Newbie here with kind of a strange question; I was diagnosed as having Dupuytren's contracture when I went to the doctor with a single lump growing in my left hand. In the course of just a few months this growth spread across my palm, bi-passed my index finger and made a bee-line for my thumb. There has been no contracture or loss of dexterity or flexibility and the growths now appear to be shrinking. Since that time the same exact thing has happened to my right hand, bi-passing my index finger and heading for the thumb again but there has been no shrinkage in that hand yet.
Has anyone ever heard of Dupuytren's contracting someone's thumb? Are there any cases where it just goes away like this? Is there somone I should contact to see if maybe whatever is going on in my hands can be used to help other people?
If you are thinking about doing something about this, you are in the window of opportunity for RT (above under "treatments"). What is your age? Do you have insurance (RT costs range from $10,000 to $14,000)? Sometimes Dupuytren's will go dormant for a decade, or more. Sometimes Dupuytren's never reaches the contraction stage.
Fascinating. I'm sure that fascinated will not be my reaction, y'know... later, but for now I can't help but be fascinated.
The growths in my left palm have whithered to the size of b-b's from the marble size they grew to. The growths in my right palm are just now just reaching marble size and yet the first growths are begining to whither as well. The entire process seems to have cycled in less than five years. My younger brother has the same growths in his palms and the same effect has occured with him as well. His condition is decades old where mine only began like four or five years ago. There is no family history of it.
Could there be some genetic component that reverses these growths... or am I just in denial?
I work with my hands for a living and I am a something of an artist. If there had been any change in dexterity in the last five years I would have logged it.
Has anyone ever just had this disease disappear before? Ever?
After my surgery 14 years ago on my left hand, I developed a very pronounced, though small nodule and pitting at the base of my thumb, and a cord that runs up my thumb to the joint below my nail. To this day, it has never contracted, 14 years later. So, I just leave it alone. When people see my hand, they think that the pitting is a huge elongated scar, but it's not. It's just painless DC pitting. As long as it does nothing, I'll do nothing to it. Maybe I'll take a photo and post it later, I think it's kind of unusual, but my doc wasn't overly impressed. She was more concerned with the contractures on my right hand, which I got Xiaflex injections for just over three weeks ago.
OK, here's a pic of my left hand. You can see that crazy pitting at my thumb that extends to the middle of my wrist. You can see the cord that runs up my thumb. You can also see a minor pitting at my PIP on my index finger. This all developed right after my surgery 14 years ago. And, though not very visible here, and certainly more pronounced in real life, is the surgery scar. It's a V-shape that goes from my middle finger down to a point in my lower palm, and back up to my ring finger, with zig-zags along the way. It has maintained beautifully all these years. ~Diane
Sorry for not answering your questions Callie. I am 43 and only have standard Canadian health coverage. If there is a chance that contracture may never happen then I'll take it.
Wow thanks. I just took a couple of shots of my own hands. Hopefully they upload this time...
Ignore the callus beneath the index finger on the right hand but notice how the growths on the left palm have shrunk to about the size of grains of rice while the newer growths on the right palm are very pronounced. It's like I am re-absorbing them or something.
hmmm, the files are too large to attatch, but here are links to them on flickr.
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