Nerve · Hand

Dorsal digital nerves

Nervi digitales dorsales

The nerves of the back of the fingers, supplied from two directions: the superficial branch of the radial nerve covers the thumb side of the hand and the ulnar nerve's dorsal branch covers the little-finger side, the two meeting along a variable line down the middle finger. They run along the sides of each digit on its dorsal surface but stop short — beyond the middle phalanx the palmar digital nerves take over and supply the nail bed and fingertip from the front. That handover is the reason numbness on the back of the hand can spare the fingertips entirely.