Author Archives: STL314

Dupuytren’s Contracture Self-Help

Posted on by STL314

How to do Dupuytren’s contracture home treatment  

Dupuytren’s contracture self-help: 5 easy steps  

This website is all about Dupuytren’s contracture self-help.  Meaning, DCI helps people use do-it-yourself natural treatment strategies specifically for Dupuytren’s contracture.  However, the difference with DCI self-care is that you are not alone.  You will not have to guess about your Dupuytren’s contracture self-help.  Everything you need – all therapy products and information about them – is together, all in one place.  You will know what to do, when to do it, and how much to use.  That being the case, let DCI be your source for home treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture.

Since 2004, DCI has worked with 1000s of people doing Dupuytren’s contracture self-care.  We average 8-10 reports of moderate to marked success with Dupuytren’s contracture natural treatment, for every one report of failure – when doing Dupuytren’s contracture self-help as we suggest.

Using natural remedies for Dupuytren’s contracture self-directed treatment appeals to people.  Very often, however, they do not know how or where to begin.  They are not sure which, or how many, vitamins, mineral and enzymes to use.  DCI has all this figured out for you.  There is no guessing with the DCI method.  Best of all, each treatment plan comes with complete detailed information for the best results possible.

DCI Dupuytren’s self-care in a nutshell

Dupuytren's contracture self-help treatment in a nutshell is easy. Basically, the central idea of the DCI method is to “gang up” on the fibrous palm lump. Attack the problem from several different directions – with different kinds of therapies – at the same time.  This combines nutrients (coenzyme Q10, vitamin E, l-arginine etc.) for soft tissue healing, fibrin-eating enzymes, plus stretching, ultrasound, DMSO, etc.  Whatever medical science says helps heal Dupuytren’s contracture, we include in the mix.   No one else does Dupuytren’s contracture self-help like DCI.

There are no short cuts

The key to DCI home treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture is simple.  If you want the best results possible for your DC, do all five steps.

Remember, natural vitamins, minerals and enzymes are not forceful and dangerous drugs.  By comparison, these therapies are gentle.  They cannot make your body do anything.  Instead, they allow your body to work better by supplying those nutrients needed for thousands of healthful chemical reactions in the body.  This generous supply of various nutrients supports and encourages a stalled or slow DC healing process to work better.

Small, occasional or brief Dupuytren’s contracture self-help treatment will not get the job done.  Natural treatment works best when done as aggressively as possible.  Do not limit Dupuytren’s contracture home care to only what is convenient, easy or appeals to you.  Do all five steps, and do them faithfully and well.

5-steps for Dupuytren’s contracture self-help

  1. Get started – Select a plan                                                                                                       

HOW TO SELECT YOUR BEST SELF HELP TREATMENT PLAN

First, decide how you want to treat your problem.  This often comes down to deciding how much time, money and effort to devote to your recovery.  In addition, you should listen to your doctor’s opinion how to do home treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture.

Most people use one of the three DCI treatment plans – small, medium or large.  By far, the large treatment plan is the most popular.   A small percent of customers design their own unique plans.  Of these, they often add to or subtract from an existing plan to suit their needs.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a tough problem to treat.  Even small and early DC problems can be very stubborn and slow to respond.  In these cases, the large plan offers a great advantage based on the diversity of therapies, and earns faster results.  This can save time, money and effort in the long run.

Of course, there are reasons a person would want to use as few therapies as possible – cost being the most obvious.  A good strategy to reduce cost is to shorten treatment time and avoid hand surgery, by getting better results.  Repeatedly, we see good treatment results come to those who work hand and use a diverse and balanced mix of internal and external therapies.

See what you can accomplish first with conservative self-help treatment.  Do as much as you can, and be as aggressive as possible, for at least 3-4 months to give your hand enough time to respond.

For a great starting point to a select treatment plan.    HOW TO SELECT A SELF HELP TREATMENT PLAN

  1. Internal therapies

Taking MSM, nattokinase, PABA, acetyl-L-carnitine, etc., is a guarantee of taking everything the hand needs to eliminate the Dupuytren’s contracture lump and cord.   The broader and more diverse the internal therapies that are used, the better the results tend to be.

Science says these particular supplements found on the DCI website are involved in the Dupuytren’s contracture healing process.  They supply a wide variety of nutrients for the large and complex biological process of healing the DC palm lump and finger cord.  Give your tissue all the nutrients it needs.  Prepare your body to heal DC to the best of its ability.

Link – All Internal Therapies used in a Dupuytren’s contracture home treatment plan.

  1. External therapies

This refers to another layer of DC treatment applied directly to the palm, from the outside.  External therapies focus an entirely different kind of treatment directly to fibrous DC tissue.

DCI suggests using one or more external therapies:

  1. DMSO trio – Each is applied on top of the palm lump and finger cord to soften the thick fibrous tissue. Consists of:
  • DMSO – from the laboratory of Stanley Jacobs, MD, pioneer of DCSO research
  • Super CP Serum – Copper peptide
  • Vitamin E oil – high A. C. Grace quality as found in capsules
  1. Ultrasound – the non-drug treatment of choice for many soft tissue problems. Detailed instructions, easy to understand, come with each unit.

DCI offers a lightweight, portable, affordable 3 MHz ultrasound instrument.  It is popular for several reasons:

  • Good reports of effectiveness from users
  • No pain; comfortable to apply
  • Safe, no side effects
  • Do at home, anytime and day
  • Applied directly to the problem tissue
  • Easy to apply
  • Economical
  1. Moist heat – to increase circulation and soft fibrous tissue. Saturate a large towel with hot water and wring it out, or a moisture-proof heating pad applied to the hand.

Link – All External Therapies used in a Dupuytren’s contracture self-help plan

  1. Diet

This has nothing to do with losing weight. Keep it simple.  Avoid those foods that give you digestive trouble.  Keep your digestive tract happy. This will improve absorption of necessary nutrients for better health and healing.

