Hi Guitarman, Welcome.

I'm Sandie, my husband had the NA procedure last June. He is 52 and waited way too long to get treatment. He conplained about the lumps in his palm for a couple of years, then when he showed it to our primary doctor, the doctor told him there was nothing he could do about it.

2 years later my husband was said that he was embarrassed because he couldn't shake hands, put on gloves, etc. Tthe primary doctor referred my husband to a hand specialist. The specialist said that he needed surgery and that it would be approx 2 weeks for recovery. The specialist never mentioned NA. He did mention the trials (that at the time had been stopped and was due to begin within the year) but he said that my husband's contracture was too advanced for him to be a candidate for the trial. I started doing research and found this site.

Our insurance didn't cover the procedure, so we had to pay out of pocket. We flew from Denver to Boise to have the NA procedure done by Dr. David Kline. The one thing that I loved about Dr. Kline is that he too has Dupuytren's himself. He is an emergency room physician, so you know how important his hands are to him too. When he had the NA performed, no one was doing it in the US, so he had to travil to France to have the procedure done by a physician who had been doing it for years over there. Dr. Kline was so happy with the procedure that he went back over and was trained by the physician that performed his procedure.

Here is his website: http://dupuytrenscenter.com/

You can go out on youtube.com and see the procedure being performed by Dr. Kline. Also go out and search for pictures and descriptions of the sugery. It's fairly a "no brainer" which way to go.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. No one here is in it for personal gain. We are all here to share our experiences and knowledge.

God's speed. Sandie

I started off about 3 years ago with one small nodule and now have 3 on the ring finger (I'm 48 later this year) plus a small cord in the palm, a couple of nodules starting on my little finger & 2 very small nodules on my 3rd finger (no contracture as yet, with full hand movement but occasional tightness in the palm). I don't have a passport but do have mobility problems so I'm looking ar radiotherapy in the UK (only one known site). I've a letter to send to Poole but I'm dragging my feet. I dislike all things medical and am quite scared of putting the wheels in motion on something I don't really understand. I don't really want to wait either because it's fairly clear what the end result is likely to be and I think that I'm still in time to consider radiotherapy to slow down or better this disease.

I'm sure that there are people who've had a fairly easy ride with this disease and been happy with their treatment but those stories are hard to find. Happy people sadly tend not to post, only those looking for answers Or perhaps that's a touch harsh?

Edited at 17.03.08 16:25

i was diagnosed 3 years ago. I had the NA procedure done by Dr. Pess on Wednesday, two days ago. he used 4 needles to breakup the contracture, which had progressed slowly but regularly since then. The cord was about an inch and a half long The time was right to follow through Of course, too early to draw a conclusion, but right now hand is a little sore but I have very good mobility. there is slight bruising and 4 tiny marks from the needles. I'll post regarding my progress.