Tag Archives: dupuytrens contracture

How effective is alternative Dupuytren treatment if the finger is completely bent?

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Hello,  I was just wondering how effective the alternative Dupuytren treatment is on someone whose ring finger is completely bent down towards the palm and will not straighten out.  Is this treatment effective on a severe case as this?  Or is it more beneficial to someone just starting to notice the nodules on the palm of their hand before losing use of their hand with deformity of their finger?

Please advise.  I would appreciate any other information that you may have on this disease.  I am trying to research this for my significant other who is having more and more discomfort with his hand.

Thanks so much!

 

Greetings,

Your concern and questions about effectiveness of Dupuytren treatment are common.

DCI is not capable of conducting the kind of research necessary to answer your question in the way I would like to giving you specific numbers for a controlled double-blind study.  For this reason, allow me to give you the benefit of my experience since 2002 while dealing with people from around the world who have finger contractures.  My experience is that for every 10-12 emails and phone conversations I receive reporting partial or complete success with the DCI method of Dupuytren treatment, I receive one report of failure.  Ten to 12 successes compared to one failure is pretty good.  It is human nature to complain and be negative far more than it is to compliment and be positive.  Because of this I take this 10 to 12:1 ratio to indicate significantly positive DCI treatment results.  I wish we had the ability to conduct multimillion dollar research, like the government or a drug company, so I could give you the statistics you are looking for.  For the time being is the best information I can offer.    

Duration and severity of Dupuytren contracture do not seem to be significant predictive factors that I can determine based on past results; sometimes severe cases do better than mild cases; sometimes chronic (old) problems respond as good as or better than acute (recent) problems. The greatest predictor of success or failure of alternative care has consistently proven to be aggressiveness of Dupuytren treatment and the person’s ability to closely monitor and define changes in size, shape, density, surface features, and degree of movement of nodules and cords.

There are well over 500 pages of information about Alt Med treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture on the DCI website. If you spend a little time reading and evaluating the DCI site you will have all the information you will need. If you have a specific question about Dupuytren treatment you would like answered please send it to me and I will do my best to provide an answer.

You will note that there is no change in the Dupuytren treatment approach if the fingers  are completely bent down or not, and there is no change in the treatment if the ring finger is involved as compared to the little or middle fingers. 

In other words, the DCI approach starts out the same if the fingers are mildly or severely bent; if one, two or three fingers are involved; if one hand or both are involved; if slight nodule or severe cord formation is involved; even if the person has had prior Dupuytren’s contracture surgery or not – the DCI approach starts the same for everyone.  This is so because the Dupuytren treatment is not directed specifically to the hand, but to the person.  This means that the DCI concept of care is intended to not treat the disease, but to treat the person who has the disease so the immune response is supported and strengthened.  By enabling the immune response of the person who has the problem to do a better job, it is our theory that each person will heal to the best of his or her ability to remove the offending fibrous nodules and cords, or at least slow down the progression of this problem.

Can a person get Dupuytrens in the feet?

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Hi Dr. Herazy. Can a person get dupuytrens in the feet? I’ve already had surgery on both hands, but I also have 5 or 6 nodules in both feet. Any information would be appreciated.
Thank You.

Greetings,

Although you cannot actually develop Dupuytrens in the feet, I know what you mean.   The answer to your question is that there is indeed a condition of the soles of the feet that resembles Dupuytren’s contracture.  In this foot problem excessive an fibrous tissue reaction occurs with nodule formation.  It resembles the contracted and fibrous tissue of Dupuytren’s contracture, with painful nodules, lumps and contracture formation on the bottom of the feet.  In this sense, Dupuytrens in the feet is called Ledderhose disease.

 You might also enjoy reading the post, Any suggestions for lady with a strong family association with Dupuytren contracture and Ledderhose disease?

I have had people who have treated their Ledderhose disease using the DCI treatment protocol and they have reported success.  You might consider this as an option before having foot surgery.  TRH

Dupuytrens treatment: Which supplements should I start with to increase dosage?

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Hi Dr. Herazy, I am taking the supplements recommended on the large plan for Dupuytrens treatment and am doing fine with the program. I would like to ramp up the dosages that I am taking. Can you please give me a recommendation as to which supplement or supplements I should start with to increase the dosages?  I am really eager to get rid of this Dupuytren’s contracture and I want to do it the right way.

