I had surgery to remove knuckle pads on three of my right hand fingers over 11 years ago. Except for minimal residual stiffness and scarring, the fingers are much better off and less painful/stiff since that surgery. Another knuckle pad has developed on my right ring finger and I will have it removed surgically next week hoping for the same results. Two years ago I developed two large nodules in the arch of both feet and they are tender to the touch but not unbearable. My doctor told me today that he could remove those also. Has anyone had this procedure done? If so, was it successful? How long did you lose use of that foot? Did the nodules reappear? I have Northern European roots but I have olive skin so I have some Mediterranean in me also. Thanks for any response.

Sean,
Knuckle pads look like small inflammations on the knuckles. They are somewhat similar to what rheumatoid arthritis looks like. If my finger is relaxed I can move the pad from side to side (limited movement) on the knuckle. It feels soft and fleshy to the touch and did not turn up on the X-ray. It is painful when I tap it on a hard surface. The bumps on my feet appeared a year or two ago and feel like fleshy growths (marble size) and only hurt when I am barefooted and step on something hard on the spots. Thanks for your info. Steve

My knuckle pad resembles a large bee sting (swelling) on the affected knuckles. The finger with the knuckle pad feels stiff when it bends. Sometimes at night I wake up feeling a dull pain in that finger, sort of like people describe arthritis even though this is not arthritis.

Sean,

Apparently my case is different than most others. I've had knuckle pads on the index, middle, and ring finger of the right hand, and now on the ring finger of the left hand. I've had no contraction problems whatsoever. My father and both brothers have the same situation, with no contracture. The orthopaedist that examined me Monday said that my family's situation is odd. We have all of the sympton of Dupuytrent's except for the actual bending of the fingers. We have the knuckle pads, and one brother and myself have the tender growths on the arch of our feet. I think he said this was the first time he recalled someone having Dupuytren's without the growth on the palm of the hand that causes bending of the fingers. The human body, what a mystery still.

I went to my surgeon y'day so he could remove the sutures from knuckle pad surgery. I told him about some of the info. I had learned about DD since the surgery. He informed me that my knuckle pads were Garrod's. Originally, due to pix of the syndrome I had seen on various websites, I concluded that my pads were not Garrod's because they did not look the same as the ones I saw. I also told him that all of the males in my family had the knuckle pads but not the actual contracture or nodule on the palm. He said that he has seen many variations of the disease with no one-size-fits-all. He noted that one commonality in all cases is the high likelihood of having a Viking's DNA in the afflicted ones bloodstreams. Interesting since many people say I look Hispanic or Arabic--yet I have Northern European ancestory as part of my background.