Hello Forum, and apologies for being MIA for a decade. I was an infrequent poster back in 2014 and lost track of my login credentials until running across them by pure chance today.

Background: My grandfather and my father both suffered from Dupuytren's quite badly, and it's quite likely that other ancestors also suffered from it. My grandfather hid his but those close to him knew that his hands were pretty curled up and not very useful at end of life. He never had any treatments and passed in 1992. My father began having symptoms in his early 60s, and had a couple of surgeries but they were not really very successful and now at 91 years old he can pretty much not hold onto anything and his hands are too curled up to grab anything.

Because I was aware and am very interested in continuing use of my hands I began to observe nodules in my palms in my late 50s. As a life long radiation worker I'm pretty conversant on the risks vs rewards of radiation and do not harbor irrational fears about proper uses of radiation. I did online research and found and had Dr. Weiss at VCU treat my hands ( I think she's still there at VCU). My hands were irradiated in two series of five consecutive days each, with the sequences being about a month apart. I am 69now, turning 70 in December, just over 10 years after treatment and have experienced no nodule growth nor loss of digit flexibility. I can see the nodules but they have not grown in ten years, and I can lay my hands on a flat surface and lift each finger up with and without any assist. While it is not possible to speculate on what conditions my hands would be if I had not undergone the treatments, I am very happy that I still have full use of my hands. I will be sure to check back in and try to answer any questions others might have.

Good luck, all.

sherylsr:

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That is awesome! I was diagnosed three months ago (age 65) and the nodules in my left hand seem to have grown more since then. I hope to have RT in the next month or so. Thank you for sharing! Gives me hope.

Likewise I haven't been on for a while.

I had RT in the UK 15 years ago. I already had a cord on my RH little finger with obvious nodules and I wanted to stop progression at that point because I have limited use in my left hand through brain injury. Thankfully that's what happened and my RH hand is as good today as it was then. Long may that continue!


Cambridgeshire, UK.

Yes, that's really encouraging! Thank you!

I start my first round of RT December 9.

Yes did my hand 7 years ago All good and quiet. I now use cycling gloves if doing anything involving banging etc. All good

Had both feet done 2 years later. No change in size but still decreasing in size. Feet are, more difficult really, as walking does not let the nodules chill out.