Thanks.

Rod Wade

 

Greetings Rod,

Before replying, I will assume that you have carefully measured your hand nodules and cords as well as your limitations of hand movement before starting your Dupuytren treatment.  Otherwise, you will not know for sure when those early improvements in your hand and Dupuytren’s contracture will occur.

You must have a clear, detailed and accurate assessment of the size, shape, density, surface features of the palm nodules and cords.  Also, you need to measure the the distance of the involved finger tips to the wrist.  Lastly, you should also know the exact distance of your palm to the top of a table when you try to flatten your hand on it.  If you do not have these last measurements you can learn about this process at  Hand contracture measurement for Dupuytren treatment.  It is critical that you know have this information to guide you to your correct Dupuytrens treatment dosage.

OK, I have to mention this particular information to everyone because this is such an important part of the process of directing your treatment of Dupuytrens.  Even so, many people think they can skip it.  Wrong!  Skipping this step is a sure way to get confused and lost on your way to eliminating your hand contracture problem.  Decide to not only do it, but do it as carefully and exactly as you can.

Now to answer your question about changing dosage as your large Dupuytrens treatment plan progresses.

For most people, especially when they are in the early phases of Dupuytrens treatment, it works best to increase your dosage of one enzyme product (Neprinol, Nattokinase 1500, Fibrozym or  Bromelain 5000 and Neprinol).  Also, a tthis same time, increase one of the support products (acetyl-L-carnitine, Bromelain 500,Fundamental Sulfur or MSM, PABA, Quercetin-Bromelain, Scar-X homeopathic remedy, Omega T, etc.).  Check for improvement in the condition of the hand every 7-10 days, using all of the methods and areas mentioned in my second paragraph.  In this way every 7-10 days two therapies are increased, with increase of the enzymes than support therapies.  With this double increase in your large Dupuytrens treatment the changes are gradual but consistent.

Make no increase or change in your therapy dosage as soon as you notice the first small improvement in the hand nodules, cords or reduction of finger contracture.  Simply continue doing what you were doing to get to that point when the good progress started; maintain that same dosage and therapy activity until either your Dupuytrens goes away or your progresses stalls.  If it stalls or stops progressing then you once again increase your plan until the favorable changes start up again.

Do not be too eager to add to your therapy plans. Do not increase the number of therapies until you  have thoroughly explored all the possible dosage levels, and combinations of dosage levels that you can try during each 7-10 day cycle.  Do not make your plan too complicated too early by adding more therapies than the original 11 parts of the large plan. Work deeply into the various dosages and combinations of what you already have in front of you, than add in new therapies.   

You might also want to read How do I make my Dupuytren treatment plan better?

If you have a specific question about this subject of dosage in your Dupuytrens treatment plan I would be most happy to hear it and answer as best I can.  These particular questions about higher dosage are so unique to the individual.  Fore this reason it is often necessary to set up a telephone discussion so we can talk about your particular situation and get the best answer fore you.  Written generalities are often not as good as a one-on-one discussion about what is going on in your specific experience.   Please contact me about any other questions concerning Dupuytrens treatment you might have.  TRH

Will this Dupuytrens treatment keep the hand lump from getting larger and my fingers from curling?

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Hello Dr. Herazy, I have a question about dupuytrens treatment.  I am a 51 yr old women who was just told the small lump in my hand is dupuytren’s contracture. I was told right now there is nothing that can be done because I can still put my hand down flat on a table. My husband found your site and wants me to start the treatment. Can I start the dupuytrens treatment at this early stage of the disease?

Will this keep the lump from getting larger and my fingers from curling?

Thank you for any information you can give me.   Roseann

Greetings Roseann,

Sorry to hear of your hand problem.

From my experience in working with this form of natural Dupuytrens treatment for almost 11 years I can tell you that the earlier you start self-treatment, the better the results tend to be.  All we are attempting to do is to support and reinforce the natural ability of the body to remove foreign tissue; an early start when the problem is as small as possible, makes most sense. 

This concept is different from the standard medical approach your doctor is suggesting, because that approach is for radical removal of tissue.   The standard medical model is based on the hand contracture being as advanced, debilitating and severe as possible before surgery, so that the surgery is not done too soon in the course of the disease.  All surgeons know that the surgery is not a cure, and that Dupuytrens recurrence is inevitable after each surgery, no matter how well done.  By waiting to do surgery as  long as possible the number of recurrences is minimized.

