salspecs:

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Saw the PA, who immediately confirmed Dupuytren's when she examined the nodes in my palm. There is no contracture at this point so she advised me to come back as soon as I notice any. She said it could be months or years. She didn't seem all that concerned. Does this sound about right? Is there anything I can do to hold off the contractions?

I totally agree with the advice from SB. protect your hands especially from injury which can start to activate the disease. I had small nodes in my hands for over 20 years. Keeping a journal is good advice.
Also any early treatment can activate the disease no matter the age. You seem to have done very well I hope your DC stays manageable without any treatment. You would be surprised at how many do at any age.
If you are interested in more on this disease this forum has a great guide for advising on the many levels of this disease.
Best to leave it be rather than take the chance that treatment or injury could activate DC.

Kind Regards,
Cherise

Not uncommon if you develop the first signs late. My mother was the same but for me DD started at the age 35 and was much more aggressive. Why did my mother develop her first symptoms only at the age of 80? hard to say. Once reason might be that I was Smoking when I was Young and my mother wasn't.

dpjcrfsh:

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My dad was diagnosed in his early 70s and 10 years later he still just has a node. No pain, no contraction.

Great gloves for padding in palms and fingers are available everywhere. Even finger pads at sporting goods stores used by athletes basketball, vollyball etc.They will protect your palms and fingers. The repetition of the pulling action is not good for keeping DD in remission or inactive. I would recommend to try avoiding anything that causes stretching or gripping and cause stress on your hands. This can be a huge risk to set it off. The grip and pulling action even with padding causes stress on the fingers, palm and wrists. Would it be possible to give your hands a break for awhile , try another exercise. We have a Bowflex and I can't use it at all. It can eventually cause stress and that can activate the collagen to send out more to the facia tissue areas causing a flare. Rest, is a good start.
I'm not advising never use your hands in any repetitious fashion. Just try another way to do things adjust your life around DD. Its better than the alternative and constant treatment from one stage to the other.
Using hands in any repetitious fashion such as mentioned above is not good for patients with DD. My doctor recommended to do the exercises for my hand from the PT avoiding strain and pressure on the hands and wear a splint at night for prevention of the fingers curling up while sleeping.

Edited 10/03/15 23:58

salspecs:

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When I met with the hand surgeon's PA on Friday, she looked at my hand and said, "you have Dupuytren's Disease, but no contracture. We will see you back here when that starts to happen." That was it...no recommendations of what I should or should not be doing, no talk of a splint. What you say about the Bow Flex machine makes perfect sense to me, but I'm having a hard time imagining my workout routine without some weight training, especially given that I have Osteoporosis. Ugh...guess I'll have to rethink what I do. Would really appreciate any ideas if anyone has figured out good alternatives.