Dupytren's Contracture - Any Fellow Sufferers?

[GolfLug]

11 hours ago, Shorty said:

Just looked it up 😱

How much time do you spend doing this, GL?

Few minutes. From what I read, any squeeze rubbing can help 'fiber splitting'. It seems to work. Of course, I can imagine it could be painful and prolly not as effective for some advanced stages. 

[boogielicious]

4 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

Few minutes. From what I read, any squeeze rubbing can help 'fiber splitting'. It seems to work. Of course, I can imagine it could be painful and prolly not as effective for some advanced stages. 

I tried applying a little heat first then massage with my thumbs. It didn’t seem to help and I did it for several weeks. What is squeeze rubbing?

[GolfLug]

8 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

What is squeeze rubbing?

I guess I better term would be deep tissue  massage. 

9 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

I tried applying a little heat first then massage with my thumbs. It didn’t seem to help and I did it for several weeks.

I use quite a bit of force.

I also have been doing it to break down the post op scar tissue in my ankle and stiffness. I can't quantify the improvement as result of the massage but I have a lot more mobility than 3 months ago. I will keep at it. 

I guess genetic make up will do it's thing but I am a firm believer that all soft tissue responds to massage, some more some less. I see DC the same way as a see scar tissue. Gotta break it down. 

[DeadMan]

I can't speak to this condition, but I had hand surgery last summer to reattach 2 tendons in my left pinkie. Some more general thoughts from me first, and then I'll talk about my experience if you'd like. If you opt to have hand surgery, make sure you discuss the recovery process with your hand surgeon. The healing process is easy, and hand surgery is not as invasive as most other surgeries (although it looks like this surgery is way more invasive than what I had). I had basically no pain after surgery. The bitch is the physical therapy. Make sure you talk to your doctor about what physical therapy will look like for you after the surgery. Also make sure you have a hand surgeon, not any old orthopedic surgeon. Hand surgeons are way more qualified and skilled than a regular orthopedic surgeon. Finally, ask how long it will take before you can use your hand for normal activities again. 

I'm basically back to normal in my pinkie and hand now, but it was a pretty intense process. I started physical therapy 2 weeks after my surgery. From 2 weeks until about 4 months after surgery, I saw a hand therapist every 2 weeks. 6 weeks after my surgery, the physical therapy got very intense. At that point, I started doing exercises on my finger every hour I was awake. I was also doing about an hour of scar massage every day to break up the scar tissue. It's been about 6 months on, and I'm still doing exercises almost every hour, trying to get that last little bit of movement back. Note that I had to learn to move my pinkie again, and I had to break through a bunch of scar tissue to get the tendon to be supple again. After 6 weeks, I was allowed to do most things, but I didn't get the okay to golf until 3 months after the surgery. I had to use dictation software at work because I could only type with one hand for a while. I couldn't really cook or, the worst part, hold my baby for 6 weeks. 

The surgery itself was simple and healing was fast. Like I said, I had basically no pain. My incision was only about 1/3 of the way down my palm, though. They removed my stitches 2 weeks after the surgery without any problems. The scar is not very noticeable. Sadly, haha. I should get a better scar out of all this at least!

I do not regret the decision to have surgery, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to move my pinkie. Looking back, I wish I knew more about the recovery process in advance, because that was the most arduous part. 

 

[boogielicious]

3 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I can't speak to this condition, but I had hand surgery last summer to reattach 2 tendons in my left pinkie. Some more general thoughts from me first, and then I'll talk about my experience if you'd like. If you opt to have hand surgery, make sure you discuss the recovery process with your hand surgeon. The healing process is easy, and hand surgery is not as invasive as most other surgeries (although it looks like this surgery is way more invasive than what I had). I had basically no pain after surgery. The bitch is the physical therapy. Make sure you talk to your doctor about what physical therapy will look like for you after the surgery. Also make sure you have a hand surgeon, not any old orthopedic surgeon. Hand surgeons are way more qualified and skilled than a regular orthopedic surgeon. Finally, ask how long it will take before you can use your hand for normal activities again. 

