Hi all,

Have read a lot of the last week re DC. I have also worried a lot. I am a 54 year old fit male. I am Right hand dominant and am still playing cricket, have played all my life and now coach a lot too. I am fit and otherwise healthy. About 2 months ago I notice a lump in my palm of my left hand between the thumb and index finger in the lower web part. There is no pain or discomfort and I can do the palm and stretch test fine. I had an ultrasound on it this week and the image doctor said it was DC and my GP said it was DC. My feeling it that because it has arrived quickly that it may be aggressive. My GP said do nothing till you need to and she reckons that will be about 1 year. I am very active , love my cricket and restore cars as my hobby. I hope to retire to this in the next year or so.
I have many questions but here are my main ones,

will stretching and massage etc help and how much and how hard should I do this?
Could this make things worse?
I know this is hard to predict but will this mean my Hobbes will be dudded in the future. I don't think I could take that.
IS there anything else I can do to keep this off?
Are there any surgeons or hand guys anybody would rec in Brisbane?
Could this be a cyst???
I have attached a pic of my hand. I have many more questions but any experience or advice would be good.
PS no history in my family at all. I would reckon my hand has copped thousands of knocks form cricket balls since I was 10. I did read that some ex test cricketers have DC as well.

Many thanks
Clinton

Welcome Clinton

It's not clear at all from the photo what that slight swelling is. So maybe not DD, but you need to rely on an experienced hand physician.

If it is DD then for most at your age it develops slowly. So slow down, keep a record with photos and continue the research.

I was in a similar position to you, but have confirmed DD, and hobbies that use my hands: tennis and piano. I researched treatment options preferring the conservative non-surgical ones and life goes on including the hobbies. I wonder why you are asking about surgeons? Surgery when there is no contracture is not recommended, and there are alternative less invasive choices for different stages of DD. But maybe you won't need them anyway, if it is indeed DD as for most it does not progress to contracture anyway.

As callie says deep massage is not normally recommended but there is a practitioner who claims success, and can advise your own massage therapist on his techniques. http://www.ealingmassagetherapy.co.uk

I would: slow down, take a deep breath, start keeping a record with photos, explore graduated treatment options, find physicians, clinics for those options, get the diagnosis confirmed, then if DD ... do nothing but wait and start taking care of the hands.

Best wishes

SB