Ever seen someone with an extra thumb and thought it was just a "glitch in the matrix"? Kinda wild, right? It’s actually called polydactyly. Most of us are used to the standard five-finger setup, but nature sometimes decides to add a little something extra. Honestly, having a person with 6 fingers in the room used to be the stuff of urban legends or old wives' tales, but it’s a lot more common than you’d think. About one in every 500 to 1,000 babies is born with it.
You’ve probably seen it on the big screen without even realizing it.
What’s Actually Happening with Polydactyly?
Basically, it happens in the womb. Around week six of pregnancy, a baby’s hands and feet look like little paddles. Normally, the tissue between the fingers dies off to create separate digits. If that process goes on just a second too long or the signaling gets a bit wonky, one finger splits into two.
It’s not just "an extra finger" in a generic sense. Doctors like to categorize these things because, well, that's what they do.
- Postaxial Polydactyly: This is the most frequent version. It’s when the extra digit hangs out next to the pinky.
- Preaxial Polydactyly: This one is a bit more complicated. It’s an extra thumb. Since we use our thumbs for basically everything—texting, gripping coffee mugs, hitchhiking—having two can actually make things harder if they aren't formed right.
- Central Polydactyly: This is the "rare bird" of the group. It’s when the extra finger pops up in the middle of the hand, usually between the ring and middle finger.
The Famous Faces You Know (And Their Secret Digits)
It’s not just random people you pass on the street. Some of the most successful people in the world were born this way.
Take Hrithik Roshan, the Bollywood superstar. He’s basically the "Greek God" of Indian cinema, known for his insane dancing and acting. He has a double thumb on his right hand. For years, he was actually kinda self-conscious about it, but now? He embraces it. He even posted on social media recently (at the end of 2025!) joking that he still can't make a perfect "hand heart" because of it.
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Then there’s Antonio Alfonseca, the former MLB pitcher. They called him "El Pulpo"—The Octopus. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Now, you might think a sixth finger would give you a killer curveball, but Alfonseca always said it didn't even touch the ball. It was just... there.
Even Gemma Arterton, the Bond girl, was born with six fingers on each hand. Hers were "nubbins"—small, boneless bits of skin—and were tied off when she was a baby.
Is it a "Superpower" or a Problem?
So, here’s the thing. There was this fascinating study published in Nature Communications a few years back where researchers looked at people with fully functional sixth fingers.
They found that the brain actually adapts. It doesn't just "ignore" the extra finger; it creates a dedicated area in the motor cortex to control it. Some of these people could tie their shoes with one hand or type way faster than the rest of us. Sorta makes you jealous, doesn't it?
But it’s not always a benefit.
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Sometimes the extra finger is just a tiny "nubbin" of skin. Other times, it’s a full-blown digit with bones, nerves, and joints. If it’s getting in the way or making it hard to use the hand, that’s when doctors step in.
How It's Handled Today
In 2026, the medical approach is pretty streamlined. If a baby is born as a person with 6 fingers, parents usually have a choice to make.
If the finger is just skin (the "Type B" variety), doctors might just use a vascular clip. It’s like how they handle the umbilical cord—cut off the blood supply, and it falls off in a week or two.
If there’s bone involved, it’s a bit more of a project. Surgeons usually wait until the kid is about a year old. They want the hand to be big enough to work on, but they want to get it done before the child starts developing those fine motor skills.
Why some people keep them
Not everyone wants surgery. In some cultures, it’s actually seen as a sign of good luck. Ancient Chaco Canyon residents in New Mexico apparently revered people with extra digits. Archaeologists found footprints and handprints with six digits in sacred spaces, suggesting these folks had high social status.
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What Most People Get Wrong
People often assume it’s always part of some scary genetic syndrome. Honestly? Most of the time, it’s "isolated polydactyly." It just happens. It runs in some families like a stubborn chin or a widow's peak.
However, doctors do check for things like Ellis-van Creveld syndrome or Pallister-Hall syndrome, especially if there are other health issues present. But for the vast majority, it's just a unique physical trait.
Actionable Steps for Parents and Individuals
If you or someone you know is navigating this, here is the real-world roadmap:
- Get an X-ray early: You need to know if there's bone or just soft tissue. This dictates everything.
- Consult a Pediatric Hand Surgeon: Don't just see a generalist. Hand anatomy is incredibly dense and tiny; you want a specialist who lives for this stuff.
- Check for Syndromic Links: A quick check-up with a geneticist can rule out any underlying issues that might affect the heart or kidneys.
- Consider the "Psychological" Side: If the digit is functional and doesn't cause pain, some people choose to leave it. If you decide to remove it, doing so before school age helps avoid social friction.
- Embrace the Uniqueness: Whether you keep it or have it removed, it's a part of your story. As guys like Hrithik Roshan show us, it doesn't hold you back from being the best in the world at what you do.
It's just a different way of being built. Nothing more, nothing less.