  1. Avoid specific foods that bother you.  Examples:
  • Onions
  • Hot, spicy foods
  • Pizza
  • Alcohol
  • Sea food
  • Pickles
  • Nuts, etc.
  1. Avoid general or broad food categories that bother you.  Examples:
  • Gluten
  • MSG
  • Dairy
  • Caffeine
  • Sulfites
  • Lactose
  • Amines, etc.

  1. Stretching

Gently and frequently, stretch the tight palm tissues.  Think of it as gently coaxing the lump and cord to relax and lengthen.   Sneak up on it.

Link – Detailed information about gentle palm stretching for Dupuytren’s contracture.

Understanding Dupuytren’s contracture home treatment    

Dupuytren's contracture self-help strategies must be done faithfully and aggressively. What the medical profession says about using nutrition for Dupuytren’s contracture self-help comes from their drug research.

All standard medical research for nutrients is the same.  They test a single nutrient (MSM, PABA or vitamin E, etc.) as a solo or stand-alone therapy.  This is the same way they test powerful drugs.  Naturally, any nutrient tested this way fails, or does poorly.  Yet, they report it is a failure of the nutrient, when it is really their failure to understand the difference between how vitamins and drugs work.

For example, to evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin E against Dupuytren’s contracture, they test two large groups of people with DC.  One group receives vitamin E, or more likely a synthetic vitamin E.  The other group receives a sugar pill – a placebo.  Neither group knows if they are taking the vitamin E or the placebo.  At the end of the research, the hands of both groups are evaluated for changes. The purpose of doing it this way is to see what effect vitamin E – and only vitamin E – has on Dupuytren’s contracture.

Such research is faulty because nutrients exist and work in combinations with other nutrients.  No nutrient exists or operates alone anywhere in nature.   You cannot find a drop of pure vitamin E by itself in nature.  It does not happen that way.  All nutrients exist in large combinations because they work together in combinations.  Yet, medical research tests vitamins in isolation, each by itself.  One type or category of vitamin does not heal Dupuytren’s contracture.  A large group of vitamins, minerals and enzymes do.  Yet, all vitamins testing is done like this.  It does not make sense.

Medical opinion about Dupuytren’s contracture self-help   

A person cannot get information about natural Dupuytren’s contracture self-help in the average medical office.

MDs are experts who specialize in drugs and surgery.  However, they do not study nutrition.  Instead, they study chemistry as it relates to drugs. Thus, only a rare MD knows much about nutrition or natural healing.  If you ask your local MD about nutrition for Dupy, most likely you will be told, “Well, I guess you could try some vitamin E,” and not much more than that.  The average MD uses vitamin E like it is a drug.  Meaning, they use vitamin E all by itself.  As a solo therapy.it is expected to make a magical difference for a complex and difficult problem.  They use all nutrients this way.  That is why they get poor results with them, guaranteed.

For this reason, the average MD firmly believes that only drugs and surgery could possibly help Dupuytren’s contracture.   They believe that Dupuytren’s contracture home treatment is a waste of time.  Still, they deny the shortcomings of Dupuytren’s contracture drug treatment and hand surgery.

Currently, the only way to do natural Dupuytren’s contracture treatment is to do it yourself.  Many things in life are like this.  If you want something, sometimes you just have to do it yourself.   Good luck with your Dupuytren’s contracture self-help treatment.

For information about Peyronie’s disease.

 

Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound

Posted on by STL314

Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment – 3 MHz at-home unit

Ultrasound treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture

Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment is a non-invasive therapy applied directly on the DC fibrous tissue in the hand.  Ultrasound for Dupuytren’s contracture has a great therapeutic effect, especially on the soft tissue.  Soft tissue is high in collagen and fibrin cells. Examples of soft tissue are muscles, tendons, ligaments, muscles and scars.  Add Dupuytren’s contracture to that list because palm lumps and finger cords are mostly made of collagen and fibrin. In fact, ultrasound therapy is the non-drug treatment of choice for many soft tissue problems. Clearly, Dupuytren’s contracture is a soft tissue problem ideally suited for ultrasound treatment.

Using ultrasound for Dupuytren’s contracture makes sense. After all, the palm nodule and finger cord are made of the same type III collagen and fibrin normally found in the palm.  The problem is, in DC there is too much of it.  For this reason, ultrasound treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture is a popular therapy that appeals to people.

People like treating Dupuytren’s contracture with ultrasound for several reasons:

  1. No pain; comfortable to apply
  2. Good reports of effectiveness from users
  3. Safe, no side effects
  4. Do at home, anytime and day
  5. Applied directly to the problem tissue
  6. Easy to apply
  7. Economical
  8. Can also be used to treat arthritis of small joints

Ultrasound treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture was included into the DCI large treatment plan in 2012.  That same year DCI started to advise adding it to any plan that was not working well.  Since then, many times over, ultrasound has made all the difference to ineffective plans that needed a little boost.

3 MHZ Ultrasound Information

DCI experience with Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment

Because 72% of DCI customers combine ultrasound into larger size plans, DCI treatment results are good.  Indications are that ultrasound boosts Dupuytren’s contracture treatment results. When our treatment suggestions are carefully used, 8-10 people report moderate to marked improvement of their DC, for every one report of failure. Indeed, Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment is an important part of that success.

What is ultrasound?

It is not complicated. Simply, ultrasound is high-pitched (high frequency) sound a human cannot hear. Specifically, ultrasound is sound greater than a frequency of 20,000 Hz.

The abbreviation Hz stands for hertz. Hertz is a unit of measurement to count vibrations that happen in one second. One hertz (Hz) means something vibrates one time in one second. 17 Hz means something vibrates 17 times in one second. When something vibrates a million times in a second, it is abbreviated 1 MHz. This is important. 1 MHz is a common sound frequency when discussing ultrasound. And, so is 3 MHz.

For reference, the frequency of the human voice is 85 to 255 Hz. Further, the human ear can hear within a range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. At 1 MHz, ultrasound cannot be hear by any human. Not even by a bat.

