandpa and dad have regular thumbs.Anonymous
September 24 2008, 07:06:17 UTC 3 years ago
thumb
the question was not answered, can it be removed or not? I hate itSeptember 24 2008, 15:05:55 UTC 3 years ago
Re: thumb
I suppose a surgeon could shave down the top bone to make it thinner - that might do really bad things to nail shape and I can't think of any way they could make it longer to be in proportion to the other fingers. I never saw an answer from anyone who'd had it done. I like my thumbs so I never looked into it. I look forward to using it to one day scare my newphews and grandchildren, "Be careful with that hammer or your thumb will look like THIS!"I don't know how old you are but once you're over the age of 22 or so people get better about keeping their stupid observations to themselves so I no longer hear things like "My God you have big feet" or "Wow, you're really tall, do you play basketball?"
3 years ago
3 years ago
Anonymous
February 11 2009, 05:05:31 UTC 3 years ago
Our Thumbs!
My boyfriend and I both have them. You could say that it was a sign that we should be together. We call them 'Toe Thumbs' and we embrace it by having toe thumb love where we smoosh them together...yes we know this is odd but hey...we thought we were the only ones until we saw this article.February 11 2009, 05:19:55 UTC 3 years ago
Re: Our Thumbs!
I think that's adorable. We should start a club (or a support group). Maybe a secret society and when Vinnie at the door asks who sent you, you just hold up your thumb to be admitted.Anonymous
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
Anonymous
3 years ago
May 8 2009, 23:21:28 UTC 3 years ago
OMG!!
So I've never actually met someone who's had thumbs like mine(other than my uncle who had one normal thumb, and a thumb like mine. Also, my grandmother. But she died before I was born. So I never ACTUALLY met her). I've always known they were different and special. I'm so glad to finally see i'm not the only one though! my mom calls them "potters thumbs", btw.May 14 2009, 18:55:50 UTC 3 years ago
Re: OMG!!
I would definitely go with "Potter's Thumb" rather than "Murderer's Thumb". Kudos on getting both thumbs in the shot.Anonymous
October 9 2009, 01:39:28 UTC 2 years ago
Anonymous
December 21 2009, 05:37:08 UTC 2 years ago
Potters Thumb
I only have one and was so embarrassed about it when I was young. Finally in my mid twenty's I forgot about it until I shook hands with someone who was so excited that I had a 'potters thumb'. She had two.Haven't thought about it for years and this was pre computers, just thought to google it and find it fascinating that so many of us have them. Forget the murders thumb, lets keep it light and be proud that we are special.
Joyce
Anonymous
February 9 2010, 03:25:07 UTC 2 years ago
I just learned about this
I have the same thumbs and just found out what it was from the Megan Fox Superbowl thumb-gate. I've never met anyone else with these sort of thumbs and didn't know it was a specific genetic trait. Nobody in my family has them so it must have stayed suppressed in my male lineage. I've always thought they were sort of cool and purpose built for a Nintendo style D-pad. I'm disappointed that one article I read mentioned multiple times that Ms. Fox "suffered" from this condition. On the scale of human suffering this rates as a 1.0e-100. I'm sure for women it can be more troubling to deviate from the ideal form but they are just thumbs in the end.I'm curious if anyone has ever had problems with the last joint of their thumbs locking up on them. It rarely happens now but particularly during puberty I frequently had my thumbs become locked and unbendable without having to gently pull the joint apart.
February 10 2010, 00:09:32 UTC 2 years ago
Re: I just learned about this
I have never had that problem but maybe someone else has?Anonymous
2 years ago
Anonymous
1 year ago
Anonymous
2 years ago
Anonymous
February 10 2010, 00:01:11 UTC 2 years ago
Thank you!
I'm so glad you all are posting on this topic! I started researching Brachydactyly after hearing all the fuss over poor Megan Fox's thumb. (I say "poor" because she's being harrassed about it). I was curious, because my 14 year old daughter has always complained about her thumbs. Her fingers are long with short nails, but her thumbs look exactly like the photos you guys have posted. I used an anonymous donor to have her, so always figured she "inherited" her hands and feet from him since they don't look like my side of the family's, but I had no idea there was a name for it! I've never thought they looked bad at all. In fact, I think they're kinda cute :-)I read that it's called Brachydactyly "type D" when it is just the thumbs that are shorter and not the rest of the fingers. I think she will be thrilled to hear that she's not alone and that a lot of you have very positive attitudes about it. She has acrylic fingernails, so the thumbnail length is not so obvious.
