Hello,

I just found this site recently and feel like there is nowhere else I can turn to for advice at the moment.
I am a 23 year old male who lives in Ontario, Canada and I am worried that I have Dupuytrens.

About 2 years ago I noticed a lump under my ring and pinkie fingers but I figgured it was maybe a callus or something and ignored it for a few months. After it was obvious that it was not going away I searched around online for possible diagnosis and came across dyputrins. Being a bit worried about it I schedualed a checkup with my physition who told me that "it's was probably a callus caused by my motorcycle(Really?!? that seems seriously unlikely) so I mentioned that I thought that it may be Dupuytrens which she had never heard of. After "consulting the clinics expert" she told me that "You are to young to have Dupuytren's"(i was 21 at the time) and she would not elevate me to a hand specalist because I just had a callus and it would go away on its own. I grudgingly left and let it sit for another half year or so before it started hurting a little bit.

I am an avid rock climber and train hard several times a week and I noticed that lump started hurting whenever I came down hard on a hold with it or whenever i was stretching my hand after climbing (stretchng the figers back it feels like something is slightly ripping inside the hard nodule. I decided to go see another docter about it incase the first one made a mistake. This second physition seemed to be a little more knowledgeable about Dupuytrens but also told me I was to young and it was likely not the problem. He told me that if it was Dupuytrens that I would be fine for another 5 to 10 years and should not worry about anything until my finger starts contracting. He also would not elevate my case to a hand specalist.

I am now verry worried about my hand (it's starting to hurt more and more when I climb) and how no one will tell me what it is or even set me up with somone who can tell me. I'm not sure how it works exaclty because of our free health care but a physition needs to elevate your case to an expert for him to look at it or something. Now I just don't know what to do, I have read that it is rare but possible for somone of my age to have it and I have also read that it is important for people my age to get it delt with asap but I dont see how I can go about doing that.

Does anyone have an suggestions for me?

Other stuff:
My grandfather had his hand opperated on when he was younger (50's maybe) but we dont know what for.
I am a very active rock climber which I started doing aboutr a year before getthing this... lump.
I am lactose intolerant. (duno if that is important)
I dont smoke, drink, or do drugs and am very fit.

Thanks.

I just have the one lump under the pinky finger and it doesnt hurt when i stretch my ring finger back, only my pinky.

Its hard to explain the feeling if I stretch the finger back. It only happens after I work out my hand hard and if I stretch it back after not climbing for a day or so it feels normal . I guess rather then a ripping it feels like a bungie cord thats old and when you stretch it the first time in a long time it seems to resist stretching a bit until its been fully stretched a few times then it goes back to normal.

From what I gather, seems very likely that you indeed have DD. Seems from what I read the last 9 month, that rock climbers are more affected than others. Maybe your grandfather had it, there you go. I had a nodule for many years, thought it was a callus, one fine day , after falling from my bike and hurting my wrist, a cord started to form and my ring finger got pulled down a bit. My left hand also started with one nodule after another. Went straight to Germany and had them zapped. As of today, all has stopped. Of course you could just have that nodule for the rest of your life and nothing else happens.
So, you now have to watch your hands and protect them. If you were my son I would tell you to find another sport like swimming maybe? Rock climbing is very hard on hands and if DD is in your genes, not good.
When you pull your finger back are there white spots? It is an indication of early DD, according to Prof. S. Of course I am not a doctor, so maybe you have to just pay on your own to see a hand specialist and get the right diagnosis, at least you know.

Good luck to you.

Christl

Yeh, I was just off on a 5 month break from climbing after tearing a pully in my other hand and the lump seemed to stay about the same the whole time. There is a permanent whitespot on the top of the lump even when im not flexing the finger and I don't have any "knuckle pads".

What kind of doctor should I be looking for to give me a real diagnosis because all the GP's I have seen seem to know next to nothing. I read somewhere that people go to plastic surgeons but is that for a basic diagnosis or for treatment after?

Hi,
I also think that climbing must have triggered the disease in your case. I know several clibers with DD and what they say is:
- The disease appears as a lump in the same position as yours
- It might hurt when "growing" maybe during some months or the first year
- After that, it stops and it can remain like that for many years (I have seen ten years)
- If you stop climbing it becomes softer to the touch
- If you then start climbing again there's a new increase
But in my experience, after appearing it can remain steady for a very long time. All of the climbers I know continue climbing with no new lumps, only the first one (one in each hand). Two of them had stoped for around a year and noticed what I said.
You should deffinitely find a traumatologist that believes that you have the disease. I find it in climbers that are around 30 but I have seen a couple of 20s.