I was recently diagnosed with DD in my right hand. I am 37yo with no family history. Nodule appeared after a biking accident and trauma to area close to the new nodule. Nodule appeared ~ 30 days after the injury. It progressed quickly but seems to have slowed for the past few months. I am considering RT but physicians are hesitant to proceed due to my young age and the risks of RT for secondary cancers. We are going to monitor progression and I will receive RT if things seem to progress further.

Please share your experience with how quickly your DD progressed from first being noticed. Has anyone seem regression without treatment? I am unsure how to proceed because I don't want to miss the early onset time where RT may be effective for DD treatment.

Thanks!

I'm sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. I'm sorry but I cannot offer any suggestions regarding your treatment, but I can share my progression history.

Since I was about 12, I noticed that I could not easily and completely straighted my left little finger. I had noticeable and painful nodules in my left ring finger beginning in my late teens. I have a significant family history with DD, with my grandfather, mother and an aunt having very dibilitating cases. I was officially diagnosed at age 50 with DD in both hands (I am a female). Within 3 or 4 years I can feel and see an increase in my DD, but with little impairment in my daily and usual activities.

For me, the progression has been very slow and I've received no therapy for any symptoms. I am most worried by the obvious contractions in both thumbs, especially since I am a musician and additional contractions will soon begin to limit my ability to play and perform. At this time it seems that only my index and middle fingers on both hands will not be affected.

I cannot see a connection, personally, between any injuries and an increased progression of my DD. I currectly have nerve pain in my right thumb in the area that is contracting, and this may be connected to the developing cord contraction. I have the occasional nodules and joint flare ups in the second joints of my fingers (the 2nd joint in from the finger tips), but these do not seem to be related to the DD. If I ever thought something occurred suddenly (nodules or an increase in the contraction), it's because I likely did not notice it at first. For me this is a very slowly progressing disease. I know I will face operations or therapy at some point, but not likely before I'm in my late 50s or early 60s (or later).

I know of two year old children given extensive XRT for cancers and they are at risk of developing other cancers later in life. With Dupuytren's the XRT is to the surface layers of the skin and the equipment is calibrated so the radiation is focused at the layer with the connective tissue. The radiation does not even get to the bones in your hand. Compare that to an X-ray of your head by your dentist.

Cancers take 20-40 years to develop in the case of UV radiation from the sun and chemically induced cancers as with the consumption of more than an ounce of alcohol a day (and half that amount for women) increases the risk of certain cancers including colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and bladder cancer, bu up to 60 percent but not too many family doctors are telling patients not to drink any beverage with alcohol.

Usually the progression of the disease in the feet is more gradual as the process of walking will continue to break up the fascia where the disease tissue is causing a problem. Xiaflex might help but it is not currently authorized for use on the feet.

In the final analysis it is a subjective decision and not one where you should rely on the advice of a doctor as they have no skin in the game and for insurance reasons they will always stick with advice that entails the least risk on their part.