

It can be on one or both hands or feet.īabies with symbrachydactyly are born with short often webbed fingers. Polydactyly is when a baby is born with an extra finger on the hand or an extra toe on the foot.
#Webbed fingers and toes how to
If your child has syndactyly, offer support as your child learns how to use the hands or feet well. Looking AheadĬhildren with syndactyly can do all of the usual things that kids do. Most babies with syndactyly of the toes do not need surgery. Occupational therapy (OT) and home exercises can help a child’s recovery after surgery. The surgery is usually done when a child is 1 to 2 years old. Surgery will help them use their fingers better. Most babies with syndactyly of the hand benefit from surgery to separate the fingers. This helps surgeons decide what kind of treatment is needed. Otherwise, doctors diagnose it when the baby is born.ĭoctors do X-rays to see if the bones are joined. Syndactyly may be seen before birth on an ultrasound. But sometimes, syndactyly happens as part of a genetic Most babies who have it don’t have other health problems. Who Gets Syndactyly?Īny baby can be born with syndactyly. In babies with syndactyly, the fingers or toes do not divide completely. Then the digits (the fingers and toes) divide. When a baby’s hands and feet are first forming, they’re shaped like mittens. It is not caused by anything a mother did or didn’t do while pregnant. Syndactyly happens before a baby is born. The joined part can go from the base to the tip of the finger or toe or just part of the way up.Ī baby can have syndactyly in one or both hands or feet.

Complex: The bones and other parts of the fingers or toes are joined.Simple: The fingers or toes are joined by just skin.Syndactyly (sin-DAK-tuh-lee) is when a baby is born with two or more fingers or toes joined or “webbed” together.
