Hi,

New to this forum but not to DD. I'm a 25 year old female (Swedish) who contracted DD shortly after a basketball injury / surgery to my left pinky when I was 17. I've had DD ever since with one surgery conducted to release the knot a year later. After the surgery, the DD came back next to the scar so I now sport both DD and a scar next to it.

I've now lived pretty easily with this situation for the past 5 years with minimal pain. In the first couple of years I got steriod injections but they didn't seem to help much. I recently started kick-boxing 2x a week and typing more at work. While my hand doesn't look different, it feels tighter and I stretch it more often. I'm worried this may be adversely affecting my hand and the progression of DD.

Any comments on 1) whether or not kickboxing is a horrible idea, and 2) if I should be considering new treatments that have come on the market since 2012?

Thanks

Hi ,you may be aware or not ,that like most diseases, when they strike at a younger age there is a stronger chance of the disease being more severe. This was my case. I've had many surgeries /Rt/& PNF.(needle)
In the previous decades patients were advised to stretch the hand in an effort to reduce the contraction. This is no longer the recommendation. For the last 4 years I periodically wear a simple splint at night. It appears that during sleep most of us form a so called closed fist which helps with contraction. The splint is made out of Thermo Plastic Bandage strengthened with Thermo plastic Bolus Pellets . I simply wrap the finger stall type splint with Cohesive conforming bandage (Perma-haft brand HARTMANN latex free) which enables me to slide it on off the finger over the joint. Weighs about 6 grams. You can buy the bolus pellets from a hobby shop.500gram cost $15 much cheaper than from ORFIT Industries.(medical) They look like polystyrene pellets -place a small amount into 60/70 degree hot water and the pellets melt together into a plastic mass. Simply remove and mould approx. 1 cm X 5/6 cm long onto the inside of the finger extending well into the palm . The mass dries into a solid form and moulded into the shape of the hand. It might work for you. I had the splint made in Germany by a doctor who had advocated the use of night splints for decades. Finally DO NOT HAVE SURGERY. In my case one surgery led to the next and reduced the time span before the next. Regards.

Edited 07/20/18 16:47