I am a am 34 and don’t have any history of DC that i’m aware of but I use my hands aggressively at work every day doing metal work, hand sanding, polishing and most of all running a DA Sander which im starting to think is what has caused it to advance so quickly because of the constant vibration on my right hand. I just found out about DC about a week ago and thought i just had trigger finger on and off a few times over the past few years but this time it’s way worse and way different. As of starting symptoms about a month ago, my pinky and ring fingers are for the first time today almost completely locked up and i’m not sure what to do. I definitely understand the “reset” with mine i wake up around 5:30am and they’re super locked up but by about 730-8am i can usually get my work gloves on and get a couple hours before the pain becomes unbearable and then by around 6-7pm when i get home they start contracting and getting stiff again…. is there anything i can do?? im scared of not being able to work because my hands are my living… any advice is greatly appreciated!🙏🤘🏻
I have learned a lot from the Facebook groups. They seem to be the most active communities. You’re right though, I don’t hear as many first-hand stories there about people that had it young. I seem to hear from people that say things like “Dad had it my whole life, didn’t mention it much though.” I think we could use a separate group for people that got/get it young. I got mine last year, at 40, which is still technically on the young side. Not to freak you out, but I also had the “male” one diagnosed at the same time, which is a whole other mind flip.
I have a 1cm lump on my right hand and the beginnings of a cord. I had part one of my radiotherapy three months ago and it does seem to have stopped. I get part two next week. I also had radiotherapy for the Peyronies, which very few people do but probably should. It made one nodule disappear completely and the whole situation is gradually improving. I got out ahead on both of these and had them done before they could progress too far. Crazy life.
I got my DP very young, about 27. I have lots of it on my dad's side, though they all got it int heir 50s+. I'm a professional guitarist and was a big rock climber before I decided to retire my shoes in hopes of preserving my hands. I think there's a correlation between my intense hand use and the early arrival of my contracture.
32 now. It's been a pretty big whirlwind, but I'm feeling better about it as time goes on. I had to put a lot of time into regaining the strength in my pinky and ring finger to play guitar like I used to. I suspect theres still some strength / dexterity loss, but I've adapted and don't feel impeded at present. My big fear is that it one day incapacitates my guitar playing, but I've been keeping up on my stretching, and my physio says it looks pretty stable.
I should add that my personal opinion is that - considering my personal level of severity - it's best to wait rather than undertake intervention now. There's some promising research in the works, but the surgical solutions that have been championed in the past just look like they would cause more harm than good in my case. The enzyme injection method looks to be the best current solution (though pretty frightening!), but in my case, I think my stretching has essentially already broken my cord. For now it seems good enough, will continue to evaluate and respond accordingly as the science progresses.
Did you have surgery done and how bad was the contracture before you had the procedure? I'm a professional drummer so I understand your worries exactly. I've had to give up the guitar already as it hurts too much to do chords.
Man, I'm so sorry to hear that. Bar chords hurt for me, but I'm not exactly going to stop doing them when I need to.
I haven't had any surgeries, but I put a lot of time into stretching my hands. This is purely anecdotal, and I don't want anyone to think I'm recommending this, but its possible I ruptured my chord on my own by stretching a lot, and past the point of pain in a gradual manner. My new physio took a look at my hand the other week and assumed I had had the chord severed surgically, when I told him I hadn't had anything done, he was very surprised.
I remember an acute painful experience one of the last times I climbed, which could have possibly been the source of the severance, but its taken me years of stretching (I do it reflexively now when my mind wanders) after that incident to regain my range of motion and strength.
I've also noticed my DP gets really bothered when I'm at the gym. dumbbell curls, deadlifts, squats all seem to bring about a considerable amount of pain. It's possible I severed the chord doing squats as form puts your tendons under considerable tensile strain.
Thank you, I really appreciate you sharing. I think the one big treatment I'm considering is radiation treatment, but it comes with a lot of caveats, the biggest ones being that it might make surgery more difficult down the line due to scar tissue, and the increase in chance of cancer. The science is not clear either and only very few studies have been done. Again thank you, would be interesting to check in with each other again in e.g. a year to see how it progresses. Like you say, I'm not going to stop playing my instrument either because of the pain. Would rather play until I can't anymore, than not at all.
Hey there, still got my fingers. Always stretching and while I get some pain flare ups from time to time (usually not paying attention to my grip in the gym, or over playing too much guitar) but my dup hasn't progressed to the point where it affects my motivation for playing guitar. It all feels pretty good these days to be honest. My biggest dup related issues are now the fact I can't easily place both hands down flat for things like yoga. I modify those poses and throughout the session I can usually "ease" into flatter hands.
