Hi fellow Dupes sufferers,

Happy to report that three weeks ago I had an NA treatment successfully with David Hunter Smith in Mornington Peninsular Victoria. I have suffered from this crippling disease for 20 years and as a full time musician and artist can vouch that it aint no fun.
My left hand ring and middle finger were bending to 45 degrees with the ring finger being pulled over toward the middle. I began to think I was seeing the beginning of Arthritis but X Rays proved that not to be the case. It was in fact the cord pulling my finger to the right. I also had constriction from the webbing in my thumbs.

So my wife and I decided to make a short holiday of it taking in the views there and back and we drove down from Sidney checking in to a local hotel on the peninsular.

The following morning I went to Davids practice where I was immediately taken into the surgery.

David as before is an utterly charming man with a very reassuring manner and soon put me at ease chatting and joking along the way.

I had been to David some 6 years ago so he had a record of my hands. It was my left hand that I was most concerned about. After a brief examination and carefully marking the location of the cords he gave me several local anesthetic injections (about eight in each hand)... 'Now I make no bones about it, this’ this part is the painful part (for me) and I had to clench my teeth while it was done.
However within a few short minutes my hands were ‘comfortably numb’ (pun intended)

A great success:

The NA took about 30 minutes each hand and I felt nothing. There was a loud popping sound when he pulled my fingers back which made me laugh nervously as the weakened cords snapped, and with just some further injections of steroids the job was done. My left hand (the most important one for a guitarist) is now completely released and it is now within five degrees from totally straight, the fingers can span properly and after a subsequent three weeks of splinting and exercising I have a level of flexibility that I have not seen for a long time.
Most of the worst nodules in my left hand seem to have magically disappeared apart from a very minor skin split at the joint of my ring finger which has now completely healed, my hand feel great.
My right hand has been marginally relieved from some of the cord restrictions and feels better, but I was told that because the disease is so aggressive in this ring finger joint, and the nodules are so large I may have to go and have some small surgery on it to remove the diseased tissue. So it looks like a further trip will be planned in a years time.

Summery:

I am very happy with the way things went and would thoroughly recommend anybody contemplating treatment to get in touch with David.

Steve

Really pleasing to hear such a positive outcome in Aussie with NA.......can you confirm that the injection was steroid....or was it xiaflex??
Enjoying playing comfortably numb again....

All the best Gazza


Hi Gazza.

No Xiaflex used in the injections - it's outrageously expensive at the moment and from what I can see it does pretty much the same thing as NA cord release. Interestingly though, David did hint that the Australian government may well put the drug on the list some time in the next year or so it may be a viable option for us Aussies in the not to distant future.

Cheers Steve