# Stub Thumbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844 "2002-12-19T18:06:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/1 "2002-12-19T18:06:05Z")
Does anyone know if there is a medical term or even what the causes of stump thumbs are? I don’t even know if that’s what they’re called, but, I know this girl who has thumbs that look just like big toes! Her thumb-nail is very round. The only way to describe it is the way I named it: Stump thumbs. Her brothers have the same thing but neither parents do. I was told by someone it could be a sign that she is a carrier of some genetic disorder. Does anyone have a clue? ---
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/2 "2002-12-19T18:07:24Z")
oops, I called them ‘stump’ and ‘stub’. Well, either one will work. ---
**Author:** ![ScoobyTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/3 "2002-12-19T19:36:06Z")
The cause of my father’s stump thumb was a farm implement accident at the age of 6. It doesn’t have a round thumbnail- not really any nail at all. The end of the thumb was taken off just past the nail bed (there is a little furrow where the nail bed starts). ---
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/4 "2002-12-19T20:12:42Z")
In this case, her and her brothers were born with toe-looking thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/5 "2002-12-19T21:25:28Z")
I posted a similar question about a friend of ours about 8 months ago. My guess was that her finger structure - and her toes, too, as it turns out - is a marker for some genetic syndrome. She can barely use a cigarette lighter because her thumbs are so stubby. I won’t bother to detail some of her personality traits, or other physical features, but I never got a satisfactory answer from the usually reliable, all-knowing, all-powerful dopers. I’ll be watching the thread to see if you get any knowledgeable answers. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/6 "2002-12-19T21:25:39Z")
No Doctors in here? There has to be a medical name for this?!? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/7 "2002-12-19T21:32:16Z")
There are a REAL LOT of forms of dwarfism. I knew a family where the mother had dwarfish looking hands and feet, and so did a number of her children. Anyhoo, maybe this is some sort of dwarfism that only plays out on the thumbs. Or maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@mister\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_me)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/8 "2002-12-19T21:39:50Z")
Here’s something else - Her and her brothers are all very attractive and are quite intelligent. It’s quite surprising when you see their thumbs because they almost look fake. ---
**Author:** ![digitalskeeza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@digitalskeeza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digitalskeeza)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/9 "2002-12-19T23:40:54Z")
My right thumb is a “stub thumb”. It was slammed in a car door when I was 6. No part of it was cut off, nor was it broken, but it does have a different shape than my normal thumb. The joint with the nail on it is about a 1/2" shorter than that of the normal thumb. It’s rounded, and well, stubbier-looking, and the nail is much wider. It seems to have grown malformed and somewhat stunted from the time of injury. It’s weird that the people you know have the same thumbs from birth. But it doesn’t necessarily indicate a genetic disorder, does it? Especially since their parents have totally normal thumbs. Maybe they just have ugly thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![benson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@benson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benson)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/10 "2002-12-20T04:54:57Z")
I have a friend with “stub thumbs”. It’s not a disorder, it’s just something she has. She was born with them. I’m sure it’s the same deal with your friend. Nothing medical about it, it’s just the way they are. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stub-thumbs/143844/11 "2002-12-20T07:34:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CC \* > \*\*I posted a similar question about a friend of ours about 8 months ago. \*\* I remember that thread because I looked and looked for information without finding anything useful. For those who are curious, the thread was [stubby thumbs - a proxy for some disease?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105123)