@Denise Lange:

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So....., I don't understand. Why haven't any of you considered surgery?
I am 64 and Dup began to show up in my right hand about 6 months ago. It hurts and seems to be growing faster in the last few weeks. My father had in both hands and by the time he died both were totally curled and unusable.
I am researching as we speak to find an excellent surgeon - that is how I found this forum because I do not what hands that won't work.

I am 99.9% certain I have DD but haven't seen the hand surgeon yet- have to wait 3 weeks to get in with someone that seems to have experience with this where I live. In the meantime I'm doing my own research and stumbled upon this thread and it definitely rang some bells for me so I thought I'd share.

After being a very healthy person my whole life, in my early 40's, out of nowhere, I got frozen shoulder on the left side. As soon as I recovered from that (about a year later) it went to the right shoulder. Another year went by, it got better and I forgot about it but looking back I was never really the same. I started getting weird things like tendonitis in various parts of my body especially in my feet. I developed allergies to dyes, plastics and chemicals. I was exhausted all the time and eventually "diagnosed" with fibromyalgia when every doctor I saw was stumped. I refused medications for it because I wasn't convinced that was the issue. I muddled through.

Pre-menopause started around late 40's and as I went through the process my problems seemed to get worse. I had my last period when I was about 52. Everything calmed down except for the allergies, I chalked up my issues to hormonal imbalances and was grateful it was behind me. Then about 6 months ago, when I was 57, I noticed an itchy lump in about the center of my right palm. I showed it to my husband and he said he had a similar thing years ago and it went away so I didn't think about it again.

Two weeks ago I got the itch in my right palm again, this time in the crease directly under the ring finger and it's been getting progressively larger since then. I measured it today and it's about 1 cm. The first lump (also about 1 cm) has kind of flattened out like someone ran it over (if that makes sense) but neither of them itches anymore. Of course I started feeling for lumps on my other palm and I think there may be a tiny one starting below my ring finger on that hand but I may just be paranoid. At this point I've looked at the palms of everyone I know and felt them for lumps and bumps to see if they feel like mine. Some have little lumps and bumps and some don't, none of them have big lumps like mine. Maybe someone should consult a palm reader for info on how many people have lumpy palms!

No one in my family has DD although I know practically nothing about my father's side of the family. He passed away when I was a child but my mother said he never had any kind of hand issues. They had me late in life and he was considerably older than her dying in his early 70's. If he had DD I think it would have manifested itself by then. His family were Scottish/English so the ancestry for this disease is there. My mother's family are eastern European and no one on her side has this (mom is 97 and I checked her palms too- nothing there) and neither do my two older half-sisters. I'm it.

I live in a sunny, warm climate and have taken vitamin D supplements for years so I don't think I have any deficiency there. I have always eaten a healthy diet (very minimal junk food, zero fast food) and was vegetarian for several years. I am not diabetic, have never been overweight, don't smoke, and drink alcohol maybe once a week so I don't think those are factors for me. I have never had a hand injury or done manual labor other than normal housework and gardening.

For me "the wheels came off" a little before I went into pre-menopause and I got the frozen shoulders and the hormones started getting wacky. Maybe you don't need to actually be menopausal for this to kick in but hormones may play a part. From what I've been reading there seem to be too many variables to get a clear picture of what triggers this and really, I just want to find something that will help me carry on with my life. I feel like nothing has been normal since those frozen shoulders 15 years ago and to me this seems to be part of a much larger disease process.

Edited 05/12/22 05:16

Debbie,

I had radiation treatment (radio therapy protocol) in 2012, when the nodule in my hand became painful and before the cord could cause contracture. RT eliminated the nodule, and the cord is no longer active. Shockingly, during my first visit with the hand surgeon, I was told it could be treated once my hand showed contracture. After receiving that news, I immediately began my search for information on the internet. This site proved to be an absolute wealth of information! It is very important to research your options, especially in the USA. Be your own advocate…it’s so important! Dupuytren’s Contracture is a very lucrative business for hand surgeons, if you catch my drift.

Best of luck to you,

Lori

Hi DebbieGG

I think you have the main points covered, except wait and see or watchful waiting. Since most people, the majority, do not get a contracture, and only have slow progression in cycles of activity and dormancy, with some minor development of nodules or cords over months or years, this allows you time to keep a record of symptoms, flexibility, progression, etc, so that if or when you do need to act you have an objective record of your progression. Some people do prefer to be pro-active, doing something, but there is a case of too early at least for RT https://www.dupuytren-online.info/Forum_...1559373063.html

Best wishes SB

Thanks for your response. Since you've had this and have family with it could you tell me what is considered an "aggressive" disease progression? I know watchful waiting is a strategy but how would I know if my disease is progressing rapidly and if I have to act immediately? 6 months ago I had one nodule and now I have 2 (possibly 3) so to me that's pretty fast but I've read a lot about people where it stops for some period of time and starts up again. Is there any data on this?