I haven't had a burning sensation, more an ache and itchiness. I have found that the best relief is gently stretch out my hands and fingers. Gentle massage of the palm and holding the hand vertically with the thumb up and gently rolling knuckles with the other hand also helps. I never had enough discomfort to be distracting but paracetamol might dull the discomfort.

The burning, crawling, itching feeling I had in my hand and bottom of my foot stopped after I had Radiation Therapy.

Hi Jolene,
I had Radiation at the same time on palm of left hand and bottom of left foot in November 2009 at Scripps Hospital in LaJolla, CA with Dr. Tripuraneni. At the time Medicare paid as primary for RT and Blue Cross PPO paid the difference. Later on there was an issue with Medicare paying for RT, there are threads on this Forum that address the payment of RT by Medicare.

On my foot I had two hard, marble size nodules with all the symptoms of growing disease: burning, itching, crawling, ...Almost four years later, the nodules on my foot are 90% gone, what remains is very small nodules, you can barely feel them and no more annoying symptoms. RT on my foot was very successful. I had no side effects whatsoever from the radiation.

On my left hand, before RT I had nodules on the palm, close to the bottom of the fingers, lots of dimples, and a very tiny thin cord going from the bottom of the index finger to the middle of that finger. Also on hand symptoms like burning, itching and tightness across the palm. RT on the hand was partially successful... the burning, itching stopped, the tightness across palm got a little better, that small cord on index finger is gone... however about three yrs. after RT I developed a few nodules OUTSIDE the radiated area and developed a cord below the pinkie finger that eventually started to pull the finger in with a contracture of the PIP joint.

Don't intend to be discouraging. In spite of what happened with the hand, I still consider RT to be successful in that it stopped the disease of my LD completely and partially stopped the progression in my hand at least for the other four fingers. If you feel you have clear indication that the disease is active in your hands, in my opinion, by all means get RT going in the early stages.

Hi Jolene,
Interesting questions..
In my experience, and from all the knowledge I have gained from following this Forum since 2006, I believe that currently the criteria is to only radiate areas that show a clear indication of active disease, i.e. itching, burning, crawling feeling, tightness...RT is suppose to help stop progression of the disease, not be preventive, so I believe they would not radiate the top of the fingers or the entire hand. My doctor radiated most of the palm and only went up halfway between the MCP and PIP joints on four fingers. The entire thumb area was excluded as well. Choosing a doctor with experience in RT for Dupuytrens and Ledderhose will assure that he/she will detect as much as possible of the disease and know exactly how far to radiate. However, they will radiate again in the same area, providing the first dosage does not exceed the maximum allowable amount of radiation.

Personally, at this time I have no plans to have the new areas treated. Nodules developed in the web that runs between the thumb and index finger (previously not treated area) and a cord developed under the pinkie creating a contracture of PIP joint. I had an NA procedure on that pinkie, but the contracture returned to pre-NA stage in less than three months!!! I even suspect that NA caused a trauma-like reaction and precipitated the disease in that finger!

I believe that, for me, it's best to leave it alone for now. As long as it is only nodules on palm and only the pinkie is bent, my hand is fully functional as the other four fingers are not involved.

Hi Luba,
I've developed nodules in the same web in both hands just in the last six months. I didn't have that area treated with RT either. I am sure there are cases of contractures in the thumb but it's not something I've read about very often on this forum, have you?

Diane,
I have never read about contractures of the thumb of this forum. I also have nodules in the web of both hands between thumbs and index fingers, and on both hands two cords that run from the base of the thumb to about half way into the palm of the hand, these cords pull on the thumbs at the MCP joints but the thumbs as well as the next three fingers in both hands are totally functional and straight.

I am lucky in that eight of my fingers are totally straight, my only affected fingers are the two pinkies. The left one that had the NA less than three months ago, results were not great, just minimal improvement.
LubaM.

Edited 08/17/13 16:58