When electricity passes through a small mineral crystal, it will vibrate.This vibration creates sound. Like when a bell vibrates and makes a sound. The sound frequency depends on the size and shape of the crystal.  As we already know, ultrasound vibrations can go well past a million per second. Once created, ultrasound waves pass from the sound head of the machine, and travel into any tissue it contacts.

Sound energy moves whatever it contacts.  When ultrasound energy contacts the human body, that part of the body will vibrate at the same fast frequency, also.  Further, ultrasound vibrations will transfer into abnormal, malfunctioning or injured tissue. As we will see, this is important because vibrating living cells makes them work faster and better.  This is the key to why Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment is so important.

This is fast        

There are two kinds of medical ultrasound:
1.  Diagnostic ultrasound – to create images (ultrasonography) and for information to make a diagnosis.

2.  Therapeutic ultrasound – to treat pain, reduce inflammation, reduce spasm, and promote healing, primarily of soft tissue in the body.

In a medical clinic or hospital, ultrasound machines are large and produce sound at a frequency of 1,000,000 cycles per second (1 MHz). They are useful for treating a variety of problems in all areas of the body.  However, in the last 10 years, even faster ultrasound frequencies have appeared.

Specifically, there are 2,000,000 (2 MHz) and 3,000,000 (3 MHz) ultrasound units now available.  At these higher frequencies, something interesting happens.  Slower ultrasound penetrates the tissue deeper than faster ultrasound.  A 2 MHz sound wave does not go as deep into the body as a 1 MHz sound wave.  And, a 3 MHz sound wave does not go as deep as a 2 MHz sound wave.  Either way, faster ultrasound energy creates resistance to deep penetration, keeping the sound energy at the surface.  While the slower sound energy allows deeper penetration. There are times and situations when it is important to keep the ultrasound energy at the top layers of the body.  Such as, ultrasound treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture.

Currently, there are 3 MHz units that are battery operated making them potable, smaller, lighter, easier to use and less expensive.  These battery operated 3 MHz units are ideal for Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment at-home use.

3 MHZ Ultrasound Information

Dupuytren's contracture ultrasound treatment for self-help at-home 3 MHz therapy with the HS-3040 What does ultrasound therapy do?

Doctors use therapeutic ultrasound primarily for soft tissue (tendon, ligament, muscle and joint) problems. Soft tissue responds better to ultrasound than any other tissue (liver, bone, brain, etc.).  This is so because soft tissue has a high collagen and fibrin content.  Collagen and fibrin are very high in protein. This is why we eat meat, because of the collagen and fibrin found in meat. It is the protein of collagen and fibrin that responds so well to the vibration and up-regulation of the metabolism.

When tissue vibrates so fast, a few things happen that are important to all soft tissue problems, especially Dupuytren’s contracture:

  • Heating effect:  Warms the tissue by vibration and friction, caused by sound waves hitting and shaking the tissues. Just like rubbing your hands together. However, this heating happens deep below the surface where there are no nerve endings. For this reason, the patient cannot feel the tissue becoming warmer. Remember, this warming benefits the DC healing process. A heating pad or hot water bottle can only warm the surface of the body.  It only feels hot on the surface. The heat cannot get down deeply because blood circulation carries the heat away. Ultrasound warms all tissues faster than the blood can cool them.  In fact, it even warms the blood vessels.  As important as this thermal effect is, the non-thermal effects are even more powerful.
  • Non-heating effects:

  • CAVITATION – the formation of dissolved temporary gas cavities or voids within body fluids and tissue cells.  Formation of these gas voids increases the metabolic activity of cell membranes. Cavitation also increases the effect of the acoustic streaming phenomena, next.  These cavities collapse almost immediately, releasing a large amount of energy.  In turn, this results in additional deep warming.

  • ACOUSTIC STREAMING – a small-scale ripple effect of any fluid near a vibrating structure, such as cell membranes or fluids inside a cell.  This is an extremely powerful form of fluid movement.  It increases the activity and metabolism of any cell in the energy stream.  It makes sodium and calcium ions pass more easily through cell walls.  In turn, enzymes work better, protein metabolism is increased, and the cells function at a faster rate.  Consequently, all these changes “up regulate,” or excite cellular activity.  Thus, ultrasound acoustic streaming acts as a trigger to increase the therapeutic outcome of healing and repair.

  • MICROMASSAGE – a mechanical shaking or vibration, enhancing tissue fluid interchange, as well as cellular movement.

In summary, the combined effects of cavitation, acoustic streaming, and micromassage is that the metabolism of cell membranes is “excited” (up regulated) by these waves of energy.  Of course, this is a good thing to assist ultrasound therapy for Dupuytren’s contracture repair.

Not all therapeutic ultrasound the same

Use 3 MHz, not 1 MHz – keep in case the above title must be eliminated

Dupuytren’s contracture is a relatively superficial soft tissue problem.  The dense fibrous tissue is immediately below the skin surface.  Any ultrasound machine used to treat Dupuytren’s contracture must have a particular frequency range to keep the therapeutic sound waves within the palm lump and finger cord.  A 1MHz machine penetrates too deeply to be effective for Dupuytren’s contracture. This sound frequency is good for treating large joint problems of the hip, knee and low back. By contrast, a 3 MHz unit penetrates just a little below the surface, for cosmetic problems like facial wrinkles and skin discoloration.  What is more, it is ideal to treat Dupuytren’s contracture.

To summarize, use 3 MHz ultrasound to treat Dupuytren’s contracture.  A faster 3MHz unit produces ultrasound that works near the surface of the skin, where the problem of DC is located. Not deep down The sound waves of the 1 MHz and 2 MHz ultrasound machines travel too deeply for good Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment.

Using ultrasound treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture

Full instructions for using our 3MHz ultrasound machine come with each DCI order.  You will have all the information you need to use ultrasound correctly for Dupuytren’s contracture therapy. The DCI notes make it easy to use ultrasound at home.  No one complains they do not understand.

