Dupuytren’s contracture pictures show palm lumps and finger cords
Pictures of Dupuytren disease tell only part of the story
Dupuytren’s contracture pictures help to understand how terrible this hand deformity problem can be.
People read that nodules or lumps on the palms and one or more contractures of fingers are common in Dupuytren’s contracture. Nevertheless, that is difficult to imagine or understand what DC looks like. To appreciate this problem they need to see pictures of Dupuytren’s contracture. Understandably, in the early stages of Dupuytren’s contracture any person is very worried about the many small changes in the hand. Not knowing about a problem is often the worse part of a condition like this.
The gallery of Dupuytren’s contracture pictures that follow assists general knowledge about this disease process. Use these pictures of Dupuytren contracture for your general education. On the other hand, compare these pictures to your own situation, to see how bad the hand distortion can become.
Hopefully, after viewing these Dupuytren pictures you will feel perhaps relieved you are not so bad off in comparison to other people’s situation.
How can I naturally treat my Dupuytren’s disease?
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Do not try to make a diagnosis of Dupuytren’s contracture with these pictures. If you have not yet visited your doctor for a formal diagnosis, you are encouraged to seek a doctor’s opinion about your problem.
The worse aspect of DC is not how the hand looks in a picture. Instead, the most important aspect of this problem concerns the usefulness of the hand. No picture can show how the limited movement and restricted activities reduce the ability of the person to live a full and comfortable life.
Before viewing these pictures of Dupuytren’s disease, it would be a good idea to review some of the basic information about it. It is important to keep in mind a basic understanding of the anatomy of the hand. With this in mind, a large fibrous lump on the palm of the hand can eventually limit hand functionality.
What is Dupuytren’s contracture?
Dupuytren’s contracture is a thickening and shortening of fibrous tissue beneath the skin on the palm of the hand and fingers. When this contracture is progressive, it may result in a deformity so significant that loss of normal use and mobility of the hand and fingers occurs. Frequently this thickening and finger flexion shows a hereditary tendency within a family, but not always.
Cause of lump on palm of hand
The cause of Dupuytrens contracture is unknown, but minor trauma and genetic factors appear to play a role. One or both hands may be affected. The most commonly affected finger is the ring finger, followed in frequency by the little, middle, and index fingers.
Progression of Dupuytren contracture
A small, painless nodule or thickening of tissue usually slowly develops in the connective tissue of the palm. Eventually it develops into a cord-like band that makes straightening of the fingers difficult to impossible in the advanced stage of the disease.
Risk factors
Dupuytren contracture occurs more often after the age of 40. Men are affected more often than women. People of northern European and Scandinavian ancestry are more likely to develop DC than other groups. Statistical risk factors, from a metabolic standpoint, are alcoholism, diabetes, liver disease, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Also, drug treatment for epilepsy, and hair loss, are also factors to develop Dupuytren’s contracture.
Symptoms of Dupuytren
- Painless (usually) nodule or lump in the palm, developing into a cord-like band.
- Thickening and deepening of the lines in the palms.
- Extending the fingers is difficult – most often the 4th and 5th fingers curl up and are unable to be easily straightened. This prevents the open hand from lying flat on a tabletop.
- Difficulty using the hand for simple daily activities – washing, dressing, working, etc.
Signs and tests
Physical examination of the palm by palpation (touch) confirms the presence of thickened scar tissue and characteristic contracture. Restriction of full finger(s) range of motion is most common. Inability to fully flatten the palm during the table top test.
Prognosis or outcome
The disorder progresses at an unpredictable and variable rate. Sometimes progression takes only a few months. Other times Dupuytren’s contracture progresses slowly, taking a decade or more to develop fully. Surgical treatment can usually restore normal movement to the finger, usually for at least a tear or more, when performed by a skilled surgeon.
However, the disease will recur following surgery in a significantly high number of cases. This recurrence and worsening of the DC will usually take 3-5 years to appear. In about 5-10% of cases, the DC reappears faster, taking just a few months to reappear. And, in another 5-10% of cases, the DC reappears slower, taking perhaps 10 years or more to appear. Nevertheless, it always reappears.
