Kelly Jo,

Don't want you to feel pressured by all of us who are pushing you into NA. Like I mentioned previously the end decision is yours...but PLEASE don't wait until you contracture is more severe...If your fingers are contracting you should do NA as soon as possible, since it is harder to correct the longer the fingers have been contracted and also depending on what finger and joint is involved...

I agree with Mike S. ...Dr. Denkler in Lakspur, near SF is a great choice since you live in northern CA...he is very dilligent about answering inquiries, just take pictures of your hands and send him an email...he will respond...

I had NA with Dr. Denkler in 2006....mine unfortunately didn't hold for long, and I repeated the NA on same finger with Dr. Eaton in March of this year (because I was in Florida on a vacation)... The recurrence of my NA is totally because the disease is "weird" and no two cases are alike... I'm hoping the second NA will hold longer.

In any case...skip the acupuncture and look into NA as soon as you are comfortable with the idea...the sooner the better....thats just my two cents !!!

Thank you all for all of your responses and information. I will call Dr Denkler tomorrow and send him pictures as well. I am finding this forum to be so helpful, really one a the few helpful things I have been able to find. I have a family doctor that I have had for years and I had never felt so frustrated when he looked at me and told me I had to wait for it to get bad enough to have surgery, but there was no way to know how long that would take or if it would work.....and I also find it so hard to feel as if i am racing my hand but i dont know if it is progressing slowly or rapidly because I dont have anything to compare it to. my guess is that it is rapid. i dont know how to tell degrees or anything but i know in the last two weeks it went from mild off and on pain to no i cant put my hand flat on the table... but maybe nothing more will happen now...


I find when i wake up in the morning my hand is much much worse. and then it will loosen a bit, does that seem normal?

also, it seems on here people tend to say that when you get this when you are younger, i am 25, that is tends to be 'aggressive' does anyone know of anyone who was younger and it didnt progress much or seemed slow??



thanks again for all the information, it is helping me turn on some lights in what feels very dark and confusing right now.

-kelly jo

Edited 04/12/10 09:03

Kelly Jo,

One of the ways I could tell how rapidly mine was progressing was by taking pictures of my hand on a weekly basis. I took a picture of the palm. then at eye level from wrist to the tip of my fingers, to see how much puckering and drawing was occurring, then a sideways picture. After a few weeks of staring nonstop at your hand, it all blurrs together, and the pictures bring clarity.

I know how you feel about wondering what to do. Unfortunately I could not find anyone who could look at my hand and say "Oh, of course you need this type of treatment". I had to become my own treatment specialist for the first time in my life. It is a overwhelming feeling of not knowing what is the right thing to do. My hand was beginning to interfere with my work and I knew I had to do something.

Good luck and take pictures!!!

Lori

i cant thank you guys enough for the support and advice you have given me. when i feel like i have a better handle on what is going on i promise to pay it forward for other people!

today i sat and made a time line to figure out exactly how things were going... i also made an appt with dr denkler a week from today to see what he says. In one month my finger has gone from not a problem in the world to when i lay the back of my hand on a table and try to straighten it my ring finger is pointing up at the ceiling and excruciatingly painful ... from what i can tell this is progressing quickly and i hope that dr denkler will be able to help me or point me in the direction of help. I will let you guys know after i see him what he says... thanks again.



kelly jo

I am 16 years old female, and I was diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture at 2 weeks of age. i have had 3 surgeries yet it keeps getting worse they don't know what there is left to do.