I'm basically back to normal in my pinkie and hand now, but it was a pretty intense process. I started physical therapy 2 weeks after my surgery. From 2 weeks until about 4 months after surgery, I saw a hand therapist every 2 weeks. 6 weeks after my surgery, the physical therapy got very intense. At that point, I started doing exercises on my finger every hour I was awake. I was also doing about an hour of scar massage every day to break up the scar tissue. It's been about 6 months on, and I'm still doing exercises almost every hour, trying to get that last little bit of movement back. Note that I had to learn to move my pinkie again, and I had to break through a bunch of scar tissue to get the tendon to be supple again. After 6 weeks, I was allowed to do most things, but I didn't get the okay to golf until 3 months after the surgery. I had to use dictation software at work because I could only type with one hand for a while. I couldn't really cook or, the worst part, hold my baby for 6 weeks. 

The surgery itself was simple and healing was fast. Like I said, I had basically no pain. My incision was only about 1/3 of the way down my palm, though. They removed my stitches 2 weeks after the surgery without any problems. The scar is not very noticeable. Sadly, haha. I should get a better scar out of all this at least!

I do not regret the decision to have surgery, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to move my pinkie. Looking back, I wish I knew more about the recovery process in advance, because that was the most arduous part. 

 

Thanks for letting us know about this.

[dennyjones]

7 hours ago, DeadMan said:

I can't speak to this condition, but I had hand surgery last summer to reattach 2 tendons in my left pinkie. Some more general thoughts from me first, and then I'll talk about my experience if you'd like. If you opt to have hand surgery, make sure you discuss the recovery process with your hand surgeon. The healing process is easy, and hand surgery is not as invasive as most other surgeries (although it looks like this surgery is way more invasive than what I had). I had basically no pain after surgery. The bitch is the physical therapy. Make sure you talk to your doctor about what physical therapy will look like for you after the surgery. Also make sure you have a hand surgeon, not any old orthopedic surgeon. Hand surgeons are way more qualified and skilled than a regular orthopedic surgeon. Finally, ask how long it will take before you can use your hand for normal activities again. 

I'm basically back to normal in my pinkie and hand now, but it was a pretty intense process. I started physical therapy 2 weeks after my surgery. From 2 weeks until about 4 months after surgery, I saw a hand therapist every 2 weeks. 6 weeks after my surgery, the physical therapy got very intense. At that point, I started doing exercises on my finger every hour I was awake. I was also doing about an hour of scar massage every day to break up the scar tissue. It's been about 6 months on, and I'm still doing exercises almost every hour, trying to get that last little bit of movement back. Note that I had to learn to move my pinkie again, and I had to break through a bunch of scar tissue to get the tendon to be supple again. After 6 weeks, I was allowed to do most things, but I didn't get the okay to golf until 3 months after the surgery. I had to use dictation software at work because I could only type with one hand for a while. I couldn't really cook or, the worst part, hold my baby for 6 weeks. 

The surgery itself was simple and healing was fast. Like I said, I had basically no pain. My incision was only about 1/3 of the way down my palm, though. They removed my stitches 2 weeks after the surgery without any problems. The scar is not very noticeable. Sadly, haha. I should get a better scar out of all this at least!

I do not regret the decision to have surgery, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to move my pinkie. Looking back, I wish I knew more about the recovery process in advance, because that was the most arduous part. 

 

Many, many years ago, I cut my left pinkie at work.  I didn't think it was anything serious, no real pain.   I was headed on vacation the next day.   Two week later and I still couldn't straighten the finger.   The tendon had been cut.   Because it happened at work it was a Workman Comp claim and I heard all kinds of crap from the boss and the medical department.   The shop doctor tried to convince me that I was too  old (26) to have the surgery and the finger would be fine since I wasn't in any pain.   

I had the surgery and they placed a pin in my finger from the middle knuckle to a little past my nail.   It was irritating but not painful until they removed the pin w/o any anesthesia.    

The hard part was the PT.   I didn't have any and worked with the finger myself.   Arthritis has caught up to some of my fingers but still vividly remember the PT.    

Edited March 4, 2021 by dennyjones

[Shorty]

On 3/4/2021 at 4:01 AM, DeadMan said:

 If you opt to have hand surgery, make sure you discuss the recovery process with your hand surgeon.

 

Yes - thanks for the great information. This is something I have concerns about.