So I'm 43 and got a DC cord in my palm to my right ring finger about a year ago. I could not find a doctor to remove it while small they all say wait till it's debilitating and then have a 12 month recovery period. I'd rather have small surgery every 6 months.

It started to get tight so I took a hollow 14 guage piercing needle and took a perpendicular core out of the chord. It has left a grove in it that has not grown back and although the upper part of the chord has gotten a bit fatter it's not enlarging as fast as it was..
Are there any treatment that work this way?

Robbie,

If you peruse some of the information on this forum site you'll surely come across information about Needle Aponevrotomy--a technique which achieves what you were apparently trying to accomplish.

N.A. is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure for Dupuytrens which effectively breaks the cords which cause contraction of the fingers, thereby releasing them.

The procedure has been available in France for many years with an excellent safety record and was introduced in the U.S. in 2003 by Dr. Charles Eaton. Since then a number of other doctors have begun offering N.A. to their patients as an alternative to open hand surgery.

So please do refer to the web site Randy provided. And also go down the list of topics to one about an updated list of M.D.s offering N.A. Some of these M.D.s also have websites with more good information.

The acceptance of Needle Aponevrotomy has been slow by the entrenched medical establishment but is a vastly superior option for many.

I hope the information you find regarding N.A. will reassure you. Better to not repeat that "do it yourself" technique because undue trauma to the hand seems to stimulate this disease to advance in many cases.

Good luck.

Susan

robbie,

The palm is the safest place of the hand for a needle entry. The nerves going to the finger are spread out and deeper in the palm than in the fingers themselves. The further out in a finger you go toward the PIP (second joint), the more concern of nerve damage there should be.

A surgeon doing NA will numb the surface of the hand so there isn't any pain. However if a nerve is grazed or hit, the patient will have an *imediate* sensation, something like an electronic shock. I've felt this. You tell the dock and he tries another angle. This, and the surgeon's excellent knowledge of anatomy, is the *only* thing that makes NA safe when working on a finger. The palm is far safer than fingers.

Hopefully you'll never need a finger straightened. But if you do, I just though I'd pass on the above into. Frankly I thought you were kidding. You're a gutsy guy. But isn't one's palm a bit more complex than an ear lobe or the side of a nose?

Yes, it can be done. I am a dentist by profession and have had NA performed by Dr's Eaton, Lermusiaux, Badios, and Rappaport. I have studied the anatomy of the hand. I have successfully treated my own hands using at 25 gauge needle, but *ONLY* in the palmar region. I concur with Randy H. I would never go beyond the distal palmar crease as the neurovascular bundle can become wrapped around the cord. I have extensive experience in surgical procedures, albeit in a different arena, and would never recommend that anyone try this procedure without surgical experience.

Mike,

Wow, you've really been around the block with all the top names in NA. Did you discern any difference in the way Eaton, as an American trained Hand Surgeon, approaches NA as opposed to the top French practitioners?