Heberden's nodes

Bony bumps on the finger joint closest to the fingernail are called Heberden's nodes.

Many people with osteoarthritis of the hands also develop small bony nodules around the finger end joints, known as Heberden's nodes.

Heberden's nodes are more common in women than in men, and there seems to be a genetic component involved in predisposition to the condition.

Bouchard's nodes are comparable in presentation to Heberden's nodes, similar osteoarthritic growths on the distal interphalangeal joints, but are significantly less common.

Heberden's nodes are hard or bony swellings that can develop in the distal interphalangeal joints (DIP) (the joints closest to the end of the fingers and toes).

Heberden's nodes typically develop in middle age, beginning either with a chronic swelling of the affected joints or the sudden painful onset of redness, numbness, and loss of manual dexterity.

Osteophytes on the fingers or toes are known as Heberden's nodes (if on the distal interphalangeal joint) or Bouchard's nodes (if on the proximal interphalangeal joints).

The eponymous Heberden's nodes of osteoarthritis are named after William Heberden senior, who included a chapter on arthritis in his Commentaries on The History and Cure of Diseases.

They would never be mistaken for the hands of a beauty queen, with their crooked fingers and the Heberden's nodes, which grotesquely enlarged the knuckles, but Rosalie could see that the swelling had gone down dramatically since last Friday, when the constant pain had caused Polly to leave early.

In smaller joints, such as at the fingers, hard bony enlargements, called Heberden's nodes (on the distal interphalangeal joints) and/or Bouchard's nodes (on the proximal interphalangeal joints), may form, and though they are not necessarily painful, they do limit the movement of the fingers significantly.