Depuys Trens Syndrome

This syndrome has just started in my left hand and I am wondering if there are any SFNers out there who have the same thing and how they are dealing or have dealt with it?


I have had an initial consultation with a consultant in Macon and he agrees with me that my treatment of massage with Reiki should be the first line of defence and so far it is holding the progression.


Any responses would be helpful.


Thank you

Hilary, I am so glad you have found Reiki, it is life changing.
Brian Milne’s posts regarding collagen injections are very informative and certainly seem a much better alternative than surgery.
This syndrome is not the same in every person and can stop and start as well.

Interesting though to hear the vsrious theories. I haven’t done that much research but would be interested to hear if there are any ethnic groups that don’t get it. I was given a custom made splint which I’m using at night 3 months on from surgery as my hand defaults to the closed position if I don’t look out.

But it was so ironic after eight months waiting for electronic beam treatment at Singleton Hospital in Swansea in 1996 that never entirely fixed it, so that my index finger movement was a bit restricted but not directly affected, that a split second did the job once and for all. Even though my eyes water thinking about it. Talking to my doctor here, who knows the condition which is how he could talk about the 'stick treatment', he told me that there are occasional special clinics should it return.

Anyway, the Scottish and Norwegian myth, Miriam and Angela, has been disproved medically although there are clusters in many places around the world. I suspect that is because the NE of Scotland and parts of Norway form such a cluster, which is where my family originate and I actually have both grandmothers born with Nordic family names to boot, that I ought to subscribe to that version of where it comes from. However, there is a large cluster in East Africa, at the top of Mozambique into Kenya among several different tribal groups that hardly says Vikings very loud to me.

Think we're going back to the riki tiki thingy again.......and......my fire top fan is useless, but I love watching I turning....fan, fire, tiny whisky....bliss......

Hi Jane,

I am 64 with this condition for last 25 years starting in the left hand then the left foot followed by the right hand & right foot. All operated on twice now over the years in the U K with the largest file when attending therapy as an out patient, so I think I may be a good sounding board for information. This is a difficult condition to understand as only a specialist plastic surgeon will full understand how to operate correctly hence my amount of operations.

The most important thing is not to leave this condition until the fingers reach 45 degrees as most doctors/surgeons will do. You need to know more about this condition than the doctors you visit to achieve the best results to prevent further growth and full extended movement of the fingers.

Any person with this condition will not be told this information which it is the most important detail to limit the condition/discomfort/future treatment and retain full finger movement. When any finger bends to 18 degrees the finger and palm area must be operated on to remove the hard growth because it is so difficult for the surgeon to remove especially if left to doctors recommended 45 degrees. Here in the U K they will not tell you this or the fact you can request an operation when your finger bends to 18 degrees and they must operate within 18 weeks of your consultants appointment.

I hope this helps...feel free to ask me any questions as I may be able to answer most questions you have.

Regards Tony

Sorry but I’m laughing! I could identify with the pain though. Less than 2 weeks after my op I fell like a sack of potatoes whilst walking the dog. The air was blue and so was my hand. My face was red as I had to be helped to my feet by an elderly man while his lovely wife caught the dog. I thought I’d undone all the good work but it actually seemed to do it good as the flexibility came back from then on. We moved house too so I had no time to mollycoddle it. I can spot a Duypuytren’s sufferer from 10 paces. Apparently it’s common amongst alcoholic men. I’m a virtually teetotal woman so that theory went out of the window for me. I refer to attribute it to my Russian father & Scottish mother!

I’m glad I had it done. Yes, will act faster next time. Thanks!

Mine too but painful. After years of the remains of the lump after treatment that left a bit at the joint from my palm into middle finger of my right hand, so that I could not ball my fist, is all gone all but for a bit of stiffness. I was helping to carry an oak beam, slipped and dropped it on my hand. I have two rings on my ring and little fingers that saved me serious injury, but a goldsmith had to make them round again whilst I still had them on. The impact did something to the lump. My doctor took a look and casually told me that he had heard that people used to take a thick stick to bash them down. Anyway, after a few days as my hand stopped being painful and bruising faded the lump got smaller and has now gone. I can straighten it out after years of it being crooked and whilst I still cannot make a tight fist it is not so far off.

However, I would not recommend dropping roughly 80kg of anything on your hand! It hurts more than you might imagine, in fact so much I could not yell. Anyway, no damage done except paying the goldsmith.

You were certainly badly advised. I hope you have finally got a reasonable result but sadly it would certainly have been better had the operation been done sooner.

Hi Michael.
The first consultant I saw refused to treat mine, telling me to return when my finger touched my palm. I went to a specialist clinic in Nice, we have since moved to the Lot, who told me that I should have had it operated on a year earlier! He was marvellous. Very restricting to live with.
Regards,
Miriam

Hello Jane. I have Dupuytren's contracture (as does my father). It's supposed to show Viking ancestry!

