Hi Fdecca,

There are many other people on this site who would be better placed than me to respond (this site seems to provide the most complete, and reasonably reliable information of any I have found), but here I go!

DD and related complaints seem to be terribly unpredictable, and progress varies from one person to another.

I am nearly 58.

First, my experience with knuckle pads. I started getting pads in my teens. I had one operation, which made things much worse. Since then I developed pads on all my fingers, but the only restriction on my life was I could not close my fists. However, since passing through my 40s, the pads have diminished and are much less of an issue. My mother also had pads, and they disappeared in her later stage of life.

I also have LD on both feet (one operated on when about 8, which was successful), and other operated on when about 24, which made things worse (triggered development of scar tissue and more nodules). However the feet have not got any worse since my twenties.

I have recently developed DD on one hand.

As to what causes DD, it seems that the strongest factor is hereditary. Issues such as alcohol have not got any strong supporting evidence (somebody please correct if this is wrong). There are probably other good reasons for reducing alcohol intake beside DD. My mother had DD, and only very occasionally had a shandy!

The general wisdom, at least from people on this site, concerning surgery is that it should not be the first option. I gather that the conventional wisdom (as determined by visiting various doctors) is that surgery is recommended only after the complaint has reached a stage where there are severe limitations. Given a scenario of only surgery, this makes sense as the DD may not progress, or progress very slowly. Surgery can also make things worse by promoting more nodes, etc.

However, thanks to this site there may be other options to consider.

I suggest it is worth your while to visit the conventional people to at hear what they say. However, your are unlikely to hear anything other than surgery.

I am currently have radiation treatment for the DD in my hand (see "Radiation therapy" on this site). You may wish to consider this (for me, being somewhat older, the risk of cancer side effect is small). I chose this path because it seemed to make sense to stop it in the early stages. If the treatment is successful I will be left with some small lumps in my hand, but no impairment of movement. It is too early to report (anecdotally) on this, although I am psychologically ready to be positive about it. There are others who provide positive reports about it. I live in Australia, and this treatment is definitely not mainstream.

Steriod Injection (see site) may be worth looking at.

You can let things go, and if it develops, NA may be be appropriate. This is potentially less invasive than surgery. However, being a musician, it may not be attractive to let it go. And then there is surgery!