Hi all,

I have had Ledderhose for about 15 years and have had three operations in my left foot and one in my right. I have grade 3 Ledderhose in both feet again admin with lots of pain and difficulty walking at times. After surgery in my right foot my big toe was numb which I put down to the nerves being damaged in the surgery. However, as the Ledderhose has got worse in my left foot, aver the last few months my left foot big toe is now going numb. Does anyone know why?

I also have Dupuytrens in both hands and have had surgery in my left hand.

Have you considered radiotherapy https://www.dupuytren-online.info/radiation_therapy.html of your Ledderhose? According to our patient survey radiotherapy seems to be the most effective treatment https://www.dupuytren-online.info/patient_survey.html . An issue with radiotherapy might the price. It really depends on where you are living and how you are insured. It is very expensive e.g. in the USA and much less in the UK or Germany.

Wolfgang

Total fasciectomy seems to be a successfull treatment for https://www.dupuytren-online.info/ledderhose_literature.html . Unfortunately, a total removal of the fascia of both feet couldn't avoid disease extension to the hands because the disease is most likely in the genes.

The fascia of the foot have a function when walking https://www.podiatrytoday.com/understand...-plantar-fascia . Personally I would be afraid that a total removal of my feets' fascia might make walking a little shaky but I am not an expert in that. Has your doctor discussed that with you? I guess, once it is removed you can't get it back ...

Wolfgang

Akwatia; I am a little hesitant to chime in here as you say that you have already had several surgeries and I couldn't possible know what the implications of that might be. Having said that I would caution against radical surgery.

I have chronic DD in both hands and both feet. To give some context my fingers in both hand are a mess and I now have sheets of DD forming at the base of both thumbs. I have had surgery once and NA more than a dozen times. I was scheduled to be in Paris in June this year for another round of NA when Covid hit and we became confined to Australia.

Then the feet. I have significant lumps in the arches of both feet and large LH masses running behind both sets of toes. I have some numbness in my left big toe. I had surgery to remove the first lump that appeared in my early teens but it returned twice the size within 2-3 years so I resolved to stay away from surgery.

As the LH disease grows and changes i have periods were I have to deal with significant pain. Also in the my 20's and 30's the lumps in the arches of my feet would rub on the soles of my shoes and blister. I would pop the blisters and rub with methylated spirits. Over time the skin toughened and the blistering stopped.

Over the years I have found that the pain in my feet has one simple solution that people don't want to hear and that is to push through the pain. It seems to me that the growth on the LH material displaces or puts pressure on nerves but if you push through they eventually settle down and the pain disappears.

For the past six months or so I have had intense pain through the back of my heals when I first start to walk in morning or when I have been sitting for some time. When walking it feels like I am walking on bruises but when I sit down and press into the area that is sore there is no pain. My conclusion is that nerves are under pressure when I walk probably due to the growing LH mass behind my toes. My solution is to get out and walk. Starting slow and then increasing the pace and pushing forward with my toes. I am walking 10-12km each time. Not fixed yet but I am making progress and I expect the problem to go away.

To complete the picture I am 66 so I have been dealing with this disease for at least 52 years. For me the LH came first but I had LH and DD both feet and both hands by my early 20's.

The surgery that you have had may have consequences that I don't understand but absent that information I would be advising to push through the pain. Stay active, keep pushing and the pain will go away.

Good luck

Good info . SHARED .
I am at a crossroads too. I have not made any decisions to do surgery or radiation treatments. Very little known for treatment without risks. Cannot walk on my left foot at all and forcing it walking anyway just makes it worse. Using cushioning in shoes helps a bit. I am the only caretaker for my DH . I guess icing, ultrasound and applications of DMSO will have to do for now.