I had an operation in Brittany on my left hand in 2002 for the tendon to my little finger. This was successful, but then a few years later it started on the next finger along. I was referred to the CHU hospital in Caen (different département), who told me that I was too young for an operation (at 40) and told me to come back only if it became painful and/or debilitating.

It's funny you should mention Reiki, as I have a friend who is a Reiki master and when I asked if she could do anything about my hand, she took a look and gave me treatment. Strangely, she seemed to connect it to my feet, so treated them too. I had suffered from foot pain too. I was absolutely amazed as it looked to me to have made a physical difference to the appearance of my hand. Without saying anything to my husband, I asked him if he had noticed anything about my hand and he picked up on it straight away.

That was about 5 years ago and my hand has not changed since. It spurred me on to do a course in Reiki myself and I often treat my hand. I have also not had the foot pain since.

Here's a little story too - not long after my operation we went on holiday, driving down from Brittany to Spain. This was, and still is, our only holiday (apart from skiing in the Alps each winter) since moving to France in 2000. We planned to stop in Limoges and find a cheap hotel, but everything was fully booked. so we continued down the motorway and spotted a sign for a "ville étape" with hotel and shops. so we spent the night there. In the morning, when we came out, we discovered that the hotel was next to a pharmacy, Pharmacie Dupuytren and opposite was a statue of the man himself. It was his home town! Serendipity?

Hi,
I had surgery for Dupuytren’s Contracture in my right hand in October. It is still improving & I have full use of my hand again although my little finger is slightly deformed & the operation site is tender & reddened. I now have it in my left hand. There’s a fine line in having it treated to early and leaving it a bit late as I did so will keep my eye on it this time. My mum is Scottish, my father Russian. Advise exercise k massage both on treated & untreated hands. Pain doesn’t mean harming the hands. My mum is Scottish!

Hi Jane

When I was in practice I would always refer patients with this condition to plastic surgeons as I believe they produced the best results. Some orthopaedic surgeons also operate on Dupuytren's contractures. It is a delicate operation and best performed by a specialist in hand surgery.

Early treatment does produce the best results although recurrence cannot be excluded. It may also develop on the other side. If treatment is delayed too long good results are difficult to achieve. In the fully developed condition the affected finger may be permanently flexed into the palm when it will make using the hand difficult and also predispose to infection of the skin creases as these are difficult to keep clean and dry. Treatment at this stage is difficult and good results are not easily achieved.

I would advise that you do not delay treatment once the finger cannot be straightened to less than 20 degrees of flexion (or if you view it the other way a minimum 120 degree angle between the finger and the palm). After this treatment is more difficult.

Surgery is the only effective treatment. Nothing else will reverse the condition and I am not aware of any evidence that any of the other treatments mentioned in other posts will prevent it progressing. All cases do not progress and many may never do so beyond a hard nodule in the palm with minimal effect on the function of the hand. These cases do not require any treatment.

As I am now retired and no longer in active practice this information should be regarded as for general interest only and you should be guided by the advice of a specialist experienced in treatment of this condition before you make a decision.

Jane, my husband had this condition. Did you know that only people who have Scandinavian ancestors have Dupuytrens (in my husbands case it’s from his Scottish side!). Last year he underwent a procedure in England and was injected with a substance that was then massaged and manipulated to break down the fibrous mass. It was very successful and he now has full stretch of his fingers. My husband tried all kinds of massage before the procedure but it gradually got worse. There is also a surgical procedure you can have if it’s very bad but luckily this wasn’t necessary in his case.

The problem in my left hand is much reduced and the lumps have nearly diSappeared.

I had progressively-worsening Dupuytrans in the left hand, together with a long-standing'lump' which proved to be a non-malignant schwannoma. had the 'op' at St Joseph's in Angouleme a year ago. Day surgery - minimal fuss, brilliant surgeon (apparently it is the best centre for 'hands' in France) and the only downside was 2 weeks of heparin injections after the event. Hand was a bit sore for a while, but now fine, with full mobility restored. Thinking about having the right hand done. (Note - I went to my GP in the UK re this in January 2000 and eventually received an appointment with a consultant in mi-2001 - 12 months after moving to France!). My advice is to go for the operation.

I've gone from called Brittany Bob to Reiki Robert, energy healing? Here's me thinking it was an ointment, each to their own, lol...I think females do as much damage to the world as males and blow themselves u at the same time, anyway that's got nothing to do with your hand.....

It is Reiki Robert, it is energy healing and it softens the tendon.

Too much testerone on display worldwide at the moment!

Thanks for this Brian, my own personal research assistant!

As I said before, I am a long way from needing this treatment, but it does help to be aware of what is the latest and least invasive treatments.

I will mention it to my GP when I go for my six month prescription update.

Thanks.