Bashkar’s experience with cryo surgery of Ledderhose disease

I am sharing my experience but should caution that my Ledderhose problems are not as bad as those of many other people and trajectory of my illness may have been quite different from others. The experience with surgeries and other treatments is quite varied so it is quite difficult to make informed conclusions if you are suffering from Ledderhose disease.

First, you need a podiatrist for your feet, not a Dupuytren's doctor. I was faced with the problem should I do early intervention even though I could get by on orthotics that my podiatrist had made for me or, should I wait for the problem to become unbearable? I opted for early intervention and got two sets of cryosurgery done on my right foot (Feb 2007 and Sep 2007). After these surgeries, the scar tissue that formed from the surgery bothered me and caused a fair amount of pain. This was mainly in the form of a corn (hard skin) that hurt me when I walked, even with orthotics. Things became worse than what they were before the surgeries. In January 2008 my podiatrist performed another surgery on my foot, this time a knife surgery, and removed some more tissue, and that corrected my problem. Since these surgeries, my recovery has been good. I can walk without orthotics in my regular shoes and I experience no pain or discomfort.

However, since this is a progressive disease, I fully expect the problem to recur. Thankfully in my case the nodule is growing on the inner side of my right foot, close to the high point of the arch. Since the new growth after surgeries is not on the sole of my foot, it is possible that the new nodule growth will not interfere with walking. In any case, my problem was not very serious even when I began treatment. While my experience with these surgeries has been good, it is impossible for me to say what it would be for others. Compared to other patients, who have been suffering over a long period of time, I consider myself extremely lucky.

After these surgeries, I still continue to grow a small amount of hardened scar tissue which I remove with a X-Acto No. 1 knife myself (this is definitely not recommended for everyone!) once every two months and I also treat the site with Mederma which is supposed to help with scar tissue.

Cryo has worked well for me because I can walk without orthotics now and have done so for over a year. However, since the disease is so very different in different people, I still hesitate to give a blanket recommendation for any particular treatment.

Bhaskar Sengupta

(from the Yahoo plantarfibromatosis group)