Each human finger except the thumb contains three bones, called the proximal, middle, and distal phalanges.
These small bones form the flexible sections of the index, middle, ring, and little fingers. The proximal phalanx connects to the metacarpal in the palm, the middle phalanx sits between the joints, and the distal phalanx supports the fingertip and nail.
The thumb is the important exception: it has only two phalanges, proximal and distal. It does not have a middle phalanx, which helps give it a simpler structure and supports its powerful opposable movement. A typical human hand has 14 phalanges in total—three in each of four fingers and two in the thumb.
People sometimes count the metacarpals as finger bones, which can produce a different number. The five metacarpals are the bones of the palm, while the eight carpals make up the wrist. Together, the carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges account for the standard 27 bones of one hand.