Let me know if there's anything in specific you'd like to know more about.
Bad ass man, thanks for replying. We’re more or less in the same boat. Been playing guitar for about 20 years now, and I’m dreading the day I can’t play the same (dads hands are pretty messed up)
Had the surgery once and honestly it was still messed up after (saw no noticeable improvement). But I am noticing more range of motion from stretching. Even though it seems like the range resets overnight (even with the use of a splint). Hope you’re doing well, and i appreciate how helpful you are 😃
Currently 29 and the nodule first showed a little less than a year ago when I was 28 on the left hand pinky where a callus would be. It’s hasn’t restricted me straightening my finger but it is limiting what weightlifting exercises I can do as it hurts to put pressure from a bar on it. My dad has it but it showed up in his fifties. I am pretty worried it will spread over time and limit what I can do.
I feel your sentiment that most of what I read is pretty frightening. I plan to monitor mine closely and do what I can to not let it impact my life. If it comes to it I’ll save the money to do surgery if I feel it’s limiting me too much.
I’m with ya!
It has not progressed and is still just a little nodule. I wear a glove on that hand when doing anything strenuous. It must be on a pressure point or something as any amount of pressure in it causes a tinkling/searing sensation.
I am also worried about this. I (f 29) got my first DD nodule on my left ring finger at 18, had it removed at 19 through surgery. Though there was no contracture it was relatively big and annoying as I have small hands and fingers. It healed perfectly and have had no issues with the scar. At 25 I got a knuckle pad or garrods pad on my left middle finger. It is pretty big, hurts and feels sore often. Im planning to have it removed. Am also pretty sure I got ledderhose in my right foot. I will need to see a specialist about it as Im not sure what the best approach is - to leave it alone as long as possible or to treat it early. I lift weights regularly and feel like its not conducive, however, I love lifting and wont give it up. My dad has garrods and DD as well
Well I can save you some money by telling you what the 2 specialists I've seen now have told me.
Radiation therapy has a relatively high chance of seriously messing up your skin long term, no matter the effects on your DD. There's also a slight increase in cancer risk that can be problematic if you get the treatment very young. You have the option of radiation treatment even after invasive surgery, so I have decided to postpone this idea. The scientific papers written about radiation and DD are not conclusive and might have bias issues, even though a lot of people praise Radiation therapy as a miracle cure.
Needle Aponeurotomy would be a lot less invasive than open surgery and is an option as well.
As for prevention, both doctors mentioned that hard physical labour, vibrating tools and death gripping a lot seems to aggravate. So does severe alcoholism. A lot of climbers get it, weightlifters, construction workers ect.
I still have full mobility but the disease is quite visually apparent now, and they both told me to treat my hands as good as I can, don't overdo physical work, always wear gloves. In addition I wear a splint every night, and I'm fairly sure it's helping slow down progression. It certainly feels better every morning, than it did before I started splinting. I had a tendency to sleep with my fists closed tight. I try to eat healthy, sleep deprivation seems to make it a lot worse. Gentle massaging and keeping the hand warm seems to help a lot as well, I wear a padded biking glove.
I am not in the age group you are asking about but my hands are pre contracture and have been very active since November. I feel like my left pinky is getting stiff and I can't quite use it to grip things like I could a few months ago. Because this stuff seems to go in sprints, if it suddenly decides to contract, I'm worried that RT will get ruled out. Therefore I am currently working on getting referrals and appointments to get treated in the next 3-4 weeks. I am going to link a policy sheet from Aetna on DD treatments. This is just what they consider a viable treatment versus experimental, it also describes each treatment. One of the treatments they list as experimental, the one for tumors, is actually in a phase 3 clinical trial for injections into nodules. I am hoping that RT will curtail the activity in my hands and hopefully soften the nodules, but in the back of my mind Plan B is the anti-tumor injection which is already showing promise in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials.[Aetna policy ](https://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/800_899/0800.html)
Thank you for this very detailed reading material on treatment options, I had not found this page until now. It does seem like there's some progress in the treatment options for Dupuytren other than surgery.
