Dear Dr. Herazy,
I have Dupuytrens and swans neck and trigger thumb. Yes, I am Norwegian.
My question is trigger thumb and swans neck a part of Dupuytren’s contracture?
Thank you
Kristina
Greetings Kristina,
There are many degrees of involvement of the fingers when a person has Dupuytren’s contracture; some are worse and more involved than others.
A “trigger finger” occurs when a finger tendon stick or is caught in the tendon sheath due to sheath swelling or dryness. Depending on the number of fingers affected, location and degree of involvement it is possible to have a trigger phenomenon of one or more fingers. This is fairly common to happen in many cases of DC. See Trigger finger and Dupuytren’s contracture.
A “swan neck” deformity is a less common occurrence in Dupuytrens. This kind of finger deformity occurs when the cord pulls the involved finger in a state of hyperextension of the PIP joint, flexion of the DIP joint, and even sometimes an additional flexion of the metacarpophalangeal joint. Sorry to get technical with you in this explanation but I know of no other way to explain it. TRH
I have had a Dupuytren’s contracture fasciectomy surgery 3 months ago because my right hand ring finger was bent.Since the surgery was done i now have developed a swan neck deformity on the same finger.It is extremely painful and if i was aware beforehand that this may be a complication i would not have gone ahead with the surgery.
Greetings Norman,
Sorry to hear of your Dupuytren’s contracture, and the bad response to surgery. All the time I learn from people that their doctor’s do not explain what the bad results can be from this kind of surgery to the hand for Dupuytren’s contracture. Personally, I think it is because if the surgeon told his patient’s what terrible things could happen, and how often they actually do happen, then many people would not have these hand surgeries and the income of the surgeons would suffer. I suggest you spend some time reading the DCI website to see how you can use Alternative Medicine to assist your body to heal Dupuytren’s contracture. TRH
Had radiation on my Dupuytren contacture pinky finger. I now have a trigger thumb on same hand. Is it ok to have surgery on that thumb since I had radiation?
Thank you
Greetings Gail,
Radiation therapy for Dupuytren’s contracture is not something I specialize in. My first thought is, what could have happened as a result of radiation therapy that now makes a drastic step light hand surgery necessary?
At this point I would be very concerned that perhaps damage or injury was done to other parts of my hand when radiation was used to treat the Dupuytren’s contracture; there could now be other issues beyond a recent trigger finger problem. I would also be concerned that the radiation might have weakened the hand tissue making surgery more risky now. For these reasons I would definitely get a second opinion about what happened to the hand when the initial radiation was done. If it is the same doctor who ordered the radiation therapy who is now suggesting hand surgery, then it is all the more important to get a second opinion. Be careful before you make the problem more complicated than just Dupuytren’s contracture.
If new hand surgery does not make good sense to you, get a second opinion to see if there is not a better approach that does make sense to you (simple rest and exercise are often effective helpful, or even just a series of using ice on the area). Perhaps to see if the second doctor can give you a better explanation of what the first doctor said. Getting a second opinion does not necessarily mean talking to a doctor who is down the hall from the first doctor; I suggest going to an entirely different town to find another doctor who specializes in hand problems; one who does not know the first doctor since it is more likely to get an honest opinion if the doctors are not friends with each other.
Review the information on the DCI website to see if natural Alt Med therapy makes sense to you to try to avoid additional surgery; it might be possible. You won’t know until you try it.
Dupuytren’s contracture can and does heal DC as it heals other health problems. Since it is extremely difficult to collect data on these cases there is no way to know the number of percent of this self-healing. The Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute has studied this process of self-healing and how it might be possible to encourage or assist it. Your previous hand surgeries make self-healing more complicated and probably somewhat limited, but not necessarily hopeless. Our success rate with Dupuytren’s contracture is 8-10 reports of improvement (from moderate to marked) for every one report of failure. As we learn how to use the natural vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other therapies better perhaps the reports of improvement will increase.
TRH
In your opinion, is Dupuytren’s Contracture and Liver Cirrhosis connected? There are several Japanese/Chinese studies that have mentioned the possible links …
Greetings Shirl,
Most authorities cite a strong possible correlation between Dupuytren’s contracture and liver disease, although not always and not only limited to cirrhosis. TRH