I STILL HAVE PAIN AFTER DUPUYTREN SURGERY AND CAN NOT WORK. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS I CAN DO?
I AM TRYING TO GO ON LONG TERM DISABILITY
Greetings,
How long ago was your surgery? Is this your 1st surgery, 2nd or 3rd? Why are you not able to work? Is it because of pain, limited finger movement, numbness?
What is the current condition of your hand contracture? Many people have hand surgery only to find that it does very little to improve their problem and often makes matters worse. Is that what happened to you?
I will have a better idea how to reply to you once I understand more about what is happening with you. TRH
it has been almost 7 weeks since I had surgery for dupuytrens contracture and I still have almost constant throbbing pain in my hand. I have a lot of scar tissue and that seems to be the cause and also I still have swelling of all my fingers. will these things eventually go away or am I going have this problem for well into the future?
Greetings Ken,
Sorry to hear of your continuing problem with Dupuytren’s contracture after your hand surgery. After almost two months post-surgery I believe your description indicates a problem. Have you spoken to the surgeon who did your DC surgery? If not, please do so. If you have and you have not received satisfaction, I suggest getting a second opinion from someone about your Dupuytren’s contracture as far outside your immediate area as you can, and that you do it as soon as possible. TRH
I am going on 10 months and still have a lot of stiffness and tinkling in my small finger after Dupuytren’s contracture surgery. Will my hand improve or is this permanent?
Thank you
Greetings Judy,
I hope you have already talked to the doctor who did your Dupuytren’s contracture surgery to ask him this question. If not, please do so.
Some hand surgeries take a long time for all the numbness and tingling to stop; damage done to delicate nerve tissue during surgery does not heal quickly. Otherwise, it also happens that numbness and tingling can be permanent. I hope the doctor who is taking care of your Dupuytren’s contracture explained all of this before you had the hand surgery. TRH
My younger brother is going to have surgery for Dupuytrens Contracture I am sure it is genetic. My questions is do alcohol and smoking factor into healing?
Greetings Cedre,
Yes, alcohol and smoking have an affect on the ability of the body to heal not only hand surgery, but also the actual healing of the Dupuytren’s contracture itself. An undetermined percent of cases of Dupuytren’s contracture will simply self-heal.
Many people have Dupuytren’s contracture that starts, only to eventually disappear as the body heals and eliminates the palm nodule. This is the basis for the concept that Alt Med can be used to help people eliminate their DC. This is why we receive 8-10 reports of success and positive results from our followers who follow our directions to aggressively use Alt Med, for every one report of failure or lack of positive results.
It is logical to think that the longer and more alcohol and nicotine consumption involved, the more adverse would be the impact. The body works best when it is not burdened with toxic chemicals. TRH
I HAD DUPUYTREN’S SURGERY LEFT HAND 10 YEAR AGO NOW THE RIGHT HAND IS LOCKED
WITH SAME KIND OF DUPUYTREN’S PROBLEM. THE POST OP PAIN WAS OFF THE SCALE. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Greetings Tom
Yes, the aftermath of dealing with post-op Dupuytren’s contracture surgery pain and many other complications can be a nightmare. Doctors tend to downplay the amount of pain, and the scope and duration of complications (some never leave).
You ask for suggestions: I can tell you that many people over the years have contacted me because they would not risk going through another Dupuytren’s contracture surgery. I always suggest that a person do the same thing if you want to avoid another hand surgery. Determine the largest DCI treatment plan you can afford to aggressively follow for 3-4 months to give your body the best chance possible to correct the Dupuytren’s contracture. We find that we receive 8-10 reports of mild to moderate treatment success over Dupuytren’s contracture, for every one report of failure. Those are good results.
Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you avoid more surgery. TRH
Just had this procedure done for my Dupuytrens and would like further information.