Does anyone know if they've found any other "effects" of this genetic condition?
If not for mutated genes, we never would have evolved as a species, so maybe it's just one of those mutations that was not really beneficial, but not dangerous so to have dropped out of the gene pool!
Anonymous
February 10 2010, 01:03:34 UTC 2 years ago
i have the same thing.
i searched this up when they were making fun of megan fox's thumb and i was like "hey, i have the same thumb" and it looks just like that. people are always like "hey show them your thumb" and acting as if theres something wrong with it, but i think its cute : Dhttp://i50.tinypic.com/aexq9t.jpg
Anonymous
February 10 2010, 01:35:23 UTC 2 years ago
Anonymous
February 10 2010, 04:00:44 UTC 2 years ago
Anonymous
February 12 2010, 06:59:17 UTC 2 years ago
Anonymous
March 13 2010, 20:01:07 UTC 2 years ago
hmmm
Maybe you are just putting this in the way. I have brachydactyly type D and have a good job, great boyfriend and everything I want. It makes no difference, people hardly notice it.Anonymous
1 year ago
Anonymous
1 year ago
Anonymous
February 18 2010, 05:54:38 UTC 2 years ago
I am not alone!
I honestly thought I was the only one that had a thumb like this. It never bothered until I got older and people would keep commenting on them. I became self-conscious from all the "What happened to your thumb?" questions and just started turtling my thumbs just to avoid the comments. Glad I am not the only one out there with these :)April 1 2010, 05:11:40 UTC 2 years ago
There's a NAME for it?!?!
I heard today, for the first time in my life, the name for our special little thumbs. I've always called mine toe-thumbs or square thumbs since that is basically what they look like. After I was informed of the name I googled it and ran across this and your thumb looks exactly like mine. I find it odd that mosst of the people that have commented have "never known anyone else with these thumbs." I sure haven't and as frequently as I get comments about them, obviously most others haven't seen them either. I don't even have any known relatives with them. I hid them for years, but now they don't bother me... well, except when I try to play "thumb war" because I always lose. Anyways, YAY! Obviously I'm not as unique as I thought. :)Anonymous
April 27 2010, 15:18:13 UTC 2 years ago
I have these thumbs!
I have these thumbs too!! the toe-thumb. how attractive. My grandmother (mum's side) has the same thumbs, as does my aunty (mum's sister), however mum does not.. and as it is an autosomal dominant gene im not entirely sure how it has missed her and come straight to me. Im one of 5 children and the only one with these thumbs (and boy do i know it). I have seen it before in one of my patients I cared for. We just decided we had to have a flaw somewhere because we're so damn perfect everywhere else. I think all us toe-thumb inheriters should adopt this belief.April 27 2010, 15:41:19 UTC 2 years ago
Re: I have these thumbs!
I was going to suggest that skipping a generation must be related to the phrase 'incomplete penetrance' but then you said it would be coming from you mother, not your father, so I'm at a loss. If you feel like researching it I got a lot of hits by searching for "bracydactyly type D inheritance".Anonymous
May 12 2010, 16:44:23 UTC 2 years ago
square
hiiI have one 'normal' thumb and one 'fat' thumb....or 'sun blocker thumb' as my mother calls it.
Is surgery a viable option? or anyway to correct it? i dont hate it as such, it just makes me very self consious!
taaaa
July 26 2010, 10:35:05 UTC 1 year ago
Gracious goodness
I always just thought my thumbs were inexplicably fat. Heh, my friends are always a little taken aback to see the 'toe thumbs' - it's amazing that they're actually the result of a medical condition.Oddly enough, I also have hyper-mobile joints and Madelung's deformity in my wrists - bone disorders (now surgically corrected) to do with the growth plate, just like brachydachtyly. D'you reckon there's a connection?
... My thumbs are the reason I'm wearing gloves to my school ball. It's good to know I'm not alone. A support group is a great idea :D
July 29 2010, 02:07:07 UTC 1 year ago
Re: Gracious goodness
I think I remember reading that it could be correlated with other conditions but mine seems to be idiosyncratic.Anonymous
August 5 2010, 05:09:57 UTC 1 year ago
Runs in my family!
