The baby has a floating thumb, will the fingers grow larger in this condition? Do I need to treat it?

The floating thumb can grow without treatment and can also sense hot and cold and pain because it has nerves and blood vessels in it. However, because the floating bunion lacks metacarpal bones or has only the remains of metacarpal bones, it cannot move or function. If left untreated, even if it can grow, the function and appearance of the floating bunion will not improve, so surgical intervention is needed. The best time to intervene surgically is from 6 months to about 1 year old, because this is the stage when the baby establishes the function of the thumb, and if this time is corrected, the baby’s thumb function can be established very smoothly, and the baby’s own healing ability is also stronger at this time, so the post-operative recovery is relatively more advantageous, so parents are advised to grasp this treatment time. For the treatment of floating thumb, I now mainly use the hemipalmar bone graft reconstruction technique, which is to take part of the bone from the second metacarpal of the baby’s affected hand and transplant it to the first metacarpal, the whole process is operated only on the hand, without moving other places. The surgery is divided into two phases, the first phase is to “move the bone”, and the second phase is to rebuild the function, about 4-6 months between the two phases of surgery, generally the younger the child grows faster, the time between the two phases of surgery is slightly shorter. Some young babies need to be actively guided by their parents in this step of functional exercise, such as letting the baby imitate the parents to do more palm movements, or giving the baby some round or square toys, to let the baby know that the thumb can move, and he will be more and more willing to use this finger, and the appearance and function of the thumb will recover better. The appearance and function of the thumb will recover better.