Hello everyone, I'm so happy, I need to share this with you, although I hope I don't jinx it. I started a regular routine of exercises, massage and night splints - have kept this for just over a week and there's visible improvement! I don't have any palm cords, just finger nodules, but on 3 fingers, two (index and middle) of my left hand in initial stages (index finger had some contracture and the middle one has a weird not-yet-nodule cushion-like soft growth which is radial, but no contracture) and the right-hand pinkie with a considerable contracture at about 90 degrees. The pinkie was bent almost perpendicularly, now it's pointing upwards and gets better every day. Very slowly, but I can tell you it's exhilarating. Here's what I do: twice a day, I soak my hands in hot water with sea salt, then place my hand flat out on a hard surface (chopping board) and simply press down the finger against the contracture, counting 30-50 times per finger, repeating 2-3 times. Then I massage the nodules with perpendicular strokes to them (my version of the cross-friction massage. I'm no masseuse but I do my best) with Magnesium oil. I don't think it matters what you use as long as it's not heavily perfumed but it's necessary to protect the skin from too much friction. Then I use a ball (one of those little bouncy balls, 8 for £1 :) both for the perpendicular strokes/rolls backwards and forwards and for the pinkie - simply rolling it up on the inside to 'unfurl' the finger, so to speak, while supporting it from the outside because it puts pressure on the joint that connects the finger to the palm. For the night splints I got microporous tape from Poundland and ice-cream sticks (someone suggested the ice-cream sticks here on the forum and I'm really grateful to them!). The bandage should not be too tight, I almost cut circulation once, but just enough to keep the finger in a relatively straight position, to keep me from folding it in completely during the night.
It's work, not hard work, but work, and takes some dedication but not only have the contractures improved a bit, I'm also getting quite dextrous I noticed :) Morale improvement is priceless!

Attaching 3 pics, now I see them, there's been quite an improvement since March, I was doing massage on and off, started seriously about 1-2 weeks ago, adding exercises. Last pic is from today. I have to learn to take pics at the same time of day, same place and in same source of light and angle. But they are indicative, nonetheless. Especially of the contracture differences.
Will keep doing this and keep you posted!

Attachment

DD left hand pics-1.pdf (81x) Mime-Type: application/pdf, 87 kB

Thanks, Stephen! Yes, I came across the same article as Chapter One in http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319238401 and that was the first sign of hope, although they don't describe their method precisely. In general, I'd say stretching exercises work miracles! I can report continuous improvement of all fingers with DD.
I noticed a much bigger gap now appears between my little finger (with the severe contracture) and the splint and wondered why until I realised that the DD tissue there, which had formed something of a pelican's neck, webbing the finger closed, has started to shrink! The finger is slimmer, hence the gap. I can also feel skin surface in the fold there (when I hold a soap in my hand, for example) that I hadn't been able to feel for some time.
I wanted to ask you if you've done any work on knuckle/Garrod's/Dupuytren's pads? I found only 1 article, not particularly useful. I daren't mess with my knuckle pads because when I tried to do that in January, they grew, but that's when they were growing anyway, I think probably despite the massage, not because of it. Anyway, the article points out they get little blood supply, which is pretty obvious. I wonder if getting circulation going there might help get rid of them? Or wait for the magic of transduction to take place, hopefully the pads mimicking the nodules in their disappearing act?

Hello, adding an update, with 3 more recent pics on page 2 in the attached file. I've been doing the same exercises (once a day now) + night splints religiously. There was a spurt of collagen growth some time in late May I think (seen in the June pic; I suspect it could be because I may have overdone the exercises - I was doing them 2 times a day), then things calmed down and I think I've managed to stop them progressing. I hope! Good news is the index finger is now more or less perfectly straight (I can even bend it backwards like the other fingers on a good day), it gets a bit stiff during the day (I do the exercises in the morning), but that's temporary. A knot I could feel at the base of that finger seems to be moving around, not even there some days, reappearing on others but, generally softer, I think.
The right-hand pinkie remains the same - I've managed to open it quite a bit but there's a big ball-like cord there that will physically not allow the finger to open to more than a certain angle. But it's not getting worse. I thought about having a collagenese injection there to straighten it, but I'm not sure how the DD will react in the rest of my fingers. I daren't. The Garrod's pads will not respond to massage or exercise; in fact, i think it makes them worse. I try not to touch them and at least the skin has kind of rearranged its wrinkles to cover them properly, so they're not red any more and less pronounced.
I think that the more recent the DD development, the gentler the massage should be. I learned my lesson. The more advanced progression (at least in my case) can take and will improve with more rigorous massage. My pinkie creaks, quite loud, when I stretch it. I take it as a good sign - stretching the tendon so it doesn't wither.
The other change I've made I now realise is stop the Lymecycline antibiotics I'd been on for quite some time for Rosacea. Been off it for over 5 months now. I think that might be helping.
I got a few private messages asking me for more details on the exercise routine. It's not a secret, I just don't think I can explain in any more detail than I've already done in previous posts. But if you have more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them, privately or publicly on here :)