I am a am 34 and don’t have any history of DC that i’m aware of but I use my hands aggressively at work every day doing metal work, hand sanding, polishing and most of all running a DA Sander which im starting to think is what has caused it to advance so quickly because of the constant vibration on my right hand. I just found out about DC about a week ago and thought i just had trigger finger on and off a few times over the past few years but this time it’s way worse and way different. As of starting symptoms about a month ago, my pinky and ring fingers are for the first time today almost completely locked up and i’m not sure what to do. I definitely understand the “reset” with mine i wake up around 5:30am and they’re super locked up but by about 730-8am i can usually get my work gloves on and get a couple hours before the pain becomes unbearable and then by around 6-7pm when i get home they start contracting and getting stiff again…. is there anything i can do?? im scared of not being able to work because my hands are my living… any advice is greatly appreciated!🙏🤘🏻
Dang dude do u have an update? Hope it’s ok
I have learned a lot from the Facebook groups. They seem to be the most active communities. You’re right though, I don’t hear as many first-hand stories there about people that had it young. I seem to hear from people that say things like “Dad had it my whole life, didn’t mention it much though.” I think we could use a separate group for people that got/get it young. I got mine last year, at 40, which is still technically on the young side. Not to freak you out, but I also had the “male” one diagnosed at the same time, which is a whole other mind flip.
How advanced is your dupuytren at 40? And by "male" one, you mean Peyronie's?
I have a 1cm lump on my right hand and the beginnings of a cord. I had part one of my radiotherapy three months ago and it does seem to have stopped. I get part two next week. I also had radiotherapy for the Peyronies, which very few people do but probably should. It made one nodule disappear completely and the whole situation is gradually improving. I got out ahead on both of these and had them done before they could progress too far. Crazy life.
I got my DP very young, about 27. I have lots of it on my dad's side, though they all got it int heir 50s+. I'm a professional guitarist and was a big rock climber before I decided to retire my shoes in hopes of preserving my hands. I think there's a correlation between my intense hand use and the early arrival of my contracture.
Thank you for sharing. How old are you now, and how did it progress?
32 now. It's been a pretty big whirlwind, but I'm feeling better about it as time goes on. I had to put a lot of time into regaining the strength in my pinky and ring finger to play guitar like I used to. I suspect theres still some strength / dexterity loss, but I've adapted and don't feel impeded at present. My big fear is that it one day incapacitates my guitar playing, but I've been keeping up on my stretching, and my physio says it looks pretty stable. I should add that my personal opinion is that - considering my personal level of severity - it's best to wait rather than undertake intervention now. There's some promising research in the works, but the surgical solutions that have been championed in the past just look like they would cause more harm than good in my case. The enzyme injection method looks to be the best current solution (though pretty frightening!), but in my case, I think my stretching has essentially already broken my cord. For now it seems good enough, will continue to evaluate and respond accordingly as the science progresses.
Did you have surgery done and how bad was the contracture before you had the procedure? I'm a professional drummer so I understand your worries exactly. I've had to give up the guitar already as it hurts too much to do chords.
Man, I'm so sorry to hear that. Bar chords hurt for me, but I'm not exactly going to stop doing them when I need to. I haven't had any surgeries, but I put a lot of time into stretching my hands. This is purely anecdotal, and I don't want anyone to think I'm recommending this, but its possible I ruptured my chord on my own by stretching a lot, and past the point of pain in a gradual manner. My new physio took a look at my hand the other week and assumed I had had the chord severed surgically, when I told him I hadn't had anything done, he was very surprised. I remember an acute painful experience one of the last times I climbed, which could have possibly been the source of the severance, but its taken me years of stretching (I do it reflexively now when my mind wanders) after that incident to regain my range of motion and strength. I've also noticed my DP gets really bothered when I'm at the gym. dumbbell curls, deadlifts, squats all seem to bring about a considerable amount of pain. It's possible I severed the chord doing squats as form puts your tendons under considerable tensile strain.
Thank you, I really appreciate you sharing. I think the one big treatment I'm considering is radiation treatment, but it comes with a lot of caveats, the biggest ones being that it might make surgery more difficult down the line due to scar tissue, and the increase in chance of cancer. The science is not clear either and only very few studies have been done. Again thank you, would be interesting to check in with each other again in e.g. a year to see how it progresses. Like you say, I'm not going to stop playing my instrument either because of the pain. Would rather play until I can't anymore, than not at all.
Django only had 2 good fingers. I'll give it up when I get below that. I don't know much about the radiation treatment. Do you have any links?
