I just found this forum and have read some troubling stories. I wish I would have found it before surgery as I relate to too many of them.

The pain is far worse than before surgery and other complications make me wish many times daily I never would have had it done. My ring finger the main problem is straighter but the price is not worth paying.

One problem I haven't read anything about is one I'm have also. My doctor has not prepared me for surgery or been ther for me after. He didn't tell me about the problems I'm having or feels he can help when I go and whine. Just a simple..."no infection things are going normal." Three months past before he finally sent to PT. This has helped some but you know insurance....six visits and now thats over. Some things I learned there will help but four months after surgery and it's so painful in my hand, elbow and shoulder.

Does anyone have any advice if your doc is a dummy

Pete

Hi Pete,

after my hand surgery I felt pretty much like you. The surgeon, having done his job, did not care anymore about me and I was shocked because my hand did hurt, was swollen, and though my finger was straight again, I couldn't make a fist anymore. Had I known the outcome, I certainly would have not had surgery and probably most people in this forum feel the same. Well, maybe this is why they participate in this forum. Those who are satisfied with the result of their surgery (and those are many, too) go away and live happily. To some extent the outcoume of our surgery might be bad luck, but bad advice or mistakes of the surgeon might have contributed as well. While skill is always difficult to judge we try to improve the advice side with this forum (time to also mention the web site www.dupuytren-online.info as an overview of available therapies).

My first advice for you is to not worry about the surgery anymore, it's over and history. Keep up your exercises but don't overdo it. Do your excercises sensitively but regularily. Treat your hand with sympathy, don't blame it for hurting but treat it well. I found daily warm baths of the hand comfortable, I massaged it a little bit, and tried to help the blood flow back. Eventually things will get better and your hand will heal. Maybe it also would make sense to consult an experienced surgeon, at least I would do that (but being German I don't know how US doctors would react to that).

I am now nearly three years past my surgery but my hand is still not the same as before and probably never will. Though I now can make a fist, my hand still feels blocked in the operated area. That's the bad news. The good news is that my finger can be moved OK and a have no recurrence there (though elsewhere). I got used to the scars and blocking and don't worry about it anymore. Life offers so many beautiful things and it would be a pity to forget about them just because of that stupid Dupuytren.

Wolfgang