They don't do an incision in NA. They poke the cord with a needle to weaken it enough so that it will snap when they stretch it. I had about 4 cords snapped. It was a piece of cake. After numbing my hand, the NA procedure took about 20 minutes. After it was bandaged, I drove myself from the office for about an hour drive. I'm sure I could have gone farther. I kept it elevated for 72 hours, then took the original bandage off. After that, I only kept Bacitracin and bandaids on the punctures for about 10 days. You can wash your hands, take a shower, etc. but no tub bath, no washing dishes. I didn't even need physical therapy, but it will undoubtedly be needed for months after surgery. Surgery also creates many incisions that may develop into lots of scar tissue.

Surgeons around the country for the most part have no clue about NA or RT, or they don't want to know about it. They stick with the "traditional", and in my opinion, unnecessary treatment for most Dupuytren's Contracture/Disease. You probably know more about the treatment options than your surgeon. Ask your doctor/surgeon how long it will take to do the surgery. Guaranteed it will be hours, not 20 minutes. Also, ask how long it will take before you can use your hand.

I recommend that you research the options, NA for sure, and seriously consider that before you go for surgery.

He said the surgery would take 1 and half hours and in 10-14 days I would be o.k. for typing, etc. and have physical therapy for a few months.

In 2006 I consulted with three different hand surgeons regarding my 40 degrees PIP contracture on small finger...

The first surgeon I saw was ready to do Open Hand Surgery after a very quick consultation... a week before my scheduled surgery... because of all the positive posts that I read on this forum... I cancelled the surgery and opted for NA....initial results were very good, the procedure was very easy and quick.

In my case...contracture came back and I'm ready to re-do the NA on the same finger, .......but I would do repeated NA's rather than having surgery.

The second surgeon I consulted, clearly indicated that the contracture had a 50% chance of coming back....then why go through the ordeal of an open hand surgery, long recovery and still the same chance of recurrence.

I agree with Randy...Give NA a try before having surgery...if you are lucky you can have good long lasting results...you can always opt to do surgery down the road after you have tried NA once or twice... if you live close to Florida, Dr. Eaton would be a great choice...

Best of luck.

Randy,

My personnel experience proves you right. I've had NA done in both hands and had the injections on my right. The Xiaflex was painful and it took 3 to 4 weeks to have close to full strength. Never again!!! After having NA done, each time I was back to work full strength in 5 days. I'm not talking pushing pencil's either, I'm an electro-mechanic working on industrial machines.

Joe

Susan,

Re: your comment "I'm surprised he didn't mention NA"....
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I'm not surprised. One of the surgeons I consulted in 2006 was totally opposed to NA as well as to RT... (this was a well-respected and renown hand surgeon in one of the biggest hospitals in Los Angeles).... he said the "only" possibility was open surgery (OS) which he admitted had high chances to recur....

I did both, NA on right hand and RT on the other hand and foot. Both these procedures have been done for years in Europe and the list of doctors doing NA in this country is growing every day...and now more and more people on this forum are having RT as well.... I am so happy I didn't do the OS and opted to try the "easy" procedures first.