Complications of Dupuytren surgery
The hand is one of the most complex and tightly packed areas of the body. Surgery of the hand is never simple or easy. Ideally, a specialized hand surgeon, with many years of experience, should be used for Dupuytren contracture surgery.
- Deformity of the hand due to additional scar tissue formation, and loss of normal tissue.
- Loss of hand function due to worsening of contracture.
- Risk of blood vessel damage during surgery.
- Risk of injury to nerves during surgery.
- Frequent need for skin grafts to repair damage.
- Return (recurrence) of Dupuytren contracture after surgery, worse than the original condition.
Dupuytren’s Contracture Pictures: Education and Wake-Up Call
Hopefully, these Dupuytren’s contracture pictures help to understand this problem. They should motivate you to see your medical doctor.
It is most important to get busy with aggressive use of multiple conservative measures to improve your changes for self-recovery. Please review the section, Dupuytrens Treatment, to learn about safe and effective natural treatment options from DCI. Learn how to incorporate the aggressive use of multiple conservative measures to treat the fibrous palm thickening.
Please let DCI know if this section of the website is helpful. Feel free to contribute your own Dupuytren contracture pictures to DCI for inclusion on this page.
Dupuytrens contracture photos demonstrating lumps on palms and fascial shortening. Puckering, dimpling and thickening are also shown in the palm, with variable flexion deformity of one or more fingers.
For information about Peyronie’s disease please see Peyronie’s Disease Institute.
I have had DC surgery on both of my hands in the past 6 mos. On my right hand just over a week ago, 2/19/2019 and still have the stitches.
Thanks for the information as I found this interesting.
Greetings Dan,
Thanks of the comment. Please come back in a year or so and let us know how you are doing. There are many who are interested in outcomes of Dupuytren’s surgery. TRH
I have two lumps that have appeared over nine months ago in the palm of my left hand, my middle finger and ring finger are becoming more painful. My rheumatologist has told me its to do with having RA, not Dupuytren’s contracture. I was thinking of seeing my hand specialist, I also have had for over two years a frozen left shoulder with CRPS in it. Is there a connection? Will also the lumps get smaller?
Greetings Susan,
You ask some good questions. There are several possible problems going on concurrently, so this makes it more difficult to unravel each of them and to identify which might be more primary and those that might be secondary issue.
Obvioiusly your rheumatologist should know what he/she is talking about in regard to your RA. But Dupuytren’s contracture might be not well known to him/her. I suggest seeing that hand specialist for a second opinion. Good luck TRH
Had Dupuytren’s contracture surgery on right pinky. Two weeks later he wanted to graph finger and failed. Does any surgeon really know this disease? All plastic surgeons will give it a try but know very little, it appears. First surgeon jumped into cutting, then graph it. It would maybe bleed out he said. He did a graph, but it failed. Since then I have seen 4 Drs. Basically life with it now, the pinky is numb and bent at distal end of finger.
I worked in operating rooms for 21 years. I have pictures of the finger every two days after surgery. I’ve seen 6 to 8 surgeries a DAY, five days a week. More than most Drs. Give me a Drs. name that does two a week and attends lectures and has devoted his time to this disease.
My friend Dr. Ashworth, who has passed away, he would not touch anyone with Dupuytren’s contracture unless the tip of the finger was on the palm of your hand. With the back of his hand he would tell you go elsewhere. He pulled a tumor on inside finger. Try to find a scar. He had devotion to be excellent. He remembered his oath.
Greetings Rick,
Thanks for your excellent and insightful comments. Sounds like you have seen the dark side of the business of surgery in your time. I hope it makes a few people stop and pause before jumping into hand surgery.
Sorry to hear that your Dupuytren’s contracture surgery did not go well.
