Hand differences is one of the characteristics of Poland Syndrome and other congenital birth difference. Parents contact us frequently or visit our page to find the answers to lots of questions they have when they find out their child has hand differences.

They want to know will they be able to crawl, to climb, to draw, to play or to ride a bike. What will it be like for my child to grow up with hand differences? Will they get bullied, will they shy away in the corner, how can I help them overcome.

The one thing we’ve learned with our journey at PIP-UK is that children born with limb differences such as hand difference as in the case of Poland Syndrome just do. It’s that simple they don’t know any different. In the same way that a child without hand differences learns to tie laces, to swim, to talk, to run and all the other things we learn in the first 5 years of our life, children with hand differences learn.

The video below answers this question “What is it like to have a hand that is different?”

Parents can worry if a child’s hand looks different at birth, but there are ways to help your child function independently with this difference.

We think this is a great video so much you can learn from it. We’ve watched it a few times through. Hand differences can occur for a number of reasons at birth. In the case of Poland Syndrome you may see webbed fingers, missing digits or fingers joined together. The hand with Poland Syndrome will frequently be smaller than the other hand. On the same side of the body (where the hand is different) there may also be missing or under developed chest muscles so it’s important to seek a medical diagnosis and get this checked out.

If you have a story to share then please write to us pip.charity@gmail.com and help us share with others.