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I developed a case of Dupuytren’s contracture (scar tissue on a hand tendon) after laying 650 s.f. of slate. I had a blister appear on the palm of my hand part way through the job from troweling the thin-set, even though I wore gloves. A month after I was finished and the skin healed, the lump on my tendon appeared. A trip to a hand specialist diagnosed the problem and the doctor said that unless it gets much worse, that there is nothing to do about it. So far, I have no mobility problems, only some tenderness if I grip a tool hard.
Have any of you had success in dealing with this problem? What worked or didn’t work?
Thanks!
Jack
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Dear Jack,
I think my wife had this. She had a small lump in her palm. The doctor didn't want to fix it. He told her in the olden days, they would hammer it to break the cyst.
As it turned out, we were in the shop while discussing this. I grabbed her hand, put it down to the shaper table, and gave it a good smack with a dead-blow hammer before she could see it coming.
The cyst broke, doctor called me a barbarian, and that was the end of that.
No charge, Fred
*Yikes! Dupuytren's contracture doesn't look fun at all!http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/dupuytrn.htmOn the other hand, it might be a ganglion, as Fred's wife must have had. Luckily he had a doctor and raw materials available for splinting the fractures. http://www.pncl.co.uk/~belcher/ganglion.htmThere is actually a civilised way of removing these which involves painkillers and a very large needle (in that order) to remove the fluid, which is reminiscent of Shoe Goo. I thought i had a bone spur on my middle finger and lived with it too long; i had another on my thumb deflated. Or you could buy a really nice Vaughan and pocket the difference.
*That was a ganglion cyst, not a DC. Steroid injections can sometimes help a little.Frank
*fred,And your still married??? mine would of pulled a lorena bobbit over that one. :)
*My Dad has had three of these. Operations took care of two and the third didn't get bad enough to worry about. It's strange but I had one growing and pulling a finger in for a couple months and it suddenly went away - overnight practically. No idea what I did to send it away.
*Jack;I had two lumps on my right hand that took several months to develope.Went to the doctor and he said removing them reguired surgery.He said President Reagan had the same problem and recommended leaving them alone.At that time I was drinking more than my share of beer and after many months I quit.Guess what,,those lumps have gone away.No lie!!Don L.,
*Dang, Fred! So, ah, you available for "consulatation"
*Frank,I've been told that a cortisone shot (is cortisone a steroid?) might help. Do you know whether accupuncture helps people?Thanks!Jack
*Right at the base of my ring finger on my right hand. Had it surgically removed in a hospital, but with a local anesthetic (actually, it was a nerve-block: requires an air-cuff and intervenous introduction). Ten stitches, now you need a magnifying glass to find the scar.
*Phill,Dupuytren's is scar tissue on the tendon. Do you think this is what you had? Did the surgery affect the use of your finger after it had healed? Mine is on my right ring finger as well.Jack
*Apparently that's a common spot for this injury. They didn't bother to determine ahead of time if it was scar tissue, a cyst, or tumor; it was increasing in size and it was a constant irritant. The lab later said "scar tissue". Healed very quickly and no side effects.
*Phill,Do you wear a ring on that finger? -- I just wondered if that exacerbated the problem. If not, what caused it?
*Yes, cotrisone is a steroid.The tendons run in sheaths. Fibrous adhesions prevent the tendons from moving and ultimately you get a contracture. If steroid injections don't work you can go to an orthopedic hand specialist and they can fix this up for you. Some people get multiple contractures in different fingers over time.If it really is hindering your ability to work there is help out there for you.Frank
*If you ever need surgery on a small object like a tendon, see a plastic surgeon, not an ortho. Orthos use hammers and screws; plastics use itty-bitty tools, and you'll get better results. IMNSHO, anyway.
*No ring. Not sure of the initial cause, but I used to lift quite heavy weights for exercise.
*Sports physician - mid-way between the two.
*Jack, it sounds like you have a tendon sheath nodule or a ganglion cyst, but I wouldn't go to Fred.Dupuytren's contracture is basically fiberous scarring of the fascia (underlying connective tissue) of the hand to the skin. When it gets bad, it can cause some disability, usually in an inability to open the hand fully with the 4th and 5th fingers bent. It's painless and gives the hand a puckered appearance. You may have the beginnings of this, and that's what the hand guy saw. It is associated with liver disease, alcohol, and cigarrettes, but you don't need any of those to get dupuytren's.Tendon sheath nodules form with stress like yours. They hurt when you try to extend your finger where the nodule is. They feel like a hard lump on the tendon, not painful unless you try to extend the finger. Steroid injections are good for those.A ganglion cyst is a small pocket of fluid in contact with the synovial space of a joint, or in the synovium of the tendon coverings. They're tender to the touch, and can swell up and get bigger. They often form after repeated trauma - like yours. You can pop them like Fred (the old "bible," treatment, where you slam a bible on them. You can also suck the fluid out of them, inject them with steroids, or operate on them. Sports medicine guys tend to be orthopedists, BTW.
*Benjamin,Thanks for the input. I wish the hand specialist at UCLA who I saw about this would have been as informative as your letter! He made no mention of the possibility of a "tendon sheath nodule." I will be seing the MDs again soon and will be much better informed. Thanks!The steroid shot sounds like the best first step.Jack