Greetings John,
You will have to help me here. Do you want information about natural Dupuytren’s contracture treatment, or with help for a worsening problem after your hand surgery? TRH
well I had pretty serious surgery for dupuytren’s contracture on my little finger plus I had carpal tunnel surgery at the same time. It has been 8 weeks and hand still hurts and is pretty stiff. I hope to god that pain goes away or I would NEVER recommend having it done. Plus I did 8 weeks of therapy on it.
Greetings Arlene,
Sorry to learn of the bad outcome to your Dupuytren’s contracture hand surgery. Pain that continues a full two months after hand surgery, after doing therapy for all that time, is not acceptable. There are a few things you can do.
Many people find that using the DCI medium plan, plus our Quell EPA/DHA, reduces and eliminates their post-surgical pain. Even cases were the hand pain continued for a year or more. You should also try doing the series of gentle hand stretches that are found at the bottom of the DCI home page. If you have questions, please let me know.
Good luck with your hand. TRH
I had the Dupuytren’s contracture operation on my little fingers on both hands. Three years after one hand is still in constant pain and the finger curl is worse than before the operation. A new highly rated surgeon has suggested a revision. Would you advise this and how successful are these revisions?
Greetings Clodagh,
Sorry to hear your sad story. So many people I hear from report their finger(s) are the same or worse after Dupuytren’s hand surgery.
Since you ask for advice, I will give an opinion based on what little information you offered about the outcome of your Dupuytren contracture surgery. However, you and the other readers of this website must realize that I am at the disadvantage of not having examined you, so I am only speculating a broad generalization here. You know far more about your situation than I do, so you have to make up your own mind. These are just my opinions based on dealing with DC for the last 25 years, offered for your consideration.
First of all, who says this is a highly rated surgeon? Was this something you read in hte doctor’s office brochure. Or did your neighbor or a friend tell you this? How can you trust this person’s opinion? Is this a reliable opinion? Your hand problem was made more complicated by the first surgery and the additional scar tissue it created. Any revision work will be a compromise because you no longer have hands like you were born with. There is no way in the world to undo any surgery. Surgery to correct surgery is just more surgery. There is no possible way to get back to the way you were before; that is just a hard fact. You must be extremely careful that in your effort to help yourself, you do not make matters worse. I could tell you a thousand stories about the disasters of multiple hand surgeries. EVERY doctor believes and says he will make things better. And then there is the reality the patient must live with. This is why malpractice claims are so common and huge.
Let’s for the moment assume you are correct that the surgeon you went to for a second opinion is great. A great surgeon is more likely to perform great surgery. But, I’ll bet that the first surgeon who did your first hand surgery was also pretty good. You see, a lot of great hand surgeons get lousy results from their surgeries for Dupuytren’s contracture because that is the nature of the disease. Dupuytren’s contracture is difficult, very difficult, to operate on because the DC hand makes too much collagen and fibrin in response to being cut on. You could have the world’s best hand surgeon operate on you, and still get a terrible outcome because if you have DC you will make too much collagen. As a result, your hand will eventually get a recurrence and worsening of the DC. That is why doctor’s hate to treat Dupuytren’s contracture. That is why you hear stories about how rude and hasty a doctor can be with a DC patient. They really do not care if you do not come back.
If you have a surgical revision, it will, based on my opinion after talking to many hundreds of people about their surgical history and what I have read in dozens of medical books about DC, eventually get another return or recurrence of your DC. That is why so many people with DC eventually have 2-3-4-5 hand surgeries until they eventually quit having them. In the end, they are no better, and often so terribly worse — they just quit, or they have one or more fingers amputated. Read some of tghe hundreds of stories throughout hits DCI website about people like you tried to get their DC eliminated surgically.
I suggest you look into what the DCI site can offer you to self-heal and repair what is going on with your hand. We have helped people in your situation to varying degrees. Some just a little, and some a lot, but we have never made anyone worse. Something to think about. Please contact me personally if you want to discuss your situation. TRH