As good as ultrasound therapy for Dupuytren’s contracture might be, it is still not an effective solo or stand-alone therapy against DC. But then again, no single therapy is an effective solo or stand-alone treatment against this difficult problem. For this reason, DCI does not recommend anyone use one single treatment method – no matter what it is – against Dupuytren’s contracture. Many medical studies test treating Dupuytren’s contracture with ultrasound, using it as a stand-alone or solo therapy. DCI does not recommend doing it that way.It takes a lot sometimes to support an effective effort to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture.

Dupuytren’s contracture ultrasound treatment is not a magic bullet or cure for palm lumps and finger cords. It only helps the healing process.  Ultrasound is a great tool to assist the healing process. Regardless, it still takes a lot of time and work to get the job done to the best of your ability.

Please discuss the use of ultrasound for Dupuytren’s contracture with your medical doctor. Natural Health Education LLC and DCI will assume you have talked to your doctor and gotten approval for ultrasound use in your case, or you will not order this medical device.

How to Reverse Dupuytren’s Contracture

Posted on by STL314

How to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture

Can Dupuytren’s contracture be reversed, really?  

Reverse Dupuytren's contracture to stop growth and development, by supporting ability to heal better.First, before answering this question, it is important to explain what it means to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture (DC).

Medical literature explains the usual progression of DC in detail.  It describes how growth of the palm lump, or finger cord, can stop and slow down as it develops.  Further, these changes can go so far that the Dupuytren’s contracture even self-heals in its early stages.  This can take place over a span of many months, or even years.  This variable development of DC occurs only because the body can affect the fibrous DC tissue.  That being the case, these minor and brief changes can go as far as being able to self-heal or reverse Dupuytren’s contracture.

It is reasonable to look upon this stopping, slowing and reversing of Dupuytren’s contracture as an incomplete or failed healing.  The body always tries to be well.  Accordingly, the body is programmed to heal itself to the best of its ability. It is how we survive. Sometimes the healing works, and sometimes it does not.  For this reason, the best and easiest way to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture is to help the body heal itself.  Using the DCI treatment strategy increases the odds for the body to do a better job of healing and repair. Think of it as a way of taking advantage of a natural process that needs a little help.

Body is smarter than science

There is a lot that science does not know.  Science still does not completely understand how the body does the thousands of common daily activities, like:

  • Making a red blood cell
  • Digesting food
  • Regulating blood pressure
  • Thinking a thought
  • Mending a broken bone

Specifically, medical science freely admits it knows little about DC.  It is not necessary for science to understand how the body self-heals DC.  The DCI encourages how the body reverses Dupuytren’s contracture, even if the process is a mystery.

Help the body reverse Dupuytren’s contracture, naturally

The DCI therapy method is simple and direct.  Supplying certain vitamins, minerals and enzymes floods the problem tissue with what it needs to heal most effectively.   A few dietary changes and external therapies support healing further. The idea is to assist the body to repair a little better than it is currently, and in this way reverse Dupuytren’s contracture.

DC is a tough and stubborn problem. A general going into war will use as many different weapons from different directions, as possible. DCI does something similar.  It is not a small effort to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture.  It requires intense and aggressive treatment effort, from different directions, to support successful healing.

Once you see how to stop Dupuytren’s contracture, it is not complicated, and makes sense.  Brief outline of DCI treatment method:

  1. Dietary avoidance – Strictly avoid those foods that give you digestive trouble. Keep your digestive tract happy. In this way, there is improved absorption of necessary nutrients for better healing.
    A.  Any specific food sensitivity.  Examples:
    1) Onions                                             2) Spicy, hot foods
    3) Pizza                                                4) Sea food
    5) Pickles                                             6) Nuts, etc.
    B.  General or broad food sensitivity.  Examples:
    1)  Gluten                                            2)  Carbohydrates
    3)  MSG                                              4)  Dairy
    5)  Caffeine                                         6)  Sulfites
    7)  Amines, etc.
  2. DCI treatment plans – more information about DCI treatment plans
    A. Vitamins, minerals and enzymes important to reversing Dupuytren’s contracture – used internally
    1) The key to using these DCI plans is to take them correctly in combination on a
    gradually increasing dosage schedule
    B. DMSO trio – used externally
    C. Ultrasound therapy – used externally
  3. DCI hand stretching exercises

Apply all these therapies at the same time.  Follow the specific instructions provided with each plan.

Effectiveness of DCI therapy plans to reverse Dupuytren’s contracture

DCI has been around since 2004.  It works with men and women to help them at least slow, and sometimes reverse, their Dupuytren’s contracture.  Reports we receive indicate 8-10 people see moderate to marked success over their DC, for every one report of failure.   Those who closely follow the DCI instructions they are given, and allow enough time for the tissue to respond, get better results. Please refer to Start Dupuytren treatment.

Not all DC gets worse

Not all cases of DC look, act, develop, or end up the same.  There are always minor differences between cases. All the experts agree on that.  One of these differences is whether there is improvement, or reversal, of the palm lump, especially during the early stages. This improvement or reversal can be minor or great.  The reversal can also be brief, followed by a return of the Dupuytren’s contracture palm lump.  On the other hand, permanent when the palm lump reversal never returns.

Some experts say DC is permanent and constant, and never reverses itself.  Other experts report that DC will sometimes improve.  But then again, there are always differences of opinion, even among the experts.

Primarily, someone’s view about reversing Dupuytren’s contracture depends on his or her experience.  Those who talk only occasionally to a few DC cases might not hear much about self-correction.  DCI talks to people from around the world, and hears hundreds of stories about reversal.  For example, DCI records show 5-10% of people with DC report one or two brief periods of reversal or improvement of the palm lump in the early stages. This is a small percent, but significant when the reversals become permanent.  This is where DCI would like to see all people.

Reversal of Dupuytren’s contracture is great news for anyone with a palm lump or finger cord.  When a palm nodule or finger cord reverses, even a little, it is a small and imperfect variation of DC healing.  Reversal means a person has hope, a chance, to push it even further to complete healing.

Can you reverse Dupuytren’s contracture with hand surgery?

You might think, “Why do all this work?  I can have some kind of hand surgery, like needle aponeurotomy or a fasciectomy, to reverse my Dupuytren’s contracture.  Snip, snip, and it is gone, right?”

