Hi I had an op on my little finger nine weeks ago. I felt a lump near the middle joint which grew bigger over 3 monthes and was told that this was duputreyns, no where else was effected but the little finger which started to pull down, I was advised by consultant that the sucess rate is higher early on with dupuytrens than if left later, so i decided to go ahead with the op. I am wondering if anyone can help with advise on reducing the scar tissue. I use the splint each night which i beleive does help as the finger is back to near straight in the morning but by the afternoon i find the finger is bending down and becomes quite sore. It feels like there is a wide hard band under the skin stopping me straightning the finger and the finger is still swollen. I do force the finger down throughout the day which is quiet painful but recommended by the pyso and massage creams in to the skin. If anyone can give advice i would much apprecaite it.

Hi callie, I can not remember the percentage of the contracture but it wasnt to bad, i couldnt put my hand in a pocket easily though. The surgoen was a hand surgeon. Following the op my hand was in a splint 1 week then stitches taken out and told to do pyso 6 times a day and massage cream in as much as possible. Then on the check up i was told to repeat pyso 8 times a day. I had someone else do this for me as i found the pain too much and wouldnt push the finger down as much on my own the pain was real bad. I think the nodule was just removed as there was only pulling down in the finger not the palm and i do have a zig zag scar which goes approx 1.5cm below the little finger. I do massage cream in the finger through out the day but it isnt moist all the time. I keep a strechhy finger bandage on most of the time as the feeling is strange to touch and as the day goes on it feels sore. I was told to wear the splint for 6 monthes, i have been discharged from the hospital now but it still is uncomfortable and I wanted to try and find anything that can help it to improve. Any recommendations would be appreacited, thankyou.

Your situation seems strange to me. I had 29 stitches in my hand from the base of my palm to the top joint on my little finger. My finger was curled in to almost touching the palm prior to the surgery. The surgery took about an hour and a half and I was out of there. I did all of the therapy on my own and wore a night splint for 3 months. I pushed my own therapy but never did I push it to a painful situation. I did flex my hand throughout the day whenever I thought about it and never let the wound dry out. I used Aveeno lotion. I always carried a small tube with me to use during the day. I would massage the wound using the lotion whenever I would think about it.

I guess your situation is unique for you. It seems every Dupuytren's situation is unique. My hand, 11 years later, is as good as before I had Dupuytren's. But that success is different for different people.

The "band" you refer to .... is it scar tissue that is the band? At nine weeks my scar tissue was more pronounced than it end up being. Everything pretty much got better after about nine weeks. I was golfing again at 12 weeks. The surgeon was correct in that the optimum time for surgery is generally considered best between 25 and 50 degrees contracture. My surgery was for over 90 degrees contracture. I waited too long. My finger contracted relatively quickly going from zero to over 90 degrees in about 18 months.

Keep massaging the scar tissue, but if you are creating pain you are probably doing it too hard. From my experience the best results come from more often massaging rather than infrequent intense massaging.

I have no noticeable scar tissue. If you look at my hand more than about 12 inches away you could not tell that I ever had surgery. Looking very closely you could see a very faint line where I had the surgery.