hi, so far i have had DC for over 15 years. i have tried to live the same lifestyle with DC as i did before i had DC. im active, like sports, outdoor fun, etc... when i first discovered i had DC(age 33) i decided to not pamper my hands or stop doing activites that i always loved, but knew they werent good for my DC. now im at the point that i will probably have to amputate one little finger soon(mutiple surgeries/NA) and having neither traditional surgery or NA work successfully, i wonder now if i should have pampered my hands, changed jobs when first discovered(tool&die maker), stopped all sports and gave up all activites that use hands and maybe my hands would still be fully functional. then again, maybe they would have still progressed at the same rate and i would have given up my lifestyle for little or no gain. now that i have discovered LH in both feet i have the same thoughts. do i give up my love of rollerblading, hiking, jogging, biking, swimming, hell, even taking the dog for a walk in the hope that pampering them will delay progession? my DC is very agressive currently and i fear if my feet progess anything like my hands have lately, i will be fully disabled some day. my DC was/has always been painful and my LH is also (tight, painful, pins and needles, stabing feeling). interested in if other have similar thoughts. i understand the middle ground is probably best, do some things that dont require using hands, but now having both my hands and feet effected, im wondering, do i attemp any activity at all that might advance my condition and become kinda self-disabled or continue with my active lifestyle and become disabled whenever(or if) that time comes? 48 y.o. male

My feelings are different. I have had Dupuytren's and LH for over 15 years. I feel that it is very important to use caution when stretching or exercising the affected area. My LH has almost gone away since I slowed strenuous/high impact activity. I still walk more than 3 miles a day, but no running. Also, shoes are very important to protecting the arch area. Barefooting is very damaging for me.

Same with hands and my Dupuytren's. My problems were accentuated by above normal gripping and lifting.