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Dupuytren Gym ?
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05/29/2017 11:02
Shaen 
05/29/2017 11:02
Shaen 
Dupuytren Gym ?

Hi,
I'm 39 and just diagnosed with Dupuytrens. I am a regular gym user and do a lot of crossfit. Pull-ups, deadlifts, Olympic lifts etc. I'm at the early stage with hard cord/nodules getting more pronounced. It's not in my family and I'm worried that crossfit has brought it on/ making it worse but I don't want to stop unless I have to.
Any advice on what movements to avoid ? Any counter movements that might help ? Massage ? Etc
Thanks

05/29/2017 11:49
spanishbuddha 

Administrator

05/29/2017 11:49
spanishbuddha 

Administrator

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

I would suggest modifying grips, and using gloves where appropriate. I play tennis with a glove, and do light work with weights, but don't believe it adversely affects my DD. However, my daughter does crossfit, and there are definitely some things with weights, and bars and such (pulls ups easy example) I would not do because the pulling force across the palm is too much. Some people on here do lift weights and continue with the gym, and how much of this you can continue in crossfit such that it is still crossfit, I can't really say.

Edited 05/29/17 14:50

05/29/2017 11:58
Seph 
05/29/2017 11:58
Seph 

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

Shaen; When I was in my mid twenties I saw a surgeon who said that I should give up weight lifting as it might be a contributor to the problem that I had with my hands. It was Dupuytrens but I did not know that and it was not properly diagnosed until I was 35.

I ignored the advice as I had had the disease since my early teens and it obviously could not have been caused by weightlifting or any other exercise undertaken by a 13 year old country kid in New Zealand.

I am now 63. The gym is one of my favourite places especially when we
get new equipment. I work with heavy weights some days and big aerobic sessions other days.

All this simply to say don't stress. Just carry on. You can die from lack of exercise but you won't die from Dupuytrens.


Seph

05/29/2017 12:14
Seph 
05/29/2017 12:14
Seph 

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

PS Haven't played tennis against spanishbuddha yet but might challenge him when I am in the UK later this year.

Message is that you should treat Dupuytrens as a nuisance not a problem and don't stop going for it.

Seph

05/29/2017 12:14
wach 

Administrator

05/29/2017 12:14
wach 

Administrator

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

I guess we will die either way ... But seriously: heavy pulling forces on your hand might aggravate your Dupuytren's, as shown for example for rock climbers or field hockey Players. So, gym is fine as Seph says, but maybe follow Henry's advice and avoid exercises that heavily load your hands and fingers specifically.

Wolfgang

05/29/2017 12:23
Seph 
05/29/2017 12:23
Seph 

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

Not sure that I agree with Wach on avoiding heavy weights. I can't see any correlation between the use of heavy weights (Not that cross fit does this) and Dupuytrens activity. My Dupuytrens can be dormant for months then start vigorous activity yet my weekly workout schedule is constant.

05/29/2017 14:53
wach 

Administrator

05/29/2017 14:53
wach 

Administrator

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

As far as I know gym activities have not been reserached with respect to Dupuytren disease, and activities in a gym can include a wide range hand employment, so it's difficult to research. An activity that certainly strongly affects the hand is rock climbing and that has been researched by

AJ Logan et al. "Can rock climbing lead to Dupuytren's disease?" Br J Sports Med. 2005 Sep;39(9):639-44.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16118302

The authors find
"This study further strengthens the hypothesis that repetitive trauma to the palmar fascia predisposes to the development of Dupuytren's disease in men".

That's the background of the recommendation to also avoid in a gym repetitive heavy load of the fingers and to wear a glove to reduce damage.

Dupuytren typically flares up and becomes dormant again (for whatever reason). That does not exclude that daily activities might predispose for Dupyutren's or aggravate it. But I agree with you that the best advice is to continue enjoying life and not let Dupuytren's get in the way.

Wolfgang

06/09/2017 17:51
nanshands 
06/09/2017 17:51
nanshands 
Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

Hi Shaen,

Until you have spent some time with this disease it is difficult to know what category of DD individual you will become. Majority of people with this disease have very little problem with it. I have seen hands with enormous nodules and protruding cords where the individual has zero difficulty doing anything. My own husband did not even know he had DD until I was diagnosed, and nodules, he assumed were calluses, were discovered. DD has had no effect on his ability to do whatever he wants with his hands.

Then there is the minority group, those who truly struggle in navigating this disease from when it begins and onward. Most likely this Forum began as a result of those people. If, however, everyone who had DD experienced pain, eventual contraction, limited hand strength, and other various symptoms this Forum would have hundreds of posts a day. It doesn’t take much hand stress for some in the minority group, like myself, to trigger another nodule, or irritate an existing one or cord.

And, of course, there are those who lay somewhere between the two groups.

Others have shared this disease flares and then subsides for periods of times, or it can slowly progress hardly noticeable.

Also, keep in mind there is Dupuytren and Dupuytren's Contracture.

The question you have to eventually answer and discover is, "Which kind of DD person am I?" That will come from time and observation of how your hands react to various activities, not someone else’s. It seems it would always be sensible whenever diagnosed with a new disease to proceed with caution, until you know what course this disease takes in YOUR life.

Here’s hoping you are in the majority group!

Nan

06/09/2017 17:59
Stefan_K. 
06/09/2017 17:59
Stefan_K. 

Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

Hi Nan. I very much like your thoughtful post based on close observation and personal experience. There's just one problem with knowing what kind of DD patient one will turn out to be and how much the disease will handicap you: By the time you really know, it may be too late for radiation therapy. Before knowing it may be difficult to decide if you want to take the chance to wait and find out. And if you do get early treatment, you will hopefully never find out what kind of evolution you would have had without it and how effective it really was...

Stef

[55, Dupuytren diagnosis 2006, RH contracture and PNF/NA 2014, radiotherapy RH 2015, LH 2017, night splint glove]

06/09/2017 22:56
nanshands 
06/09/2017 22:56
nanshands 
Re: Dupuytren Gym ?

Stefan_K.:
Hi Nan. I very much like your thoughtful post based on close observation and personal experience. There's just one problem with knowing what kind of DD patient one will turn out to be and how much the disease will handicap you: By the time you really know, it may be too late for radiation therapy. Before knowing it may be difficult to decide if you want to take the chance to wait and find out. And if you do get early treatment, you will hopefully never find out what kind of evolution you would have had without it and how effective it really was...

Stef

[55, Dupuytren diagnosis 2006, RH contracture and PNF/NA 2014, radiotherapy RH 2015, LH 2017, night splint glove]

Hello Stef,

Thanks for the added comments. Yes, you are correct in regards to RT. In reality, the only sure way to know how your DD will progress over time is to do nothing medically, and take what comes your way. But, the question of when, or even if to do RT, involves numerous factors. Something I leave up to qualified oncologists and to each individual.

My intent in posting was to focus on what I thought Shaen was concerned about, which was how much his CrossFit workouts might be affecting his recent diagnosis of DD. Regardless of having RT or not, some people find certain activities highly affect their DD, others are fine. And, though not easy to accept, in some cases specific stresses, activities or injuries have initiated DD or triggered further problems.

All to say, each person needs to pay attention to what may aggravate his or her DD, and adjust accordingly.

Nan

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