I agree, not much to see on your hand. You should be aware that by far the most people with signs of DD never need any treatment in their whole life. If you have no active, quickly growing nodules and no pain, you are in my view not really a candidate for radiotherapy. You might also have a look at "Who should be treated?" on http://www.dupuytren-online.info/radiation_therapy.html .

Wolfgang

Dear Wolfgang and Stefan,

Thanks so - as ever - for yours. The reassurance comes with much concrete relief. Bless you.

Can I just ask - so I best understand - when you say 'pain': - Where would one most readily experience it? Would it most like be associated with a cord? Where might it most likely be centred? Around a nodule. Is a cord a series of nodules in a strand? (So sorry to sound simplistic here. I am, proudly, a layman in this regard after all.) I only ask this in light of when best to consider getting RT ... the ball now having been bounced onto my side.

Last Friday I thought I noticed some pain in the fat side of my left hand palm when pressing down on the flat in front of the keyboard. Still, that could well be anxiety. It has not reoccurred and was but momentary at the time. Earlier this week too I thought I felt a stressful tension further up in my forearm on the right side; but again that pain was not severe - was certainly not what I would call cramp - but a tightness - and, of course, too may well have been actioned merely through the suggestion of distress.

Forgive me if this sounds pedantic. I realise it most likely is. It is only that I certainly do not know ... and perhaps what frightens me more than anything else is the fact that the good doctors themselves don't appear to really understand ... (i) what causes DD (so much for a cure until they do) and (b) even WHY the radiation appears to work in halting this condition for some people which it apparently does.

As ever, bless you for ALL.

Thanks so, Stefan. Your response gives so many answers in the clearest format I have seen thus far.

I have one nodule above the skin on the left hand and it is soft and of the 'tomato/fleshly coloured variety' that they seem to feel is most positive in terms of RT response. Certainly I now have the puckered (dimpled? Not certain) skin that I've read about and a somewhat leathery effect overall which too I've read is a symptom. Outside of that everything works thus far. I am scheduled - at this point in time - for RT commencing 4th April. I just pray that my fingers stay rightfully stretched until that time. (Otherwise Easter will have much to answer for.) I am hopeful. It says that it takes months if not years ... and I only found the little nodule which is even now soft in last month. I so pray - at least for this period of time - that I am in league with the 85% crowd. I keep telling myself that THOSE odds - unlike some others - are in my favour.

Question - Do you always see the cords? I mean you would would'nt you? You would have to I should think. They can't just be buried beneath the puckered skin can they? Invisible to human sight and touch. Or can they? Feeling along the tendon line of my ring finger it still feels quite slim fit at the moment. It is tender at the place of the nodule and just beneath but not otherwise around. There would have to be some obvious thickening in that area if there were to be a cord right? At least there seems to be in goodly number of photos I've now seen of cords.

Bless you ALL for your support.

Hi Dawne,

you will find personal stories, including radiotherapy, on http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytr...xperiences.html. I myself had 8 nodules treated and RT worked for 7 of them, meaning it put them to rest and some even vanished. The 8th unfortunately kept growing. I was probably too late with treating that one.

"I've begun using the vitamins on this site" - that might have been be a different site. This site does not recommend taking vitamins or other supplements for treating Dupuytren's http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytren_anecdotal.html . If someone reports that vitamins helped then we respect this personal experience and don't delete this post from the forum but in general vitamins are useless for Dupuytren's.

Wolfgang

dawnemsw:

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It's been nice to read this back and forth between you more seasoned folks. I am new to this DD world (last 6 months) with 2 nodules and one palpable chord on my left hand. it's very early so I'm interested in hitting this hard in order to get rid of it while it's still new. Can anyone comment on radiotherapy? I've seen it on the internet but have not heard a lot of chatter about its efficacy.
I've begun using the vitamins on this site as well as the Vit. E and DMSO external stuff (have for about 3 weeks) with no obvious result. I know that's early for much, but I was hoping for something more spectacular. Any thoughts?
Thanks, Dawne
Whoops...just saw that you had made some comments about radiotherapy. Have you done it yourself or just reporting what others have noted?

wach:

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They can, for sure. You might just see a nodule and the cord might be thin and is buried deeper.

meunier:

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...
Question - Do you always see the cords? I mean you would would'nt you? You would have to I should think. They can't just be buried beneath the puckered skin can they? Invisible to human sight and touch. Or can they? ...

Edited 03/24/16 08:32