Hello,
Having decided to explore NA before surgery I would like to know if anyone has any experience with Dr Benhaim at UCLA. It would be alot more convenient for me to go to LA than the Bay area but it is most important to get a good outcome. I have read all kinds of glowing tributes to Dr Denkler. So I would love to hear from anyone who has had NA with Dr Benhaim and if so:
How bad was it before the treatment?
How successful was the treatment?
How satisfied were you with the whole process?
Anything else I should know but did not think to ask.

Thanks in advance.
Doree

smile:
I, too, was doing research on surgery and NA when I found this forum. I wish I had found it in 2006 before I had surgery on my pinkie finger left hand - 90 degrees contracture. That's when I was told I had DD. I had never heard of it. I was just told by my hand surgeon that I should not wait too long because it was aleady 90 degrees. I only had diseased tissue in my finger and my palm was clear and beautiful. I did not even have a cord or nodule.

I had the surgery and within 6 months I had a sizable nodule in my palm and over 4 years everything developed. 3 large nodules, a cord, dimpling, etc. I developed a 30 degree contracture of the ring finger at the MCP joint. Pinkie is fine - almost perfectly straight. (At the time, in 2006, I had 3 months of therapy and wore a splint for 3 months.) Did not change and has not changed today.

This time I was not going to have surgery because of what I read about having repetitive surgeries, etc, etc. I went to my hand surgeon (in Nov) who said surgery (of course) and I questioned him about NA. He said that it was an "acceptable" procedure and did not try to scare me. He told me they do it at UCLA which I aleady knew.

I had begun a correspondence with Dr. Denkler in October and sent him pictures and he said I was a viable candidate for NA. I also asked for a referral to So Cal and he said Dr. Benhaim at UCLA. I was also trying to find a Dr. that was "in network" with my insurance and Dr. Denkler is not.

I began a correspondance with Dr. Benhaim and sent him pictures and he said I was a candidate for NA. I searched this forum about UCLA and Dr. Benhaim and found info buts lots of it was old.

After some more emails, I was feeling confident about Dr. Benhaim. I saw where he had improved on his methods and even had additional training with Dr. Eaton. He initially worked some with Dr. Denkler. At first, I had some difficulty getting anywhere with his office because they are so busy. It was also Holiday time and I was not in a rush. I finally made headway after the holidays and was given date options in Jan and Feb. I chose Feb 18.

I had an early AM appt so my husband and I went up the night before and stayed at one of the hotels nearby that provides a discount if you are going to UCLA for a medical reason.

My procedure took approx 45 minutes and was done under a local anesthetic in the surgery center. There was training going on and I could hear everything of course. The process was a bit more than anticipated. I had apporx. 30-40 needles for the numbing (local process) which gets old after the first 20. It did prick quite a bit and hurt a bit at first but you start to get used to it. I felt no pain but could feel internally when he was tearing the threads of the cord - one by one. He kept testing the sides of my fingers for my feeling to be sure there was no problem with the nerves. After he was satisfied and he kept feeling if I had any tension at

I forgot to mention that the insurance paid approx. $615 for his fee after all of the discounts.

He has done 400-500 of these NA procedures since July and he had another person waiting right after me. Also he is teaching it to the others at UCLA.

On the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center website - Orthopaedic Surgery-Hand Surgery, there is a video demo of Dr. Benhaim performing NA. That was one of the things that made me more confident. It is also listed as one of his interests. He is definitely the Dr. in charge of this at UCLA. He is the Head of the dept.

He corresponded with me persoanally about my pictures etc. and was not aggressive but was responsive.

Hello bon,
I really appreciate your information. I feel very good about seeing Dr Benhaim now. I have an appt. with him April 2.
Cheers,
Doree