I've got four sisters, plus myself equalling five (I'm a girl as well). We've all got the thumbs, which we obviously inherited from our dad--he's got two also! His fingers in themselves are abnormally large, and we have no idea where he got them from. They must have been in the blood, but never were picked up until he was born!The only person outside our immediate family who's got them is my nephew, but he's got one of each, a bit indecisive maybe? LOL
I will admit, when people do notice them, they get quite a bit of attention for awhile; most call them "toe-thumbs" but I dislike the term. I have no problem in having them, just a cute quirk within itself, I feel. I've also noticed they make working with your hands (construction/mechanics/etc) pretty simple. Always makes me feel like I've got something on the guys, ASIDE from thumb wrestling. ;)
Anonymous
August 16 2010, 15:32:45 UTC 1 year ago
Hejsa. (:
Jeg har den samme form, af tommelfinger, - jeg har altid været godt sur over at jeg har den, for alle mine veninder har tynde, og lange tommelfinger. Min er bare lille og buttet. Folk har altid sagt at jeg har en "unormal", tommelfinger. Det er jeg faktisk godt træt af. Jeg ved at jeg har arvet min tommelfinger af min far, for han har store og tykke fingre, hvilket irriterer mig vildt, for mine andre fingre er normalt tynde og lange. Jeg har altid undret mig over hvorfor jeg ikke har en "normal" tommelfinger, som andre piger. Min far påstår at den nok skal blive normal, når jeg bliver ældre. Jeg udvikler mig stadig, men det tror jeg nu ikke. At se at en anden har samme "problem", og samme form af tommelfinger, ville jeg aldrig have troet, ville finde sted. Jeg har altid gået og troet at jeg var den eneste der havde den form af tommelfinger.Anonymous
August 31 2010, 21:13:37 UTC 1 year ago
Anonymous
September 21 2010, 21:53:14 UTC 1 year ago
Hallelujah!
Im the only in my family with a shovel thumb as they like to call it and its a source of great amusement to my family. The left thumb is almost an inch shorter than the right so its pretty noticeable but is normally deemed as cute and quirky. I never knew so many other people have it as i've never met anybody else although I have an auntie whose toes are longer than the joints should be so she's had surgery on both, possibly a different type! Be proud of it, i find it can be a great conversation starter!!!Anonymous
November 6 2010, 09:10:10 UTC 1 year ago
my clubbed thumb
Both of my thumbs are like this and I am a Chinese. I got those from my mom. I didn't notice I am different until I was was laughed at in the middle school. Since I came to the US for graduate school, I saw at least 3 people having the clubbed thumb, 2 white and 1 korean. I googled and found following.http://alfparelli.wordpress.com/
"It is a common trait, aproximately 1 million Americans will have clubbed thumbs (occurring in 0.4% of whites and 0.1% of blacks in the US). In Israel it occurs in 1.6% of Jews and 3% of Arabs. It is also found a lot in Japan (this info from the book Abnormal Skeletal Phenotypes, which you can find on google books (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oG5F
Anonymous
November 7 2011, 01:55:54 UTC 6 months ago
Re: my clubbed thumb
Clubbing at the flesh portion denotes a genetic uncontrollable aggressiveness:Genetic abnormality observed as clubbed thumbed man with brain line as head line cutting through the heart line towards Mercury as indication of a criminal. in case of in case of Dr.Henry Meyer The trial of Dr. Henry Meyer, accused of killing Gustav Baum fey poison, with antimony and arsenic was finally begun yesterday before Recorder Smyth, after ten days consumed.Dr.Meyer was regularly graduated as Homeopathic physician in Chicago in 1898 In getting a jury. Assistant District Attorney McIntyre opened the case for the people as soon as court was called to order. Two writers of sensational detective stories were in attendance yesterday at the murder trial of Dr. Henry C.W. Meyer to gather material for their peculiar romances, and from present indications they will be well rewarded for their trouble. A more remarkable story of crime and its ferreting out has never been told in any courtroom.
With the help of Ludwig Brandt an agent for Mutual benefit life insurance association .Meyer was the medical examiner of this association and because of some fraudulent applications both were in jail during 1890 which ended with conspiracy and murder of Brandt. In fact Meyer married his own wife to Brandt for such a conspiracy.
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