No. Hand surgery of any type, even the hand surgery of a Xiaflex injection, does not reverse Dupuytren’s contracture.  After DC hand surgery, the hand still has the tendency to over-produce fibrous tissue.  And it often does just that. The purpose of DC hand surgery is to do only one specific thing:  To improve finger movement as much as possible.  Not to get rid of Dupuytren’s contracture.

Dupuytren’s contracture surgery removes just enough fibrous palm tissue to allow the fingers to move better – for a while. However, some abnormal fibrous tissue remains behind after surgery.  Removal of it all is impossible. For this reason, too much fibrous tissue can still be created after  injury, or other reasons. Meaning, the palm lump and finger cord can grow back in time.  The term for this is Dupuytren’s contracture recurrence.

Dupuytren’s contracture recurrence

Reverse Dupuytren's contracture without hand surgery so their is no Dupuytren's contracture recurrenceCommonly, 2-4 years (sometimes as soon as 6 months, or as long as 10 years or more) after DC surgery, the palm lump or finger cord will return.  Because of this, half the people who contact DCI for advice have had one or more hand surgeries. These people often say the same sad thing. They thought their first Dupuytren’s contracture hand surgery would eliminate their hand problem. They thought their hand would be normal after their first surgery. The opposite happens.

When DC returns after hand surgery, the hand can become worse for three reasons:

  1. A little normal skin and muscle tissue is lost with each hand surgery.  After a few hand surgeries, those losses add up.  The hand becomes clumsy, weak, or achy.   In addition, each hand surgery damages normal and healthy nerves and blood vessels. This results in inevitable pain, numbness and circulatory issues.  Even excellent surgeries leave the hand less than perfect.
  2. Each surgery leaves behind some old DC fibrous tissue that can continue to cause problems, as it continues to grow larger. Think of pruning a bush to stimulate new growth.
  3. Each surgery can stimulate new Dupuytren’s contracture fibrous tissue that can further contract the palm and fingers.  The new DC naturally grows larger.  Think of stirring up a beehive.

This explains why so many patients with Dupuytren’s contracture have so many hand surgeries.  It is common for someone who develops DC in their 50s to have 2-5 hand surgeries by the time they are in their 70s.  The record number DCI has heard about is one person having 11 Dupuytren’s contracture hand surgeries. So, no, the idea you can reverse Dupuytren’s contracture with surgery is not true.

Conclusion

Everyone who has palm lumps, finger cords and contracted fingers wants to know how to stop Dupuytren’s contracture.  Medical science only thinks about drugs and surgery.

What is Dupuytren’s Contracture Homeopathic Treatment? 

Posted on by STL314

Dupuytren’s Contracture Homeopathic Treatment   

    How to use homeopathy for Dupuytren’s contracture

Dupuytren’s contracture homeopathic treatment is an important part of a balanced holistic therapy plan.  It is an excellent way to support and encourage the body to self-heal this disease.  However, as good as homeopathic therapy is, Dupuytren’s contracture is still a difficult and challenging problem to treat.

For this reason, DCI suggests using a diverse Alternative Medicine program to support the body’s effort to heal and eliminate DC.  Dupuytren’s contracture homeopathic treatment is just one more way to treat this problem.  The idea is not to use homeopathic treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture as a stand-alone or solo therapy.  We suggest using homeopathy for in a larger formal Dupuytren’s contracture treatment plan with other  types of natural therapy.  This multiplies the effectiveness of all therapies that are used.

People report to DCI what happens when they use their combination treatment plans.  We receive 8-10 reports of moderate to marked success using DCI treatment plans that include homeopathy for Dupuytren’s contracture, for every one report of failure.  When used as DCI suggests, the results increase.  When used incorrectly, the results suffer.

For specific information about homeopathy and Dupuytren’s contracture, please read below.

Connection of homeopathy and Dupuytren’s contracture

Many studies and research suggest homeopathic treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture can be an effective option.

For example, a 2003 research study at the University of Hamburg, Germany, was titled, “The effect of homeopathic plant extract solutions on the cell proliferation of human cutaneous fibroblasts in vitro.” It identified 11 homeopathic remedies that slowed or reduced fibroblast cell growth. Notice that key word, “fibroblast.”  As you recall, fibroblasts are specialized connective tissue cells found in every tissue and organ.  Fibroblasts are cellular protein-making factories.  They also produce the various connective tissue elements, as found in Dupuytren’s contracture.  There is an over-abundance of fibroblasts in the palm during the early stage of Dupuytren’s contracture.  Therefore, this study shows how homeopathy can help Dupuytren’s contracture, in a big way.  By slowing fibroblast cell growth, Dupuytren’s contracture homeopathic treatment can alter the production and composition of the palm lump and finger cord.

Next, a 2010 double-blind study in the British Journal of Dermatology reports that homeopathy can influence tissue repair.  It showed that an arnica homeopathic remedy reduced the hematoma (bruise) and pain during postoperative recovery.  In addition, there was overall improvement of tissue healing reported.  Obviously, the ability of homeopathic to improve tissue repair and healing is important to using homeopathy for Dupuytren’s contracture.

Controversy about homeopathy, explained

Homeopathy is a controversial topic. A number of its key concepts do not conform to current medical thinking. For example, it is not possible to explain in scientific terms how a product containing little or no active ingredient can have any effect on the body. This, in turn, creates major challenges to rigorous clinical investigation of such products. For example, researchers cannot confirm that an extremely dilute mixture is actually present, as stated on the label.  Nor are they able to develop objective measures that show effects of extremely dilute products in the human body.

Even so, the Lancet and other medical publications of high regard have published information favorable to homeopathy. The Queen of England has her own personal homeopath. Walgreens, CVS and other drug stores now sell dozens of different homeopathic formulas for a variety of health problems, right along with over-the-counter drugs.  This trend toward acceptance of homeopathy says a lot about its effectiveness and safety.

