I attended my weekly session with my physiotherapist , she is actually pleased with the " progress " since my operation 6 weeks ago . I had severe dupuytrens in my palm , index finger , middle finger and ring finger , all of which were operated on ( 3 hours in surgery) . I was able to make a fist after 3 weeks , then the swelling started !! I still have swelling and stiffness , but with all the physiotherapy techniques ,splint at night and massaging with E45 I am hopefully on the long slow road to recovery .

My only wish was that I had found this forum prior to the operation , reading the eventual positive outcomes ( and some negative) of this surgical procedure has helped .

I have another physiotherapy appointment in 2 weeks time .

Hi , I would not say "pain" , but some discomfort and unfortunately today the swelling has increased again . I appear to be in a "catch 22" situation , very little physiotherapy = stiffness+some swelling or more physiotherapy = less stiffness+more swelling !! Trying to get a happy medium is not easy . Perhaps I am pushing a bit too hard in an attempt to get in reasonable condition ready for the start of the fly-fishing season . Thanks .

Hi , I am trying numerous stretching/exercises most of which makes my hand swell more , especially the knuckles . My index finger and an area in the palm below the index and middle finger feel like hard rolled up cardboard !! At times all the scars appear very pronounced , I am massaging E45 into these scars 3 times a day . Unfortunately all of the fingers operated on are starting to bend into the palm , especially the ring finger . I am assuming that the increased swelling is causing this to happen , as this only started 3 weeks after the operation when the swelling commenced , and the Dupuytren cords/nodules had been removed . Prior to that I was able to make a fist and put my hand flat on a table .

I have now somehow managed to get a foreign body ( splinter ?) in my little finger , which has gone red and swollen , ( can`t see the offending object) , looks infected . Off to the local GP later to get this checked , just what I did not want !!

I also find that wearing the full hand splint at night is very uncomfortable (hot) , resulting in a lot of disturbed sleep . With reference to other threads on this site , it seems that the wearing of a splint at night will continue for many months .

I also wear gloves , when outside, if my hand gets even slightly cold it acts like a clam and gets stiff . Relief is spending 10 minutes with my hand in warm water , followed by an E45 cream massage .

Sorry for this depressing answer , but unlike most recoveries from surgery , there appears no change in the condition from day to day , sometimes actually looks worse !

Hi , thanks for the reply , I will take your advice and continue to massage e45 into my hand , as some of the scars in the palm are rather pronounced and "lumpy" . The strange thing is that some days the swelling around the knuckles appears to be less ( able to do more physiotherapy) , then other days the swelling looks worse again .

As previously mentioned the consultant was very non-committal on recovery time . Although the dupuytren condition was fairly severe ( span between thumb/index , palm , index, middle and ring fingers I was booked in only to extract the span area , not the rest . It was only on the day of surgery ( 1 hour before operation) when it was suggested to extract the dupuytren from all fingers ( I still have a small cord left in my palm ) . This resulted in a 3 hour operation , not the 1.5 hour slot booked , leaving me very reluctant to undergo further surgery on the other hand .

Hi , my dupuytren started with a small nodule in the middle of the palm , between the ring and little finger , this was over 15 years ago . Gradually I then had nodule on the middle finger , then ring finger , then more severe on the index finger and across the palm . The last area to be affected was the span from thumb to index finger , this caused more of a problem for me being unable to widen my grip . Every year I went to the hospital for a routine check , they took photographs which showed the progression of this awful condition . Unfortunately the right hand is also affected , and my younger brother also has the problem , but his is only in the span between thumb and index finger (at the moment).