I'll comment to my own post. PT continues but the finger always ends up curled as if it's looking for an underground water source.

I haven't read where a biopsy would be the determining diagnosis. My doctor probably wouldn't go for that,and my insurance probably wouldn't cover it. I will ask at my next visit. Thanks.

I discovered the bump (L hand) near the beginning of this year. Didn't worry about it, just thought it was curious. My ex happened through town and told me it was Dupuytren's. He knew because he had just visited an old friend, whose fingers were all curled up. So I looked it up on the Web, and meanwhile I began to get cords, and I also have a semi-hard egg-shaped "pad" at the base of my index finger about an inch long and 1/2" wide.

One of the cords looks like it's headed for my little finger, but the cord isn't hard and when I bend the little finger back, I don't feel a stretch.

The bump (which is shaped like a boomerang -- Hello Aussies!) is in my "travel line" below my ring finger. If I bend that finger back, a cord that isn't otherwise apparent becomes prominent, but it's softer than the boomerang. While bending the finger back, the soft tissue over the first bone (nearest the hand) feels overly stretched. And if I press on the palm side of the metacarpal just below the finger, it hurts.

Apparently the end of the boomerang is growing a cord up into my middle finger. When I bend that finger back, the cord becomes very prominent & is hard.

I also feel that there's something "going on" in the first bone (nearest the hand) of the index finger. If I press on the inside (next to the middle finger) of that bone, it hurts.

So I went to see the only hand surgeon in Washington (state) who does APN. He agreed with my ex's diagnosis (I really hate to give my ex credit for knowing what it is, but if he hadn't told me, I would have gone longer before treatment), but because I can lay my fingers down straight on a table, and can even bend them back, both with my other hand & using the muscles on the back of the affected hand, he said come back when one of my fingers is bent 30 degrees. I feel it's better to nip the thing in the bud, do APN or radiotherapy NOW.

I'd like to hear how it went for people who got treatment (and what kind) early. Did it stop DC in its tracks? Did it come back? And for people who didn't have APN done till one or more of their fingers was trapped in a bent position -- how long has it been since your treatment, and are your fingers still straight?

And another question: I've been bending my fingers back as far as I can using my other hand, at least twice a day. And bending them back using my metacarpal muscles (I figure they need to be strong to counteract the pull of the Monster Fascia). Has anyone had a bad reaction to stretching their fingers back? Did it seem to stop the progression of DC, or make it worse?

Thanks to everyone who responds.

I had surgery two weeks ago to remove a lump at the side of my little finger which was causing me pain. It seems that the gristly growth had attached itself to the main nerve in my finger and had to be ever so carefully cut away without damaging the nerve.
At the time of surgery the surgeon took a biopsy as he suspected DD and yesterday I had my sutures removed and a confirmed diagnosis.
I have hunted everywhere for information on this as I have NO nodules on my palms or any other symptoms. I have one small lump on my middle knuckle but this has never bothered me. I can't find any information at all on my kind of DD.

My lump will grow back more than likely I'm told but unless it is troublesome I will leave it.
I have numbness now for three quarters of my finger, limited movement (which I hope will get better over time) and increased sensitivity at the tip, very tingly.
I apologise if I have not put this in right place. Is my first time here and am not familiar with it

Hi babyfoot, regarding trauma and DD you find literature on http://www.dupuytren-online.info/dupuytr...ure_trauma.html.

I have DD, i.e. an aggressively growing nodule, on the outer side of my little finger. It is close to the PIP and started to contract my finger. I did radiotherapy on this finger (for info see menu on the left side) and I am wearing a night splint on this finger. The nodule is now stable and doesn't bother me anymore.

Wolfgang

Quote:

---

I should have added that it was thought to be scar tissue following a dislocation I had two years ago. It seems that occasionaly a trauma can trigger it if you already have the disease. It is hereditary so ask your family if they have similar problems

---