I just found this forum and hoped to find some answers. I'm 49 and active. I also recently started lifting weights. I've been trying to stretch my hand and fingers against a flat surface hoping to stretch things back to normal .... after reading what your doctor told you, I'm wondering if I'm doing more harm than good. I'm anxious to hear from someone with a 'second opinion'. I want to play basketball a few more years.

I am a 59-year-old female just diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease. Three nodules just popped out in the palm of my right hand. My physician didn't know what it was and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who immediately diagnosed Dupuytren's and said there is nothing that can be done about it. He said to wait five to ten years until I cannot put my hand flat on a table and then he would do surgery.

Is that all there is? Can't this be stopped through physical therapy or vitamin supplements? Don't sound possible that we must just let this disease progress to the point that our hands are debilitated and then have surgery. The surgeon said that even after the surgery, the disease would recur.

Does anyone have any information to share with me? Is there any recourse to just waiting for the disease to progress unchecked?

I have recently been diagnosed and my orthopaedic surgeon
wisely is avoiding surgery, has referred me for physical therapy, what form that may take I do not yet know. Will report back.

E Wiley,
You are right, it could be the wine and it might not be the wine. DC can have dormant stages that can last a lifetime or no time. It is a strange and unpredictable disease.
It is also not surprising that the surgeon was unfamiliar with the cause of DC. Many of the messages on this forum suggest that surgeons are most knowledgeable about fixing the situation and not as knowledgeable about the cause of DC.
Let us know about the therapy. It is pretty well split on whether PT works for DC. Some say that the activity stimulates the growth of DC, while others say that it helps flexibility. It is different for each person.

I am 60 and have been dieting and exercising actively
now for about 2 years (somewhat along Jack Lalane's plan),
but, last month, I was hit with the start of Dupuytren's
disease in my right hand. It was very painful for about
a week (couldn't hold a spoon), and I had to give up
all exercises that require a strenous grip (such as using
barbells or a weight bar). My doctor says there is nothing
I can do but let the swelling subside, and then avoid
aggravating it by not over-exertion (unfortunately, he had
no guidelines for what constitures over-exertion).
I am at a loss - I also find there is pain, but no swelling,
in my left hand and in the soles of both feet.
I suspect that I just have to be more careful about
stressing these tendons - what a bumer!
I was hoping there would be something I could do about it,
so that I could continue my workouts, but, I am accepting
my doctor's advice until I discover something credible
I can do about it. For now, there is no loss of finger
movement, just nagging pain and those little bumps in
the palm just below the ring finger.
If anyone knows of an herbal treatment for inflamation
of the tendons, I would certainly try that -for now,
I am just using and ice pack every day or two, plus I
follow a very good and healthy diet plan (no alcohol
or anything like that - sort of like Jack Lalane's diet).

Very dissappointing,

Jerry