From my perspective, and just as you say, there are many surgeons who do Dupuytren’s surgery, but few who are great at it. DC is a difficult problem, and a complex operation to perform. The skill of the surgeon must be high for best results. Yet, few have devoted themselves to this level of skill. Hence, many outcomes are poor. The average person with DC has no idea what they are getting themselves into when they have that first surgery.
I suggest you consider the DCI approach to simple therapy to see how much change in scar remodeling might happen for you. It is worth a try. Even a small amount of tissue reduction can make a big difference to how much pain and numbness you have. TRH
Thank you for your reply. I have been to see my hand surgeon who has confirmed I have Dupuytren’s Contracture in both hands and feels at the moment it’s mild but should a finger start to bend then surgery is a option. He feels that with all my ongoing issues, ie the CRPS in the shoulder and foot plus RA that treatment at this time would not really help. He did say that the shoulder issues could also have a bearing on my hand that have the nodules and I also have a large tendon swelling on the base of the foot running from the toe next to my small toe that also has CRPS.
It’s funny that almost all I have read is men normally get it more than women, but I came from England and my father has it…..
Thank you for your time.
I have a question. Does Dupuytren’s contracture ever happen to form on the sole of the feet? I have lumps in the palm of my hand and i have them in my feet as well. I did not notice the lumps in my palm until i recently had surgery for a comminuted fracture of the distal radius. I told my ot therapist of the lumps and she said it was from the surgery?
Greetings Christine,
Firstly, Dupuytren’s contracture is a fibromatosis of the palm of the hand. A fibromatosis is an excess and persistent amount of fibrous tissue (collagen and fibrin) in a local area of the body. Fibromatosis can also occur in the sole of the foot, and is called Ledderhose disease; fibromatosis of the penis is called Peyronie’s disease.
Secondly, it is rather common that any of these fibromatoses to appear soon after trauma at or near the site of an injury or surgery; a shoulder injury, or surgery, can lead to Dupuytren’s contracture of the hand; an ankle, knee or hip injury, or surgery, can lead to Ledderhose disease of the foot; famously, a penis injury can lead to Peyronie’s disease of the penis. And this is why having surgery to correct one of these fibromatoses problems often leads to more fibromatosis. People who are genetically predisposed to fibromatosis run the risk of developing more problems with any type of surgery.
What the OT told you is probably true based on her experience; she probably sees many people who develop Dupuytren’s contracture after any type of minor and major lower extremity injury or surgery. TRH
Wow thank you for responding very quickly. I felt so crazy asking about the foot. I am happy to hear it was not just in my head. Thank you.
I first started having problems with my left shoulder around the age of 42 which began after I had taken a 12 week free weights class our the gym. I thought it was a torn rotator cuff or some such but turned out it was frozen shoulder. The doctor told me there was no known reason for frozen shoulder but that you would never see a woman under the age of 40 with frozen shoulder. So very painful. Within the same year I developed frozen shoulder in the right shoulder as well. My doctor at the time felt that along with the frozen shoulder I had a bit of impingement so he did surgery. A few years later I started running regularly and developed fibromatoses on the soles of both feet. And a couple years after that I began to have some arthritis in my fingers and eventually developed Dupuytren’s Contracture in my left hand and most recently it has developed on the right palm as well. Between the Dupuytren’s contracture and the osteoarthritis in my fingers I fear for where it will all lead and wonder if there is anything I can do to slow it down. My hand doctor I visited with about 5 years ago said all of these conditions were related.
Greetings Teresa,
Interesting history. I agree with your hand doctor; throughout all these different conditions you show a tendency to produce a greater amount of fibrin and collagen than average.
That fibromatosis you developed on your plantar surfaces is called Ledderhose disease. It is a process very similar to Dupuytren’s contracture, the primary difference is the location where it appears.
I work with several people with a history like yours. They benefit their genetic tendency to overproduce fibrous tissue by using the DCI protocol.
