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12/05/2010 16:49
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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12/05/2010 16:49
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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Could this nodule be anything else?
Hello,
I found a nodule today on the distal palmar crease that is a few millimeters wide and is hard. It is below the third digit. It is tender to the touch and is somewhat inflamed. I researched it and found Dupuytren's Disease and am wondering if it could be anything else. There does not seem to be much out there that it could be besides this -- except maybe a rheumatoid nodule?
I spoke to my doctor on the phone and she said that if it is Dupuytren's the only treatments she knows of are surgery and injection. I suggested the promise of radiation therapy on new cases and she did not want to hear about that at all. It is interesting how resistant doctors are to new ideas and therapies they have not ever heard of.
I am pretty depressed because since this is on my palm and it is painful it limits my activities (rock climbing, drumming, etc.) and worse, it seems like a horrible uncurable disease to have.
--Gaius
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12/05/2010 19:58
spanishbuddha  Administrator
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12/05/2010 19:58
spanishbuddha Administrator
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
I would suggest you see a hand specialist. A general practitioner type of doctor will not have the experience to advise you properly on the likely cause of your inflamed tender spot, or recommend the best course of treatment.
Be positive, maybe because of your activities it's just an injury like a cyst or ganglion. If it is DC it might not develop to contracture or very slowly, and lastly there are good new early and later treatment outcomes. I too was devastated when I was diagnosed, because I play piano, but life goes on, it could be worse and I am looking for the best way to optimise my own treatment.
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12/05/2010 20:11
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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12/05/2010 20:11
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
Thanks for the reply. I don't think it is a ganglion due to its location and also because it is so hard. I don't know whether there are cysts that occur on/around tendons or not. I was feeling depressed because there don't seem to be many things besides DC that come up when you search on nodule/hand/palm.
So I am really hoping there is something else out there that exists that this might be because it is a scary thing to have.
Thanks again for the encouragement.
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12/07/2010 02:14
callie 
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12/07/2010 02:14
callie
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
It is most probably a ganglion cyst. They are sometimes very hard and can be painful. If it were Dupuytren's you, most likely, would have noticed it before it became painful, or hard. All of the Dupuytren's nodules that I have seen are not as hard as a ganglion cyst, and they take quite a while to develop.
Edited 12/07/10 04:16
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12/07/2010 06:55
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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12/07/2010 06:55
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
callie:
It is most probably a ganglion cyst. They are sometimes very hard and can be painful. If it were Dupuytren's you, most likely, would have noticed it before it became painful, or hard. All of the Dupuytren's nodules that I have seen are not as hard as a ganglion cyst, and they take quite a while to develop.
Thank you for your suggestion. I do hope you are right.
I was thinking that it was DC since it is on the palmar crease as opposed to being on a joint like a ganglion cyst.
I am severely depressed thinking it could be DC. I had just found a breast lump and now this. I was a healthy person before now.
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12/07/2010 07:00
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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12/07/2010 07:00
Gaius Gracchusnot registered
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
I think that if it turns out the breast lump is cancerous and this palm nodule turns out to be DC, yet another incurable disease, I am going to just blow my brains out.
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12/07/2010 13:23
callie
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12/07/2010 13:23
callie
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
I am sorry for your situation. Dupuytren's is nothing to get "seriously depressed" about. Most/many people have Dupuytren's their entire life and deal just fine. For many people the lump/nodule is as much that develops.
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12/07/2010 18:39
tam1 
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12/07/2010 18:39
tam1
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
As others have said throughout this site, not all Dupuytren's cases turn out to be serious in terms of contractures. My dad is 83 and said he first noticed the cords forming in his hand in his 60s. He doesn't have any major problems except that it hurts for him to lay his hands flat, and one finger pulls in very slightly toward the palm on one hand. He also feels discomfort if a tool presses too long and hard against the cords in his hands. Essentially, though, he functions well with his hands. When a person has been very healthy all of his or her life, a disease that appears out of nowhere is upsetting, but there are treatment options available. Accepting the uncertainty of how the disease will progress is difficult, but nothing is certain in life, so it is helpful to assume that things will be manageable, I think. Hang in there...
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05/29/2013 13:43
Helena 
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05/29/2013 13:43
Helena
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Re: Could this nodule be anything else?
Hi,
if climbing was your trigger, it might not be seripous in the end. I know climbers that have had Dupuytren's disease for many years with no change after the initial lump.
I am three years late with the answer but I just registered. any update on your disease?
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