I had "the operation" on two fingers of my right hand 18 months age. The physical therapy was endless but it payed off. I have regained full flexibility in those fingers. The key appears to be the extent of physical therapy one is willing to undertake. My surgeon said that Dupuytrens never returned in any of the patients he has operated on. While he is removing the diseased tissue, he also removes all the healthy palmar fascia he can, since in time that will probably becomed diseased also. I had "knuckle pads" on two fingers. After the operation, there was a 7 inch incision from my wrist to the first joint of the two fingers. He went after it all. Get a knowledgeable physical therapist. One of the many tasks I had to perform consisted of manipulating my fingers, 10 times an hour. That's every 6 minutes, all day, every day for weeks! I had no choice. As a pianist I had to have full recovery. Of course, being an obsessive-compulsive helped. While my right hand was healing, Dupuytrens took over my left hand with a vengeance, three fingers, the web between the thumb and second finger, and the palm. My surgeon felt confident enough with my ability to handle the physical therapy (a medical term for self-inflected pain) to do the entire hand - in a 3 hour operation. This was done 6-weeks ago. My poor hand had over 63 stitches in it. But they are all gone now and I'm back to the constant bending and stretching of the hand and fingers. I have massive scar tissue which I know will take months of rubbing to reduce. But I want to play the piano again. So I'll do what ever it takes!

I am a 53 year old guitarist (not a professional, but have been playing since I was 12 and it is extremely important to me). I have had Dupuytren's for about 4 years, but only recently has it progressed to the stage of making playing difficult and painful. I have been advised to have surgery before the contracture gets any worse. I am wondering if anyone can tell me their experience in post-operative recovery and regaining the ability to play at a pre-operative level. Thanks.

I have had DC in my left hand for 2.5 years, but had already problems playing after an accident in which I lost my middle left finger tip. (Believe me, you don't want the details!)

A professional singer/guitarist friend suggested I try alternative tunings, and I have used Open D, Open G and DADGAD with some success. A lot of great chords are there using two or three fingers. Look around for ideas on the Web.

This is a better alternative for me at present than surgery, and several guitarist friends have also started exploring alternative tunings.

im a 44 year old guitar player with dup in my right hand and severe knuckle pads ive always played music on an acoustic guitar strung with heavy strings i cant play any more ragtime or classical so am sticking to slide work and taking up clawhammer banjo- i had 7 knuckle pads excised about 7 months ago and gained more flexion in 6 of the joints however my index finger on my left hand recently has gotten worse again also after surgery on my knucks my dupuytrens got significantly worse doesnt seem to effect my finger picking but my chording is affected by the pads

Same as in the "Colagenase Forum" no one here seems to have heard of the needle Aponevrotomy. Do yourself a favour and read Dr. Kline's story at www.dupuytren.org. and click on Forum. He is a USA trained physician who has just undergone needle aponevrotomy on two of his fingers.