You did not mention your age. I suspect you are somewhere in your early to mid 50’s. The younger you are, the more important it is to get ahead of your problem. The younger you are when you develop Dupuytren’s contracture, the more time you have to develop the characteristic contracture finger deformities. You want to do all you can to avoid this. Hand surgery for DC is not a walk in the park, and often leads to bad results simply because people like you tend to overproduce fibrous tissue when the hand is cut into.
People who report back to DCI say that they get moderate to marked improvement of the DC in 8-10 cases, for every one person who reporets it does not help. Those are pretty goods odds you can help yourself. Please let me know if you have more questions. TRH
I’ve had Dupuytren’s contracture removal on my right hand six years ago. My pinkie was bent and I was told surgery would help it… in the past six months I’ve had it happen on my left palm. This time very painful! My pinkie is bending down and also outward. Should I have this done? It’s very painful.
Greetings Linda,
I cannot to tell you what to do. Keep in mind that surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture is never permanent. It is said that after hand surgery all DC will eventually return; sometimes it comes back in 10-15 years and sometimes as fast as a year or less. When the Dupuytren’s contracture returns it will be larger and more severe than it was the first time.. This is why most MDs will advise patients top not rush into surgery. You should go back to your hand surgeon and see what he/she thinks.
Many people find that they can get improvement (partial to complete) of their DC by using the DCI natural treatment method, thus avoiding the need for surgery. I get 8-10 reports of moderate to marked success from people for every one report of failure when the DCI program is used as instructed. You might want to consider this option if you do not want to have more hand surgery.
Let me know if you have more questions. TRH
Hi,
I have yesterday found out that I have Dupuytren Contracture of the right hand. Although not severe at this stage, it has come on fairy quickly, only noticed it a couple of months ago and my GP has directed me to this sight which I am finding most helpful. My fingers are still straight and there is a little pain or discomfort involved.
I was about to start taking a collagen supplement purely for vanity reasons as my skin is showing signs of aging wrinkles and after huge weight loss. I am 70. If the condition has a relation to Collagen, should I reconsider taking the supplement? I am otherwise in excellent health.
Greetings Janice,
Dupuytren’s contracture is not due to the level of supply of collagen in the diet. Collagen is manufactured in excess by the body regardless of the dietary supply; taking more or taking less will not affect Dupuytren’s contracture. The essence of the problem is that the body is manufacturing an inferior or flawed kind of collagen, and perhaps this is the reason that more and more is produced.
It has long been the DCI concept that the use of the various therapies we suggest (PABA, acetyl-L-carnitine, stretching, ultrasound therapy, vitamin E,etc.) assists the body to improve and regulate the manufacture of collagen, and hence allow the excess inferior collagen mass to be removed from the palm. This concept has helped a reported 8-10 people get moderate to marked reduction of their Dupuytren’s contracture nodule, for every one report of failure. All of this happens without any side effects or recurrence reported since 2002.
If your Dupuytren’s contracture is young, now is a good time to do something about it. Conservative treatment makes more sense than aggressive intervention that has a high incidence of side effects and recurrence after surgery. Please contact me if you have questions. TRH
I have a hard lump at the base of my middle finger and my Dr. told me I have Dupuytren’s contracture. From what I learn on the DCI website, DC’s in the palm of the hand. Was I misdiagnosed? Or can it also be in that area? Also, my finger can bend freely. My Dr. Told me to soak my hand in warm water and then massage the lump and it should eventually go away. Is that true?
Greetings Melissa,
Several good questions, thanks.
In general terms the base of the fingers include and are part of the palm of the hand. Therefore, Dupuytren’s contracture often occurs in the palm at the base of one or more fingers.
You were probably not misdiagnosed. In the early stages of DC the fingers are freely movable, and only later as the condition progresses the mobility is restricted.
Hot water soaking and massage are not effective against Dupuytren’s contracture. I suggest you look the site over and get into an early program to see if you can boost a healing response against your Dupuytren’s contracture. We get reports from 8-10 people of moderate to marked success over DC for every one report of failure. That’s pretty good, so check it out. TRH
Have been seen by my GP and hand surgeon for Dupuytren’s contracture. Very early with seven b.b. size lumps on palm of hand that showed up quickly. Lumps aren’t painful, however, my entire hand aches. My fingers have not shown any limited mobility. Stretching was the only advice given. What else can I do for Dupuytren’s contracture at this early stage?