Using Homeopathy and Dupuytren’s contracture

Another research challenge of homeopathic treatments is that they are highly individualized.  There is no uniform prescribing standard for homeopathic practitioners.  The homeopath prescribes to the symptoms of individual patient, and not to the condition treated.  For this reason, there is no standard treatment for any particular condition.  Further, there are hundreds of different homeopathic preparations, prescribed in a variety of different dilutions for thousands of symptoms. Not all Dupuytren’s contracture looks, feels, or acts the same.  Different cases of DC have different symptoms.  Therefore, homeopathic treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture would be different in each case.  This drives medical thinking crazy.

Homeopathy is comparatively inexpensive, and often downright cheap.  Homeopaths usually prescribe and dispense homeopathic preparations from their offices.  Thus, homeopathy does not support the drug industry. Homeopathy is an annoying competition for the drug industry that works to destroy it.  This is the primary reason for the controversy about homeopathy.

Get started using DCI natural Dupuytren’s contracture treatment  

Difference of opinion about homeopathy

Yes, there is abundant evidence that homeopathy does work.  However, there is also evidence that it does not work. There is controversy like this in many areas of medicine.   A major reason for controversy about homeopathy is due to the difficulty of studying anything so diluted that it disappears.  In a homeopathic preparation, the original substance mentioned on the label is so dilute that there is no chemical trace of it. Only the energy of that substance remains. This is why some MDs scoff at homeopathy.  However, other MDs never use conventional drugs, and use homeopathic therapy exclusively.

Why all this confusion and controversy about homeopathy? Some valid scientific research on this subject says homeopathy is effective, and some equally valid scientific research says homeopathy is not effective.

To become an MD, a person has to be rather smart, and rather educated.  For this reason, it is significant for an MD to say homeopathy is not effective.  However, there are other MDs, just as smart and just as educated, who say homeopathy is effective. They use it exclusively to treat their patients, and never use conventional drugs.  Which group is correct?

Sometimes it is difficult to know exactly what to do about Dupuytren’s contracture homeopathic treatment. Sometimes you just have to try things and see what happens, after doing your best to investigate and educate yourself. Adding a homeopathic therapy to your treatment plan adds an inexpensive and wider energy-based therapy to your Dupuytrens effort.

Satisfaction with homeopathy

There are many published research reports on the pubmed.gov website about patient satisfaction with homeopathy.  These studies are in the 90-95% satisfaction range for being fairly to very satisfied, a high satisfaction rating.   The interesting part of these reports is that almost all these patients were treated for chronic conditions, and failed at standard medical treatment. Yet, they were very satisfied with what homeopathy did for them.

Please investigate the subject of homeopathy to your satisfaction. If after doing so you wish to try homeopathy for Dupuytrens contracture, there is aScarStat can be used as part of a Dupuytren's contracture homeopathic treatment plan. special formula that DCI uses, called ScarStat.

Homeopathic remedies are extremely safe when taken as directed. Like all homeopathic remedies, ScarStat is easy to take and easy to transport in liquid form. Taking ScarStat as your homeopathic treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture is an easy way to broaden your therapy plan inexpensively, and further increases your odds for success.

Suggestions for using Dupuytren’s contracture homeopathic treatment

Because homeopathy is all about energy, using ScarStat homeopathic preparation is very different from using traditional medicine.  There are several “rules” to follow, since it is critical that you receive the maximum effect of the energy available in any homeopathic preparation.

Other forms of energy can adversely influence and weaken the effect of any homeopathic formula.   Therefore, be very careful how you handle the homeopathic spray bottle:

  • Do not expose to excessive heat.  Keep away from a hot car, hot stove, etc.
  • Do not expose to direct sunlight.  Avoid expose to direct sunlight for longer than necessary.
  • Do not expose to x-ray radiation.   Never let a homeopathic remedy go through an X-ray detector at the airport.
  • Do not allow tip of the dropper to come in contact with the inside of mouth, or anything else that will contaminate it.   

More information about  ScarStat

How to take ScarStat 

Please follow these suggestions for taking ScarStat in a diversified Dupuytren’s contracture treatment plan:

  • Your mouth must be “clean” before you take any homeopathic remedy. Do not eat or drink anything – even water – 3-5 minutes before and after taking ScarStat.  Mint candy or gum is the worst thing you can take that will reduce the benefit of any homeopathic preparation.  Further, avoid any strongly flavored food or drink 20 minutes before and after you use ScarStat.
  • Place 3 drops directly under the tongue. It is not good enough to drop or spray the liquid into the mouth.  Absorption happens best under the tongue, so please raise the tongue.
  • Hold liquid on the floor of the mouth for at least 30 seconds, then swallow. Do not cheat on time.
  • Take 2-3 times per day. Take more often than this if you feel it necessary.

While you are treating your Dupuytren’s contracture with homeopathy avoid coffee, mint, peppermint and preparations containing menthol, eucalyptus and camphor.  These can interfere with the action of any homeopathic remedy.

Conclusion

DCI has done this work since 2004, working with people from around the world.  We find homeopathic treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture to be a critical part of any successful plan.  Over the years, DCI has investigated many homeopathic formulas to treat Dupuytren’s contracture.  We have found ScarStat to be an effective, safe and reliable homeopathic treatment for a wide range of people.

Having Dupuytren’s contracture is serious. Many people are casual and overly trusting about Dupuytren’s contracture surgical treatment.  They are told hand surgery is a simple and easy solution for their hand problem.  Seldom is this true.  Most people do not know about the speed and frequency of recurrence of Dupuytren’s contracture after hand surgery.   Usually, the first hand surgery is just the beginning of more hand surgeries. The cumulative results can be horrific.

Good natural treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture should include homeopathy to give the body the best opportunity to heal the DC palm lump. DCI averages reports of success from 8-10 people who report moderate to marked success over their DC, for every one report of failure.

Better to first try every option for conservative treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture before venturing out into surgery.

Please click homeopathy information, for more general information on this topic.

