Randy, yes...you guessed correctly...the contraction started after i had trigger finger surgery on my thumb and index finger. honestly though, i felt a small cord for about 2 years before the surgery, but when i brought that up to the hand surgeons, they didn't say much about it.

My guess was simply form knowing that trauma to the hand can trigger rapid growth of Dups tissue. Surgery is Trauma. When you undergo full Open Surgery for Dups, the goal is to remove 100% of the diseased tissue. The reason being is that the trauma from the surgery removing the contraction is enough to aggravate any remaining tissue and set it motion. Therefore, it *all* has to go. It's an all or nothing proposition.

Unfortunately, because of the above, when you had the trigger finger surgery you were put you at risk. I say "risk" because Dups is unpredictable and there was no way to know for certain that you would have this reaction. And I'm not saying the surgeon did anything improper. Dups tissue is always left along by CHS until it begin to cause dysfunction. You had the unfortunate combination of having fairly benign Dups tissue present on the same hand that needed for Open Surgery for something unrelated.

That's just one of the reasons many of us feel strongly that the first attempt at treating Dups is the least traumatic, least invasive intervention possible. Right now, NA is it. I strongly suggest you educate yourself on Eaton's web site:

http://www.handcenter.org/newfile16.htm

As I see it, you have three choices. 1) Do nothing 2) Undergo full Open Surgery to remove not only the contraction but all the diseased tissue that may be in your hand. 3) Try NA.

I've done *all* three of the above. I think it's clear where I would head. And I'd do it ASAP.

1234

Ask Eaton. He 'Da Man. :-)

I think it would be correct to say that DC is 'a' palmar fibrosis - there might be other conditions that trigger similar tissue changes, although the contracting bands are unique to DC.

As far as surgery triggering accelleration of the disease, many people suspect that to be true but it can't be proven. Consider that we typically decide to have surgery because the problem has recently gotten a lot worse - meaning we're in a period of time when the disease is progressing, for whatever reason. That progession might continue for a while after the surgery too, in other locations, without really being caused by the surgery.