I've been dealing with hand pain for a just over a year. My doc has brushed it off as early osteoarthritis until today. I have a firm, swollen line along the tendon in my palm under the index finger of my dominant hand. It's not always painful but can be, and when it is it's bad enough that it's hard to grip a pencil to write. I showed the doc today and she thinks it's probably a Dupuytren's nodule. My mom has had a couple of contractures so I think this is possible, but I can't find any mention of Dupuytren's affecting the index finger and I'm only 40, which is 20 years younger than when my mom started getting them.
Does anyone else have Dupuytren's affecting an index finger or know if it happens?
Wyfly:I've been dealing with hand pain for a just over a year. My doc has brushed it off as early osteoarthritis until today. I have a firm, swollen line along the tendon in my palm under the index finger of my dominant hand. It's not always painful but can be, and when it is it's bad enough that it's hard to grip a pencil to write. I showed the doc today and she thinks it's probably a Dupuytren's nodule. My mom has had a couple of contractures so I think this is possible, but I can't find any mention of Dupuytren's affecting the index finger and I'm only 40, which is 20 years younger than when my mom started getting them.
Does anyone else have Dupuytren's affecting an index finger or know if it happens?
Thanks.
Hi Wyfly
It is possible to have a DD contracture of the index finger, but in your it is unusual as a first diagnosis as it more commonly starts with the ring or pinkie. Your symptoms could indeed be a cord or inflammation along the line of the flexor tendon or something else. Post a photo if you wish. However I would recommend you get a hand specialist to confirm a diagnosis rather than a GP.
Worked this time. I can kind of guess where a cord could be along the index finger tendon, but do you have any nodules? You describe a firm, swollen line along the tendon and then go on to say your doctor thinks it's probably a Dupuytren's nodule. If there isn't any nodule, and even if you have a family history of Dupuytren, it could be something else. Then again 40 is only a few years before the average onset of DD, and in some people it develops fast while in others it takes ten years or more after the first detection of a nodule, and some never get cords or a contracture. An angry cord without a nodule would appear to be unusual to me, though. But perhaps nodules are just not visible on the photo, or there are cases without hard nodules?
I don’t find the photo convincing (that it is DD), but photos can be unhelpful in identifying abnormal structures without any other reference, or depth, and of course give no clue about hardness or behaviour under flexion or tension. There can be other causes for what is visible in the photo. Sorry to be unhelpful, and do see a hand specialist as previously suggested. But if DD is confirmed do return here to discuss prognosis and options.
Hi I have dupuytrens in all fingers except the middle fingers of both hands . I've been told that dupuytrens in the thumb index web area can be an indicator that the disease if of an aggressive nature.
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