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I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!
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01/17/2021 09:56
nojelc 
01/17/2021 09:56
nojelc 
I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

Sounds unlikely I know. Let me explain.

I am 68, male. I have had Dupuytrens on the ring finger of my left hand for many years, perhaps as many as 10. It has progressed very slowly. I could just about force it to be flat on a table, and often stretched it back to try to limit it. I always slept with it straight by putting my hand under a pillow. It has never caused me any problems, but I wonder how it may progress in the future.

Last week I went out for a bike ride, the first for about 10 days because the roads had been so icy. It was +6C when I left home and there was no snow or ice to be seen. However when on a high gravel forestry track I hit a patch of clear water ice and went flying, landing heavily on my left side. 68 year olds do not bounce the same as younger folk and it took me a while to get myself together and test everything. Several points were painful but there seemed to be nothing serious or broken. I managed to cycle home OK. The most painful thing was the base of my left hand which was swollen and bruised. I iced it several times when I got home. The next day the hand felt much better but other areas felt worse, but clearly nothing serious.

Later that day while examining my bruised hand I noticed that the area around my Dupuytrens had changed. The nodule at the base of the finger was bigger, but all the swollen areas around it looked normal again. Also the tight cord across my palm running towards the area that had received the trauma had much reduced. Then wonder of wonder I found that I could bend back the finger, using my normal hand muscles to exactly the same extent as all the other fingers. Everything feels completely normal, no restriction of movement, no pain, no loss of strength. The only remaining sign of my Dupuytrens is the now larger nodule at the base of my finger.

Does anyone have any explanation of what might have happened, or how things may progress in the future? Not that I am worried about it. It is certainly great to have my old hand back again!

Edited 01/17/21 13:27

01/17/2021 12:38
Stefan_K. 
01/17/2021 12:38
Stefan_K. 

Re: I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

nojelc:
Does anyone have any explanation of what might have happened, or how things may progress in the future? Not that I am worried about it. It is certainly great to have my old hand back again!
Hi nojelc. I wouldn't say cured. Sounds like your collagen cord has snapped under the pressure, much like it would when treated (weakened) with the needle "NA" procedure. We have seen such accounts before. Congratulations if there is no other hand trauma that could make the Dupuytrens worse!

If you are able to keep your finger from curling at night simply by putting it under the pillow, that's great. Most people turn during their sleep and don't wake up in the position they went to sleep. If you notice that the finger starts bending again, which is possible if the cord reconnects, you may want to try a splint globe at night. Has been working for me for five years following my NA procedure. Good luck!

I do recommend using bike gloves, btw. For cycling, and for making your own splint glove (https://www.dupuytren-online.info/Forum_..._2023_2.html#11).

Stef

[58, Dupuytren diagnosis 2006, RH contracture and PNF/NA 2014, radiotherapy RH 2015, LH 2017 & 2018, night splint glove RH since 2015]

Edited 01/17/21 14:40

01/18/2021 04:25
Seph 
01/18/2021 04:25
Seph 

Re: I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

Hi nojelc; Like Stefan I think it highly likely that you have broken or perhaps stretched the the cord.

I'm a fair bit younger than you at only 66 but have significant Dupuytren issues in both hands. A couple of years back I was foolishly changing the wheel on my car in a sloping driveway when the car slipped off the jack jamming the fingers on my left hand between the wheel rim and the tyre. I have a big car that weighs 2.3 tonne so a fair bit of pressure. When I was eventually rescued the first two fingers of my hand that both hand contracture had become perfectly straight.

The fingers are starting to bend again now but it did push back the next round of NA on that hand by a couple of years. Not a process that I would recommend but it was effective.

Seph

01/18/2021 16:02
wach 

Administrator

01/18/2021 16:02
wach 

Administrator

Re: I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

I am responding on behalf of Prof. S:

Certainly the restricting cord must be ruptured through the accidental impact causing a part to be pulled against the nodule and making it appear “larger” than before, however the restriction of the previous “retracting rope” was overcome letting you bend and stretch this finger better than before. I think that is the most logical explanation taken from the details of your story ! 👍🏻

Best regards, Prof. Dr. med. M. Heinrich Seegenschmiedt

01/19/2021 19:50
nojelc 
01/19/2021 19:50
nojelc 
Re: I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

Thanks for the comments everyone. I will watch with interest to see what happens in the future, if it returns or not.

Right now everything appears quite normal, apart from the nodule at the base of my finger and a very slight sensitivity to pressure around it and in the remains of the cord which I can still feel to an extent.

One thing I do not understand concerns the cord. I had assumed that this was a tendon/ligament or something that was necesary to use my fingers and hand. So if I had broken or ruptured it I would have assumed that I would now have some limitation to movement or strength in my hand. However I do not, everything is working fine and feeling normal.

If I try to clench that finger against some resistance I can feel something working, deeper in the palm of my hand, and feeling the same as all the attachments to my other fingers, so as far as I can tell I have not damaged anything that I need.

01/19/2021 22:43
Stefan_K. 
01/19/2021 22:43
Stefan_K. 

Re: I appear to have cured my Dupuytren's contracture by falling off my bike !!!

What broke luckily is just the collagen cord along the tendon.

Stef

[58, Dupuytren diagnosis 2006, RH contracture and PNF/NA 2014, radiotherapy RH 2015, LH 2017 & 2018, night splint glove RH since 2015]

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