I have been trying for the last 7 months to get some help for my hand. I live in a small town, and my doc just says it's dd. He wouldn't make any appts. for me with specialist, so i did it myself. The orthopedic dr. i saw told me he could do surgery but it wouldn't straighten my fingers, because something else was going on but he didn't know what it was. He sent me to a rheumatologist. had a mri, and they said it was normal. At that time I had a 90 degee contracture of 3 fingers. Today I have over 136 degree contracture of my left hand. Since I am right-handed, they don't seem to think it's too hard to live with. I have an appt. this Friday with another orthopedic surgeon,{I had to make it myself} to see if it's anything he can do. Has anybody else had this problem ?. Do you have any suggestions for me. I am a 55 yr. old female.

Rae,

Sounds like you're experiencing what many of us have gone through. You have DD. Most doctors look at it and shrug. Then you go to a hand doc. They offer invasive surgery. Then they offer nothing else. I had invasive surgery that opened my left hand. When it returned, my hand doctor suggested possibly one more surgery with the possible side effect being the removal of a finger. I then sought out new answers and was led to the NA treatment you'll see discussed at length elsewhere on this board. Even after deciding on the NA treatment, my regular doctor (general practitioner) who I like and trust, discouraged me against it and wanted me to go back to my first hand doctor. I still went ahead with the NA and don't regret it for an instant. I think you'll get similar stories from others here. In that light, here are some things that may give you encouragement:

• You have pretty severe contracture and may need invasive surgery to correct it. I had it when my fingers went past 110 and it work great. The first surgery goes well but because there is tissue removal, subsequent operations become trickier. That's why an invasive surgery, followed by the less-invasive NA treatments worked great for me. Think of it as major repair on your car followed by much easier tuneups.

• I know you say you live in a small town. I was able to locate my NA doc (Dr. Pess) on the web and send him pictures for diagnosis. I didn't have to travel until I went for the procedure.

• Everyone makes their own decisions about the level of contracture they can live with but yours sounds pretty severe. All Ii can say is, my left hand was contracted and now is almost flat. I love the NA procedure and what it did for my left hand, I'm travelling again just six days from now to have it done on my right hand.

Good luck. There is hope.

dave

Is it very expensive? I don't have medical insurance.

Dave,

I'm traveling from Virginia to Eatontown next Wednesday for a Thursday NA appointment with Dr. Pess. Staying overnight and hope to return home that Thursday.

Overall good experience?

Thanks!

John

John,

I had an excellent experience with Dr. Pess. So much so, I'm returning this Monday to have the NA procedure done on my other hand. Seems like we'll miss each other by mere days.

dave