 

 

Musicians with Dupuytren’s Contracture Can Slow Dupuytrens Progress

Posted on by STL314

Musicians with Dupuytren’s contracture have an option to play 

How musicians might delay Dupuytren’s contracture and help their career

Musicians with Dupuytren's contracture cause low-grade inflammation over the years and make hand problems worse. Musicians with Dupuytren’s contracture know they are in trouble.  After working so hard, for so long, DC can take away their music, and ruin careers.  Dupuytren’s contracture does this by limiting finger spread, finger accuracy, fluidity and more.  It humbles and embarrasses a musician’s playing skills.

However, musicians with Dupuytren’s Contracture have non-surgical options.  Especially musicians.  These options take their direction from a single realization. Musicians, more than most people, fuel their DC with bad mechanical habits and soft tissue stress.  That is not to say structural and mechanical stress is the cause of Dupuytren’s contracture.  Only that, in many cases, chronic low-level soft tissue inflammation in the hand and arm can usher Dupuytren’s contracture into someone’s life.  Changing bad playing habits, controlling and reducing soft tissue stress and inflammation can slow the progression of DC.

Some anatomical and mechanical stresses that lead to DC are sudden and traumatic.  Such as carpal tunnel surgery, or an arm fracture.  Other stresses are gradual, endlessly repeated and subtle.  Like a potter at the wheel, or a musician straining every part of the arms for personal perfection.

How do you want to do it?

Anatomical and mechanical stress is not the stress of the activity itself, but how the activity is done.  Actually, the activity is not very important.  It can be anything.  What is important is how the activity is done.

Two butchers carve, chop and carry meat. One ends the day exhausted, with tight and achy hands, arms and shoulders.  The other feels great, and is refreshed.  Two musicians put in eight intense hours of practice.  One musician is exhausted, with tight and achy hands, arms and shoulders.  The other, feeling good, later goes to a small club to play in a trio until closing.

You can do it easy, or you can do it hard.  How do you want to do it?

Take control of the problem

Musicians with tense and stressful playing technique are often in pain, and risk developing Dupuytren's contracture. Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute started in 2002.  Since then, I have questioned countless musicians from around the world about their DC and hands.  I always ask how they use their bodies when they make music.  Apparently, musicians commonly become tense, from the shoulders down, in two common situations:

  •     When fatigued and stressed
  •     When playing unfamiliar and complex music

Seldom is there a musician who cannot reduce this kind of situational tension.  They know where this tension and stress is located in their body.  And, they know when it happens.  This makes changing these response and habits easier.  It also makes slowing Dupuytren’s contracture easier.  Keep in mind, “It is me tensing my body.  Twisting and bending my fingers and arms in a weird way.  I am doing it.  I can stop it.”

Why this is important if you have Dupuytren’s contracture

Not all Dupuytren’s continually worsens to a crippling state. Some DC fades away completely.  It just disappears for some reason.  Other cases advance slowly, and then become stable for decades.  There are certain internal mechanisms and responses, explored very little, that apparently slow and even stop the progression of cord and palm lump development.

Many people with DC instinctively use common sense to control and slow their DC.  They stretch out, relax and use their arms and hands in different ways until they find something that relaxes the tension they feel.  For some it helps a little, for others it does wonders, and somewhere between for most.

This article presents detailed ideas and suggestions to help musicians with Dupuytren’s contracture know how to do this more often and with better results.

What I learned at the U of I School of Music about Dupuytren’s contracture

For several years, I practiced chiropractic in Champaign-Urbana, where the University of Illinois is located.  There, I began to treat several professors in the School of Music.  Most had chronic upper body problems common to musicians.  Because of the extensive soft tissue work I did, they referred their students with similar complaints.  Musicians became a large part of my practice.

Previously, my patients were farmers, factory workers, the elderly and car accident victims.   As a group, musicians presented a different clinical picture.  In many ways, they were physically distressed in an unusual way.

Common injuries start with one sudden impact or force, often to a large area.  Music-related injuries, I learned, are micro-injuries.  They build over time.  Small and repeated stresses applied daily for years, cause tiny isolated injuries and low-grade inflammation in the hands, arms and shoulders.

Many cases of DC start without genetic tendency, diabetes or drug side effects – and no trauma either.  What I learned working with these musicians applies to these situations. There is no overt or obvious trauma.  However, there is plenty of trauma in the form of daily music practice.   Namely, repetitious soft tissue stress of playing of a musical instrument can be so traumatic as to trigger a Dupuytren’s contracture response.

Musicians and the Dupuytren’s contracture connection

Pushing the limits of musical ability, all of the upper extremity suffers repeated stress injuries. Inflammation and Dupuytren's contracture can result. eteh hands and playiing abouFor some people, everything they do is like a boy killing snakes.

It is common for musicians to put everything on the line, especially when striving to play a tiny bit better.  Many, perhaps a majority, play their instrument like a boy killing snakes. They squint their eyes.  Their nostrils flare.  Their knuckles get white.  They brace themselves internally in preparation for doing something difficult. They hold their fingers, hands, wrists and arms tense with effort, pushing themselves to create a better sound.

The trouble is, they are always trying to do a little better.  Good musicians push themselves.  However, in time, the body shows signs of all this intense effort.  It takes a toll.  Fibrous knots and “triggers” appear in the shoulders, around the elbows, throughout the wrists and forearms.  The arms and hands become tight and uncooperative from knotted soft tissue and muscles.

Medically, all this soft tissue tension reduces blood flow, and increases white blood cells and various enzymes in the area.  This sets up a complex cascade of mast cell and macrophage infiltration into the injured area.  They signal a fibrous tissue infiltration into the area.  This is a classic low-grade tissue inflammation response.  In DC, it is a wildly excessive response.  Medicine has been investigating it for 50 years plus, and they still do not understand it completely.

Bottom line:  For people with a hereditary predisposition, low-grade tissue irritation and inflammation is the perfect situation to develop Dupuytren’s contracture.   Avoid it.

Evaluate playing technique 

Years of prolonged practice and intense effort, pushing for personal excellence, takes its toll on the upper extremities.  The longer it continues, the worse it gets.

Sore violin and guitar fingers and hands are common among players.
  What other tissue changes have       taken place inside the hand?

