Sclerodactyly in Systemic Scleroderma

Systemic scleroderma often affects the hands. The initial stage is swelling (edema), which can last for weeks, months, or years. Often the swelling is intermittent and worse in the morning. It can cause the fingers to look like sausages, with far fewer wrinkles. Skin tightness in the hands can make it impossible to pinch the skin on the fingers.
In some people, the fingers eventually begin to harden from fibrosis, and curl inward. They may then become frozen in this clawed position, which is referred to as "sclerodactyly."

So,When the skin on the fingers become tight, stretched, wax-like, and hardened it is called sclerodactyly. Sclerodactyly is commonly associated with atrophy of the underlying soft tissues.

Not everyone with scleroderma develops this degree of skin hardening. However, it is this symptom that has earned scleroderma the nickname of 'the disease that turns people to stone'.