Our concept is that if surgery can possibly be avoided by doing everything possible to help the hand lump heal with natural Dupuytrens treatment, then a real service has been provided.   There is no way for me to tell you if this approach will work for you.  I can tell you it has worked for many people, especially when started early in the progression of the contracture.  I suggest to you that you use the largest and most aggressive therapy approach you can afford to apply for at least 2-3 months to see if your body is capable of making this Dupuytrens treatment work for you.  If it helps you, look at what you have gained.  If it does not help you, you will know you have at least tried to do something conservative before undergoing aggressive hand surgery. 

Please let me know if I can help you in any way.  TRH

 

Why not perform hand surgery before my Dupuytren contracture gets worse, while it is still small?

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Hello: I have just recently been diagnosed with Dupuytren’s contracture. I noticed a small hard bump/lump appear in the palm of my right hand, as well as one on the bottom of my right foot. I have just turned 50 and I am female. If the outcome is ‘black and white’, why not perform hand surgery to remove the bump BEFORE it grows into a long band deforming the fingers / toes?  Why wait ?

 

Greetings,

The answer is simple:  Dupuytren contracture recurrence after surgery. For more discussion of this topic see Dupuytren Surgery and Recurrence of Hand Contracture.

You are a little younger than average to develop Dupuytren’s contracture (hand) and Ledderhose disease (foot), and for this reason you are more likely to have an ongoing problem with Dupuytrens; the earlier in life it starts, the more aggressive and difficult the palm lumps and cords tend to be.  Your doctor is trying to delay your surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture to delay the time when your first recurrence starts.

Let’s say you had hand surgery the way that you propose.   If you had your first Dupuytren’s operation at age 50, it is possible to have your first recurrence start within two years.  Following your idea of early surgery to prevent progression of the problem, let’s say you had your  second hand surgery as soon as the recurrence appeared, and the next Dupuytren’s recurrence again appeared within the next two years.   Following your idea of early surgery to prevent progression of the problem, let’s say you had your  third hand surgery as soon as that next recurrence appeared,  and the next recurrence again appeared within the next two years.   Again, you would theoretically have another surgery for Dupuytren’s recurrence, with another recurrence, and so on. 

The above example does not work for three reasons:

  1. Recurrence of Dupuytren’s contracture tends to accelerate with each surgery, so that if the first recurrence did take two years to eventually develop, the net recurrence would be a little faster or sooner; maybe 18 months.  And if you had another hand surgery after that recurrence, the next recurrence would theoretically be even faster or sooner; maybe 12 months.   Of course, all these numbers are just made up, and could be faster or slower depending on your individual characteristics, family history, life history, clinical information and luck.   Some people wait 10 years for their first recurrence of Dupuytren’s contracture, but some people wait just a year – or even less – for their first recurrence to appear.  Once the surgery starts, the process of recurrence starts; it is inevitable.   
  2. Each Dupuytren’s surgery “uses up” or removes normal hand tissue.  You cannot have too many hand surgeries without soon having little normal tissue remaining.  Depending on your individual circumstances you might only be able to have one, two or three hand surgeries in your life before your surgeon would inform you that you cannot have any more.   What do you do at that point?  You allow it to get worse, and perhaps become so bad in terms of pain that amputation is your only option. 
  3. No good surgeon would perform an early Dupuytren surgery, such as you have proposed.  Hopefully you would never find a surgeon who would agree to cut early, because he/she would know that this would be a terrible decision that would lead to a terrible result.  

There are drugs that have risks that can be used, and there is surgery as an option for you to consider. I suggest that you should consider trying to avoid Dupuytren’s hand surgery completely.  Since your problem is early and small at this time you are in a good position to try to reverse this process naturally.  I suggest you do some reading to see if this makes sense to you.  You can always try it for 2-3 months of intense natural therapy while you are waiting for your Dupuytren’s to progress.  If it work, fine – look at what you have gained.  If it does not work, as sometimes happens, you can always have your hand surgery when your surgeon thinks you are ready for it.  

For further information about treating Dupuytren’s contracture naturally you can read What is the best therapy to treat Dupuytren contracture?    TRH