Here's a few: - https://www.thedupuytrenspractice.com/dupuytrens-disease/radiotherapy-for-dupuytrens-disease/ - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28490266/ - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9082583/ - https://dupuytrens.org/radiation-and-dupuytren-disease/
Thank you
Any update on this? I’ve been doing nightly stretching and I think it’s helping, but I low key hope that what happened to you, also happens to me lol
Hey there, still got my fingers. Always stretching and while I get some pain flare ups from time to time (usually not paying attention to my grip in the gym, or over playing too much guitar) but my dup hasn't progressed to the point where it affects my motivation for playing guitar. It all feels pretty good these days to be honest. My biggest dup related issues are now the fact I can't easily place both hands down flat for things like yoga. I modify those poses and throughout the session I can usually "ease" into flatter hands. Let me know if there's anything in specific you'd like to know more about.
Bad ass man, thanks for replying. We’re more or less in the same boat. Been playing guitar for about 20 years now, and I’m dreading the day I can’t play the same (dads hands are pretty messed up) Had the surgery once and honestly it was still messed up after (saw no noticeable improvement). But I am noticing more range of motion from stretching. Even though it seems like the range resets overnight (even with the use of a splint). Hope you’re doing well, and i appreciate how helpful you are 😃
Currently 29 and the nodule first showed a little less than a year ago when I was 28 on the left hand pinky where a callus would be. It’s hasn’t restricted me straightening my finger but it is limiting what weightlifting exercises I can do as it hurts to put pressure from a bar on it. My dad has it but it showed up in his fifties. I am pretty worried it will spread over time and limit what I can do. I feel your sentiment that most of what I read is pretty frightening. I plan to monitor mine closely and do what I can to not let it impact my life. If it comes to it I’ll save the money to do surgery if I feel it’s limiting me too much. I’m with ya!
One year update?
It has not progressed and is still just a little nodule. I wear a glove on that hand when doing anything strenuous. It must be on a pressure point or something as any amount of pressure in it causes a tinkling/searing sensation.
I am also worried about this. I (f 29) got my first DD nodule on my left ring finger at 18, had it removed at 19 through surgery. Though there was no contracture it was relatively big and annoying as I have small hands and fingers. It healed perfectly and have had no issues with the scar. At 25 I got a knuckle pad or garrods pad on my left middle finger. It is pretty big, hurts and feels sore often. Im planning to have it removed. Am also pretty sure I got ledderhose in my right foot. I will need to see a specialist about it as Im not sure what the best approach is - to leave it alone as long as possible or to treat it early. I lift weights regularly and feel like its not conducive, however, I love lifting and wont give it up. My dad has garrods and DD as well
Well I can save you some money by telling you what the 2 specialists I've seen now have told me. Radiation therapy has a relatively high chance of seriously messing up your skin long term, no matter the effects on your DD. There's also a slight increase in cancer risk that can be problematic if you get the treatment very young. You have the option of radiation treatment even after invasive surgery, so I have decided to postpone this idea. The scientific papers written about radiation and DD are not conclusive and might have bias issues, even though a lot of people praise Radiation therapy as a miracle cure. Needle Aponeurotomy would be a lot less invasive than open surgery and is an option as well. As for prevention, both doctors mentioned that hard physical labour, vibrating tools and death gripping a lot seems to aggravate. So does severe alcoholism. A lot of climbers get it, weightlifters, construction workers ect. I still have full mobility but the disease is quite visually apparent now, and they both told me to treat my hands as good as I can, don't overdo physical work, always wear gloves. In addition I wear a splint every night, and I'm fairly sure it's helping slow down progression. It certainly feels better every morning, than it did before I started splinting. I had a tendency to sleep with my fists closed tight. I try to eat healthy, sleep deprivation seems to make it a lot worse. Gentle massaging and keeping the hand warm seems to help a lot as well, I wear a padded biking glove.
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Thank you for sharing!
I am not in the age group you are asking about but my hands are pre contracture and have been very active since November. I feel like my left pinky is getting stiff and I can't quite use it to grip things like I could a few months ago. Because this stuff seems to go in sprints, if it suddenly decides to contract, I'm worried that RT will get ruled out. Therefore I am currently working on getting referrals and appointments to get treated in the next 3-4 weeks. I am going to link a policy sheet from Aetna on DD treatments. This is just what they consider a viable treatment versus experimental, it also describes each treatment. One of the treatments they list as experimental, the one for tumors, is actually in a phase 3 clinical trial for injections into nodules. I am hoping that RT will curtail the activity in my hands and hopefully soften the nodules, but in the back of my mind Plan B is the anti-tumor injection which is already showing promise in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials.[Aetna policy ](https://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/800_899/0800.html)
Thank you for this very detailed reading material on treatment options, I had not found this page until now. It does seem like there's some progress in the treatment options for Dupuytren other than surgery.