Hi There!
Take a look at the thread 'Nodules and Cords at base of thumb', started by Moondanc.
Cords etc. in the web space are recognised here in the UK so it's unlikely to be different in the USA.
Good Luck!
Potter

Edited 09/24/13 13:14

Also, if you look at 'Nodules and Cords at base of thumb' thread, I posted a picture showing the three cords in that area that I have.

~ dawn

I saw a Dr. A in Chapel Hill who is an orthopedist specializing in hands for a consult.
He confirmed the diagnosis (not hard). I then asked him if he could give me an opinion about RT for Dupuytrens. I had the studies with me. He refused to even glance at the studies. He said RT was dangerous and not proven, and said I _shouldn't_ even consider it. Then, he basically said, "come back when your hand is much worse, and I'll do something about it."

Some Doctors are great. Many are so close-minded.

Tusk:

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Crimaldi is an RT doc so he won't have seen that many DD hands, also perhaps he is looking for a nodule to treat as RT is designed to treat nodules more so than cords, do you have a nodule in that area? If so, I would bring that to his attention.

This is the big problem in the USA where you have hand surgeons resistant to RT and you have willing radiation doctors but with limited knowledge of the disease. That is the one big plus for Prof S. We need to get Prof. S. knowledge out to the rest of the treating radiation oncologists. Slowly but surely some hand surgeons are coming around to RT. But at this rate it will take another 10 years for them to get on board with RT as a viable means to treat early DD.

I have a cord in approximately the same place. It caused my thumb to contract toward my index finger so it is difficult to grip large cups and other items. My Dr. performed an NA on it in June, and I still wear a splint every night to keep it from contracting again like it is trying to. It was clearly recognized by my Dr.

Before I had RT, the radiation oncologist referred me to a hand surgeon at the same hospital to palpate my hand and use a pen to mark a border around the field to be treated. The hand surgeon said that I had a cord in the webbing between my thumb and forefinger (it must be small because I can't feel it myself), but he said that in his experience a cord in the webbing like mine would not cause any trouble to 95% of patients. So he ended up drawing a smaller border for the RT field that excluded the webbing.