I came to this page wondering if this is what my grandmother had problems with years ago. Dupuytren’s contracture seems like a very bad problem. I just wanted to say Dr. Herazy that you are very kind to answer people’s questions.
Greetings Vicki,
So sorry to hear of your painful Dupuytren’s contracture. Given that your entire hand aches, I suspect that deep in the palm there is tissue change occurring. If so, this would result in considerable finger contracture.
I suggest that you review information on this website to help you understand how you might support and increase your ability to control or eliminate the Dupuytren’s contracture tissue. Since 2002 DCI has received reports from 8-10 people who cite moderate to marked improvement of their Dupuytren’s contracture after following the DCI program, for every one report of failure. The sooner and earlier you begin this protocol the better.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions about Dupuytren’s contracture treatment. TRH
Greetings Tamara,
Yes, Dupuytren’s contracture is indeed a very bad problem. People need to know there is something they can do to help heal their palm lump and cord in many cases, if they do it properly. They also need to know that any surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture has a much greater risk of just aggravating problem — greater than what they are told by the surgeon who wants to cut on their hand.
DCI receives reports of 8-10 reports of moderate to marked improvement of Dupuytren’s contracture, when treatment is done correctly, for every one report of failure.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. TRH
In December I had arthoplasty on my thumb and ct release and repositioning of my thumb. This week I noticed what I assume is DC starting. In reading I saw sometimes Dupuytren’s contracture occurs after surgery or trauma to the hand. I’m also having a shoulder issue that hasn’t been diagnosed yet. Scary to think it could be related. What is the best treatment to start against this Dupuytren’s contracture?
Greetings Dinah,
Yes, based on the emails and posts I receive, I estimate that perhaps 10-15% cases of Dupuytren’s contracture start after hand surgery or some other upper extremity trauma. Perhaps carpal tunnel release surgery is most often involved. This explains why hand surgery to correct DC, including Xiaflex injections, can lead to further worsening of the the basic Dupuytren’s contracture problem.
I suggest you be most cautious and prudent if someone suggests more surgery to correct your current dilemma.
Our DCI treatment protocol is the same regardless of how the DC started. It is best to use the most aggressive and broad-based plan you can afford for 2-3 months to learn how well you respond. When the large Dupuytren’s contracture treatment plan is correctly used, we receive 8-10 reports of moderate to marked success over this problem, for every one report of failure. Not bad statistics.
Please let me know if I can help you along the way. TRH
I am looking for natural resources to minimize my dupuytren contracture. I am in beginning stage and still have mobility of fingers. My one index finger does get stiff however I do hand exercises and ice/heat. I do have slight pain in hands and itching. Please let me know if there are natural herbs or vitamins I can take to help. Is there also any therapy that helps the condition. Thank you for reading. I will look forward to hearing.
Greetings Carol,
Dupuytren’s contracture is a progressive disease of the hand in which fibrous tissue gradually develops in the palm and forms a cord into a nearby finger. This fibrous tissue builds up over time to slowly bend the finger toward the palm. In some people this can take just a year or two, and in others it can take decades. It is good that you are doing something about this problem early in the development of your DC.
DCI has been around since 2002, helping men and women who want to slow down, and sometimes reverse, their Dupuytren’s contracture. From the reports we receive, we find that 8-10 people get moderate to marked success over their DC, for every one report of failure. It seems that those who closely follow the instructions they are given with the different DCI therapy plans, and allow enough time for the tissue to respond, get better results. Please refer to this Start Dupuytren treatment to learn more about using the natural treatment ideas of the Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute to assist the healing ability of your body against DC.
Please let me know if you have more questions about what you can do to help yourself limit and control your Dupuytren’s contracture. TRH