Musicians with Dupuytren’s contracture should evaluate the various tensions they create while playing.  With DC as the motivation, changing structural memories and habits can reduce the tensions in the soft tissues.  This will allow some level of healing to occur.  In turn, this slows the progression of Dupuytren’s contracture.

If you have DC and play music, it is wise to assume you have one or more localized areas of body tension.  You simply have to discover it and control it.  Frequently stop your play.  Locate the tenseness and rigidity of joints and muscles, from your shoulder to your fingers.  Names of muscles are not important.  You only need to know where, and when, you hold yourself tight for no good reason.

Genetic factors, and past medical history cannot be controlled or changed.  However, how the upper body is used,  and tension in the hands and arms, can be controlled and reduced.  Doing so should give your body a chance to function better, and reduce chronic low-grade soft tissue inflammation that feeds Dupuytrens.  This should improve your local circulation and muscle metabolism, which in turn could slow down your Dupuytren’s contracture.

Work hard to play with soft hands   

Musicians should learn to play less tense and tight to avoid hand problems like Dupuytren's contracture. d
Little up a little, please !

Your music teachers taught you good mechanics and posture.  Have your good mechanics and posture regressed over the years?  How much does your posture and finger technique change right before that difficult chord or complex passage?  How much do you tense up when you push your limits?   As the hours of practice pass, how does your touch and tension change?

Look for your bad habits and tenseness, and change.  In short, loosen up.  Start practice loose, and stay that way.  Practice being light and easy during difficult passages and sections.  Focus more on you, and less on the music – at least for a while.

Recognize you are probably:

  • Pressing on strings, frets and keys harder than necessary to get the same sound
  • Holding your bow or pick with more tension and force than necessary
  • Tensing hand and forearm muscles in ways that might help your technique, but hurt the muscles, joints and ligaments
  • Practicing beyond fatigue, causing your posture to falter, tensing from the shoulders down
  • Abandoning good mechanics for the sake of better sound

Because of bodily excesses your musicality is not as good as it could be.  When you play hurt, you cannot possibly play at your best.  Ironically, what you are trying to improve and accomplish in your music with these excesses only diminishes it.

Strategies to reduce upper body stress and tension 

Experiment with different ways to reduce muscle tightness and tensions that will benefit your fingering technique.  (Remember, what you do way up in your shoulder influences your fingers.)  Large changes are not necessary.  Tiny shifts in angles, degrees and muscle contraction can greatly improve how the body operates and performs:

  • Change the angle of a bent wrist, or straighten it completely
  • Straighten a finger that is usually bent
  • Bend a finger that is usually straight
  • Intentionally roll the shoulder a little forward, first the left, then the right
  • Deliberately push the shoulder back just a tad, first the left, then the right
  • Sit further back, or further forward, in the chair
  • Sit with a small towel under just one butt cheek, then the other; change the towel thickness
  • Stand with one foot forward, and then the other.
  • Stand with the toes slightly turned in, then slightly turned out, more than usual

Musicians with Dupuytren’s must experiment 

Make just one change at a time.  Try it for a whole practice session, or longer.  Do not rush the process of experimenting with new ways of doing old things and postures.  Give each a fair chance to loosen achy and tense hands and arms.  Do not be too quick to say something is not helping.  It takes time.

Experiment with all aspects of your finger and hand music technique, and playing posture.  See what happens.  Little goofy tweaks in posture and arm position – how you do what you do – can have a positive ripple effect up and down the chain.

See how good it feels to stop beating yourself up.

Get help

Your chronically abused upper extremities – and Dupuytren’s contracture – need more help than you can provide.

Seek out a great professional massage therapist; they were once known as body workers.  A person who identifies and eliminates chronically tight and contracted soft tissue associated with a variety of pathologic states.  Someone who has gifted hands.  This is not someone who does nicey-nicey full-body massage. A serious massage therapist can sometimes make you feel uncomfortable.  It is worth it to make dramatic deep soft tissues changes that are permanent.

Or, look for a chiropractor who does a lot of manual soft tissue work.  Someone with extensive training and experience in kinesiology, orthopedics or sports medicine.  Lots of experience.

Note:  Be careful who you ask for a referral name.   Ask people who have a reason to know who is best in your area:

  • Yoga teachers (not just a yoga student)
  • Martial art instructors (not just a  martial art student)
  • Owners and managers of fitness and exercise centers
  • Gymnast coaches
  • Seasoned body builders
  • Seasoned ballerinas, professional dancers and those who teach them

These people are connected to a select community you do not know about.  They know who has the special skills and gifted hands you need.

Once you find someone to help you, they can do more than work your tissue.  Ask to bring your instrument into the office to watch your play.  Get advice and suggestions about changing various postures while you play.  Small, but important, things to do while you play:

  • Raising or lowering your elbow or shoulder
  • Bringing your instrument closer or further away
  • Holding your instrument at a different angle or direction
  • Finger placement on your instrument

I did this all the time with my U of I musicians.  The benefits were often dramatic.

Stretching Dupuytren’s contracture gently is important

Also, it is critically important to stretch this tense soft tissue gently.  How to do it safely and effectively is a large subject.  DCI discusses simple gentle stretching methods here.  How to safely stretch Dupuytren’s contracture

Forced to stop doing what you love

Dupuytren’s contracture is a lousy problem.  It can take you in a horrific direction no one wants to go.  Over the years, I have talked to many musicians who could no longer play.  Professional musicians who had to quit music.  How sad.

If all this is a difficult imposition to your art, so is being forced to quit.  You have sensible and conservative options to play.  Do not stop what you love to do without first vigorously exploring all possibilities.

These ideas and suggestions are often helpful at least to a small degree, and sometimes to a great degree.  Success depends on how well you use these ideas.  When these ideas do not help, it is typically because Dupuytren’s contracture surgery complicated the situation too badly.

You will never know unless you try.

If you are a musician with Dupuytren’s Contracture please send an email to info@naturalheatlheducationllc.com to discuss reducing your upper extremity stress.

 

For information about natural Peyronie‘s disease treatment.