Greetings friends,

A newbie here with a unique problem. I am (or was I should say) an avid guitar player and builder and am getting extremely desperate. I am a 50 year old male in generally excellent health.

My problem is pain and stiffness in all PIP and DIP finger joints on my left hand (4 years now). The PIPs also exhibit pads. Recently (two weeks ago), I awoke with similar pain and stiffness in 3 fingers on my right hand (that's right, you read it correctly; the right hand was fine when I went to bed and a mess when I woke up!) and now the PIP pads also appear to be spreading to this hand.

I've seen 8 specialists for this problem so far, to no avail, and have been completely unable to play the guitar for almost 1 year. Recently, a skin biopsy taken from the back of my left index PIP joint confirmed the presence of Dupuytren's tissue (knuckle pads). My pads are painful to the touch, very painful when I try to flex my fingers (both uncommon I'm told), and my PIP range of motion is severely limited in the FLEX direction (this is what prevents me playing guitar). I have no sign of nodules or chords in the palm and full extension is no problem.

Anyone with Dups have or seen similar symptoms? I own 9 guitars and I miss them dearly....

-Bummed

Oh by the way for those who may wonder; yes I've been tested 4 times in the past 12 months for RA, Scleraderma, lupis, gout, etc. etc.....

Thank you for the encouragement.

I have been following your thread with great interest. I stumbled upon it last week since words like "PIP" and "musician" are common keywords I've been using in my desperate attempt to find someone out there with similar problems!!

I wish you luck with your NA.....

I have an appointment with yet another hand guy on June 10th; he'll be my 9th specialist in less than 4 years.

No pad on my left ring finger - I thinks it's just a photo peculiarity. My surgery date has changed to 6/8 but I'm trying to get in this week if possible. I'll update my website as things progress.

Hey I've been having problems with my left hand for a couple years since I started taking music classes at our local commuinity college. Guitar was my only passion after high school. I had lofty goals to attend a full four year music school, but constant discomfort made it hard to want to practice. I had one surgery in my left(fret) hand index finger when I was 21, they said it was to remove an "extra sesimoid bone" that was causing pain and contraction. I am 24 now and just went back to a doctor last week, who said that a new lump on my right hands ring finger is actually the presence of dupuytrens. Hearing this now in my life I dont know what to make of it. When was the last time you could play a guitar? Are you depressed? I have no career, I have been working as a short order cook for the last 5 years and it looks like "DUP's" could even get in the way of keeping a job in this entirely unregulated field of labor. The idea of one day playing guitar with no problems had kept me going for the last 3 or 4 years, I have even chosen to keep playing music as an option over lengthy relationships. I've been searching for similar experiences and Im sorry for the long reply to this thread but your story is all I've been able to find. Thank you for putting it out there, I know theres probably not much that can be done for my hands at this point (still early stages) but just to know that I'm not the only one in this kind of position is somehow helps immensely.

Yea its on the palm side of my right hand at the base of the ring finger, typical I guess. The doctors removed tissue from the palm side of my left hand just below my index finger though in 2006 that they sent out for testing. I never went back for a followup on the surgery because the doctor who did it was out on medical leave himself and the recovery seemed fine.

I had seen two doctors at the same clinic. The second, older doc was the one who did the surgery on my hand and wasnt around afterwards. The first was younger and this time the other week I went to him just because I knew he was there. As soon as he walked into the room he took one look at my hand and told me I have dupuytrens. He then told me that he performed surgery on the older doc for dupuytrens after I had surgery done. I was kind of stupefied and I didnt ask all the questions I should have.

I don't know what the results were from the tissue taken from the first surgery I had but my index finger was definately contracting down and there was definately a lump on the palm. It seems like the doc on the recent visit knew something before he came in the room, but again, I didnt ask.

Are the pads painful? I havnt noticed anything anywhere but on my palm. Its great that you were able to adapt seemingly well to the lifestyle change. Also you are right about being down, definately helpful. I'll definatlely be interested to come back and hear any updates..