I don't have Ledderhosen (LD) so can't share an experience. I do have Plantar Fasciitis in one foot, and have had both feet examined for LD.

The examination technique used was to gently feel and palpate the relaxed sole of the foot, especially feeling along and across the plantar fascia looking for thickening or broadening of the fascia, or lumps (nodules) or hardened 'strings' (cords).

I can only really help by explaining more about my symptoms for PF. Pain is usually worse after no activity when the feet have been resting.

So the first classic symptom is getting out of bed in the morning and standing up. This can be really painful almost preventing you from walking. This can be eased by wearing a night splint or boot which keeps the plantar stretched, and it does work for that one symptom.

Similar pain can be had just getting up from a chair or any time after resting the feet. What happens is the fascia contracts on rest, and then the pain is felt on standing when it is stretched.

I now also get pain after a lot of walking or standing on the feet. It's similar to the getting up pain, but eases with rest; and then the vicious cycle of pain starts because at some stage you have to get up again

I have no lumps or bumps, and can press quite hard all along the plantar fascia without pain, UNTIL I get to the point below the heel where it attaches to the heel bone. Pressing there firmly hurts.

I would have thought a podiatrist could help you diagnose or not PF as it's quite commonly encountered, where in my experience many podiatrists do not know about LD.

Greetings all.

I recently joined this site due to my girlfriend suffering from both Dupuytren's contracture and Ledderhose Disease. I thought I would throw my hat into the ring on this post due to I am a licensed massage therapist in the state of Utah (will be happy to provide information on finding my license with NCBTMB if asked privately) and have had experience personally with plantar fasciitis.

Going with Wikipedia's definition, Plantar Faciitis is:

"A painful inflammation of the plantar fascia." That is pretty much the long and short of it. Inflammation on the bottom of your foot / feet.

I don't know much about the other subjects as I am new to the research but I can tell you that PF can be handled fairly easily. One of the ways I treat PF is I will have a client use hard balls. Depending on the size of the foot, I suggest anything from the size of a golf ball to a hard rubber ball no bigger than 2" (5.08cm) in diameter. Since PF is painful, I always start my clients in a sitting position with shoes (and socks if they're comfortable) off. With one foot on the ball, and as much pressure as they can stand to exert, I have them roll their foot from heel to each toe. What that does is stretches out the fascia on the foot.

Example: Starting at the heel, roll the foot over the ball, going for the big toe. Once you get to the big toe, keep going, adding pressure - stretching that toe out. Roll back to the heel. Repeat for the other 4 toes on the foot. It does help. Another thing that helps is you can pick up a brace to wear at night to help keep the foot dorsal flexed (dorsal flexion is when you bring your foot and toes up towards the top of the head). Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, then bring the ball of the foot and toes up towards the ceiling. Best description I can think of.

I worked at a home improvement warehouse while going to school to become a LMT, and was on my feet on concrete for 8+ hours. I worked freight (off loading the truck and stocking), so not only did I have MY body weight, I had the added weight of whatever I was stocking. I picked up inserts for my shoes which cut the stress practically in half, adding massage into it really helped. There's a lot of information out there ranging from massage to surgery on how to deal with PF: I recommend massage, making sure you have the proper shoes for whatever activity you're doing, taking breaks when you feel your feet starting to hurt (if possible), and using the ball treatment if you can't get into a therapist or if you have a desk job where you can take off your shoes without causing too much ruckus

Anyway, good luck with that, and on with my research!

I have reason to suspect it is possible.

I am of both Scandinavian and Germanic descent (both of which have high prevalence of Ledderhose Disease and DuPuytren's Contracture). Both my parents have DePuytren's; my father and my eldest brother both have both conditions. I very recently self-diagnosed both conditions (due to family familiarity with them), confirmed by my doctors.


Precipitating Factors:

1) After a car accident several years ago, 4 years of limping caused plantar fasciitis in my left foot.
After spine surgery fixed the limping, a single cortisone shot permanently fixed the plantar fasciitis
(since the root cause of the problem was gone). However, a small, HARD NODULE remained at the center
of my left plantar fascia ever since then, tender to the touch during massage therapy sessions. It
did not grow, and caused no problems, and I chalked it up to scar tissue.

2) One year ago, my too-old, too-light hiking shoes resulted in my getting a stone bruise on a rocky trail while backpacking, located at the base joint of my second toe (next to the big toe) on the ball of my left foot. It never healed, and over time became more and more painful. I was diagnosed with metatarsalgia. After a year, one cortisone shot temporarily removed all pain for a period of about a month (while hiking in the Himalayas), but the pain returned about a week after my return home. A second cortisone shot had no helpful effect whatsoever. I was now diagnosed with the addition of Morton's Neuroma.

3) However, at about the same time, I recognized the first nodules of DuPuytren's Contracture on my right little finger, and two small but visible lumps of Ledderhose Disease on my left plantar arch, centered right where the 'hard spot' had been for so many years prior. Neither condition had been present in the past -- I believe they both sprang up at nearly the same time, just recently (i.e., sometime over the course of just the past few months).


Speculation:

I suspect, first, that the first injury to my foot (plantar fasciitis due to limping) and its resulting scar tissue may have inhibited the ability of my foot to heal from the subsequent hiking stone bruise, resulting in chronic metatarsalgia and, eventually, the development of Morton's Neuroma.

I strongly suspect that this second injury to my foot (stone bruise from hiking), a year ago, precipitated not only the obvious metatarsalgia and Morton's Neuroma, but also the expression of Ledderhose Disease. I also suspect that the expression of Ledderhose Disease is tied to and associated with the simultaneous appearance of DuPuytren's Contracture.

Quote:

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As described on the website pages http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytrens_contracture.html there appears to be a genetic link (autosomal dominant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominance_(genetics)) and often another external factor (multi-factorial https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...ial_inheritance) cause of DD and LD, so your story fits.

Edited 08/08/16 19:40