NA, collagenase, radiation therapy or ?

A User suggested that I resubmit this post to the main DC forum. I'm new to this great opportunity to connect with others and get their first hand experiences so don't know all that's available. I do appreciate Dupuytren Society for making this forum and all of the information of the site possible.

Since I posted this last night, I have been in email contact with Keith Denkler at Larkspur,CA regarding NA. I was initially impressed that he asked me to email pictures of my hand and said the he "will respond with comments and suggestions." That's a BIG plus! Most doctors would absolutely require an office visit first. FYI, I asked about Medicare coverage. He said that he does bill Medicare and that NA is covered.

So, I'm considering NA but I would be interested in opinions about other early intervention therapies. It just doesn't make sense to me to wait until my hand is deformed before doing something about it. As far as I know, the early intervention options are NA, radiation and collagenase.

I am a 71 year old woman, diagnosed with DC in November '07. I have many nodules all over my right palm. My little finger is most involved and it feels tight at times all the way to the wrist, but there is little contraction, maybe 10 degrees, hence my interest in early intervention. I don't want to wait for contraction severe enough for collagenase and definitely don't want to do surgery. My thumb is involved, too, which I understand is rare as well as DC is more rare with women. It seems to me to be progressing rapidly, but maybe not from what I have read on other posts.
Larkspur/San Francisco would not be difficult for me as I have family living in the Bay Area.
I live near enough to go to Scripps Clinic in San Diego/La Jolla. I know the great reputation of Scripps in general but not about the DC treatment. Does anyone have personal experience with Scripps Clinic and their radiation therapy for DC?
I'm very concerned and want to get treatment early rather than later if it is likely to be effective. I'd appreciate your input about NA, radiation therapy and other early interventions as well as what I need to watch for as it progresses.
Would wearing a splint at night help? It seems to make sense to me to do that as it feel tighter in the mornings, but I have never seen anything about it written anywhere.

I wearing a night splint on my pinkie as preventive measure. So far it seems to work but I guess when I stop wearing it contracture might start. For splint designs you might have a look at http://www.dupuytren-online.info/NA_side_effects.html . Im also had radiotherapy on that nodule. It stopped its fast progression but in the mean time I got two new nodules further down the palm.

Wolfgang

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... Would wearing a splint at night help? It seems to make sense to me to do that as it feel tighter in the mornings, but I have never seen anything about it written anywhere.

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I had NA done by Dr. Denkler 2+ years ago - 90 degree small finger contracture. Simply put, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I'm not sure how much can be done with NA at 10 degrees but I'm not the doctor. I know that NA is effective at 30 degrees or more

Dr. Denkler and staff were terrific all the way around.

I just finished my first round of radiation treatments with Dr. Tripuraneni at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA on 2/6/09. I first saw him in the middle of January for the Dupuytren and Ledderhose in my left hand and left foot. He determined that both my right hand and right foot are also affected.

I have already noticed a difference in my left hand, in that I don't have quite as much pulling when typing. Dr. Tripuraneni also indicated that the nodes in both my hand and foot had started to flatten some after the first 5 days of treatment. Now 12 days after treament, the two largest nodes appear to be slightly smaller.

I have already scheduled my next appointment for radiation treatments of my right hand and right foot.

Dr. Tripuraneni seems to be very knowlegable about Dupuytren and Ledderhose, and the staff that I dealt with was all very friendly and helpful.

Gweneth

Hi,
Yes I did drive myself the worst part was traffic going to Oakland at 6:00 pm on a Friday night. I did have a splint put on because of (not sure of the right term) the tendon reflex he wanted to keep it straight for 48 hours I did go to hand therapy for 4 weeks 2 times a week for this. I wear a night splint most of the time and do exercises to keep the tendon straight. There was no pain after NA except for the movement of the knuckle after over 5 years of being frozen. The actual healing from NA was only about a week from the needle punctures which was nothing just like poking yourself with a pin.