Dupuytren's Contracture? Knots on my palms.

[David]

A few weeks ago I noticed some knots on the palms of my hands. A quick internet diagnosis turned up Dupuytren's Contracture.

I mentioned it at lunch with co-workers and a few of them held up their hands with the same knots and same diagnosis.

So how common is this and why am I just now hearing about it?

[Tobra]

Fairly common

Also affects the feet, can also manifest on your junk, no really, Peyronie's disease.

[red-beard]

If you can tie knots in you junk!

Well, that is something!

[RSBob]

Dad had it and then he died. Just kidding, he had an outpatient surgery and that took care of it

[mrbeverlyhills]

Surgery is obviously pretty radical, keep flexing, bending fingers back and working the knots. You (we all should) try a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in water 2 times a day to reduce inflammation and limit acidity in the body, it has helped me maintain my knots at the size when I discovered them 5 years ago. Great for heartburn BTW
Called The Viking disease, common in the UK where there is a strong Danish heritage. Some folks there are seeing a benefit from radiation therapy but honestly, unless you get it real bad, that is also pretty radical.
Should also stay up on your minerals: potassium, selenium, magnesium and zinc are known to be a benefit for Dupuytrens.
I just started a nightly mix of DMSO cream (Amazon) and powdered Boric Acid mixed, rubbed on the knots, fellows in the UK suggested it. I'll keep you posted how it works, supposed to take a few weeks to see any results.

[Craig T]

I have it too. It came up about 8 years ago at the age of 50. It's nothing to worry about until it gets so bad that it starts to pull the finger down. Even then its not painful or serious, just inconvenient, and nearly impossible to reach into you pocket.

I saw a hand surgeon at UCLA. He said many people get the knots or "cord" and it never pulls the finger down. Some people go 20 years with it and then one day it just tightens up. He won't do the surgery until it's really pulled down. The scaring is bad and there's a decent risk for nerve damage.

I stretch my finger back a couple times a day, or whenever I think about it. There's no evidence stretching, or any kind of dietary supplements have any effect, but I stretch anyway. Can't hurt.

[jrj3rd]

Yep, the curse of Skandahoovian Heritage as my Dad would say. Only drawback I have found

50% of my siblings have it. Not bad enough yet to do anything about it according to the Docs.

Will have words with Odin when I get to Valhalla.......

[Evans, Marv]

I did actually have one on my junk. The wife massaged it until it disappeared. Unfortunately it didn't seem to take nearly long enough to get rid of it.

[wdfifteen]

How is it transmitted from your hand to your .... oh, never mind.

[sc_rufctr]

Oh ****.... It looks painful!

more stuff to look forward to

[Tobra]

It is a defect in the palmar, penile or plantar fascia, ya sick bastages.

Your collagen fibers go from being nice and organized, to being a bit of a mess.

Fun surgery, lots of soft tissue dissection. Fun if you are on the right end of the knife goes without saying.

[A930Rocket]

Never heard of it, but on a side note....

What causes hairy palms? 🤪

[Bill Douglas]

I had it or thought I had it. Googled it and found it didn't go away. Bugger.

But it turns out it DID go away. I don't know why or how. But it's gone. I had it for about three months. So fingers crossed - pun not intended, yours goes away.

[Noah930]

In short, there's nothing you can really do about it, so don't worry too much about it and leave it alone. It'll follow whatever course it wishes, no matter your attempts at interventions.

If it starts contracting down your fingers (so you can't straighten them out), that's when it's time to see a hand surgeon.

[macssc911]

Had it for years went to hand specialist, I did the injections into the area. It was amazing after 24 hours I went back the doc took my hand and bent it back, I heard this crazy cracking sound in my hand. All the fibers had broken up. You will need to wear a hand brace for a few weeks. Make sure you research and get the right doc find one that’s done quite a few. The injections need to be in the right place or your tendons could be damaged. Oh yea it’s Irish decent hereditary disease
Good luck

[David]

Mine is not bad enough to worry about. I'm just surprised at how common it is and that I'd never heard about it.

What other things will be going wrong with my body that I haven't heard about?

[Zeke]

This has been discussed before as I did a thread on it maybe 4 years ago (hard to search). Recently as I was at the orthopedic surgeon's office regarding my shoulder surgery (now done and in my 5th week of recovery), he noticed my hands. This office does a lot of hands, traumas and on down the line. They do use the injections and I would trust this cat to do just such. In fact, I've already responded as to my willingness and he just said one thing at a time.

Another orthopod I spoke with is not so much in favor of the injections and he used to do the open surgery. He found that over the years that it wasn't the best solution as the recovery is intense and DC does and will come back. So now he recommends going in with a needle like knife and slicing the tissue surrounding the tendon(s) to relieve the contraction. After a brief recovery period for the tissue to heal, his regimen is to wear a brace that keeps your fingers straight at night only for 6 months. I don't like that idea as much but he does and he's the surgeon so I can respect his opinion.

Back to the injection: my roofer friend said he went to a hand specialist and did the injection. Went back on the 3rd day and the guy straightened his hand out right on his desk! Surprised the hell out of my friend but he said that was all there was to it. Go back to work when it doesn't hurt.

Go figure.

[Tobra]

In the foot, you commonly see recurrence unless you strip out the entire plantar fascia. Don't see much in the way of digital contractures in the foot, like you see in the hand.

[Mike Andrew]

Damn northern European heritage!!!

Winner on all 3 - Dupuytren's, Ledderhose's and Peyronie's. Multiple hand surgeries and one on the foot. Taking a conservative drug based approach on the Johnson for obvious reasons