What is Dupuytren’s Disease?

What is Dupuytren’s disease, and can it self-heal?

Dupuytren's disease is a genetic hand problem in which the deep tissue below the skin makes excess collagen and fibrin. Dupuytren's disease self-heals in about 12% of cases. DCI works to increase this ability of the tissue to self-heal. Simply stated, Dupuytren’s disease is the beginning phase of Dupuytren’s contracture. These two slightly different names indicate two distinct stages of the same progressive hand problem.

Dupuytren’s disease is a progressive genetic hand problem in which the connective tissue layer of the palm produces excess collagen and fibrin. This extra collagen causes an area of the palm near the base of one or more fingers to thicken and become less flexible. Typically, Dupuytren’s disease first appears on the surface as a small nodule or lump in the palm.  It is often mistaken for a small blister or callus. At this early stage, the area can also form small wrinkles, dimples or pits.

Dupuytren’s contracture is the later or end stage when Dupuytren’s disease becomes a larger, more disruptive and invasive problem. During this contracture stage, the growing mass of collagen and fibrin develops a cord of dense tissue. The cord extends up and attaches to the finger closest to it. All the while, the finger cord is also thickening and contracting. This causes the cord to pull the finger down toward the palm.  It can take many months or years for this slow and gradual process to occur. The contraction process can be continuous, or it can completely stall for months or years at a time. It can even stop, start and stop again a few times before it picks up speed.

Dupuytren’s disease self-heals – spontaneous recovery 

The medical profession says there is no cure for Dupuytren’s disease. But that is not exactly true. When they say there is no cure they mean, “there is no prescription drug that cures Dupuytren, in the way that penicillin cures an infection.”

The truth is, there is a cure for Dupuytren. An undetermined percentage of people self-cure their Dupuytren without help from anyone. It happens naturally, like mending a broken bone. This is the way the body is supposed to work. Life is full of miracles, and self-healing is one of them.

The body can, and does, spontaneously repair Dupuytren disease like it heals so many other small and large health problems. Unfortunately, this does not happen every time, or in every situation.

Self-healing of Dupuytren’s disease

Sometimes the healing process needs some help to work better.  For example, every good doctor will tell a patient with a broken bone to drink extra milk, take vitamin D, wear a cast, and avoid stressing the limb.  These simple strategies help the body heal a broken bone better. The same for taking extra iron for anemia, and extra rest and vitamin C for a cold. DCI applies the same logic for designing Dupuytren’s disease treatment plans.

Based on the simple observation that some people self-heal their Dupuytren problem early, the Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute developed a natural treatment strategy to help people do a better job healing their Dupuytren disease.

As a result, people who closely follow the DCI treatment strategy early can do rather well. We hear from many people who use our large treatment plan.  Of these, 8-10 people report moderate to marked reduction of their Dupuytren, for every one report of failure. We find that the larger the treatment plan, and the better a person follows DCI suggestions, the better the Dupuytren self-heals. For information about DCI treatment plans.

>> Testimonials from Dupuytren Contracture Institute

Keeping Dupuytren’s disease self-healing a secret

However, even though Dupuytren self-healing happens, medical writers never actually use the term “self-heal,” “self-correct;” or any term close to it. On top of that, the usual term medical writers use  instead for self-healing of Dupuytren disease is to say it “goes away.”

For example, the NIH National Library of Medicine (MedlinePlus.gov) admits “Dupuytren’s nodules…occasionally even go away without treatment…”  Exactly what does “go away” mean?  They do not say. The world-famous Cleveland Clinic states, “…some people’s nodules go away on their own.”  They never explain anything about how or why it would go away.  WebMD.com tells readers that palm nodules, “…may go away on their own in a small number of patients…”  The Dupuytren Research Group (Dupuytrens.org) says, “Some Dupuytren’s nodules go away without any treatment.”

Yes, the nodules go away on their own because the body can heal Dupuytren’s disease!

How often does Dupuytren’s disease go away on its own?

Even so, in these simple one-line statements about Dupuytren’s disease self-healing, something is missing.  The reader has no idea how often the body is able to self-correct or naturally eliminate Dupuytren’s disease. In these four quotes – and all the others on the internet – the reader is not told if self-healing is fairly common or is it rare. Does Dupuytren spontaneous recovery happen once in a hundred cases, or once in a million?

It is almost as though medical writers do not want to admit the body can self-heal Dupuytren’s disease.  Like they want to say as little as possible about Dupuytren disease self-healing. As a result, people believe they have only two treatment choices for their hand nodule: drugs and surgery.

Self-healing far more common than people told   

For the most part, internet readers are not told how common or uncommon it is for the Dupuytren nodule to spontaneously self-heal.

However, in a 2005, a Journal of Hand Surgery (JHS) report and follow-up study appeared discussing the progression of Dupuytren nodules over a span of 6-15 years. It covered all the usual data of history, genetic tendency, physical findings and surgeries of 59 people in the middle and later stages of Dupuytren disease. This report is unique and important because it clearly states how many times Dupuytren disease self-repair happened within this group of 59 people. This is the only time DCI has found an author who placed a number on the frequency of Dupuytren’s self-healing.

Near the bottom of the report, the author states that 12% of the 59 people (seven people) had spontaneous remission or self-0helaing of Dupuytren palm lumps.  Even though these 59 people had Dupuytren’s disease that was bad enough that they saw a specialist about their hands, for 12% of them, the Dupuytren’s nodule resolved by self-repair or spontaneous healing.

Is 12% a small or large number?

Perhaps the 12% self-correction is not an impressive number to some readers. Some might even think 12% is a small number of people. Actually, that 12% number is huge. With this number we gain important insight into the course and behavior of Dupuytren disease.

This number represents the Dupuytren disease cases that were bad enough to be in a doctor’s office for evaluation and treatment, yet somehow self-healed.  If cases of DD that are bad enough to be seen by a doctor can clear up without help, what about minor and early cases of DD?  When DD is not much more than a curious little bump, can it also clear up by self-healing?  Of course!  And probably at a much higher percentage than just 12%.  When the palm lumps are smaller, softer and less well developed, would be a much better time and opportunity for this kind of self-repair to occur.

The average percentage of Dupuytren disease that self-heals is not knowable. There is no good way to collect this kind of information.  No one goes to a hand specialist to report a small palm lump that is gone.  Who would spend the time and money to see a doctor to report a tiny problem that healed itself and is not there?  For this reason, the number of early Dupuytren’s disease hands that self-correct can only be estimated.  Perhaps, 25-50%?  Anyone’s guess.

Regardless, it is important to know that Dupuytren disease self-cures happen.  Everyone with a Dupuytren’s nodule has some potential to heal it, especially in the early stages, and probably less so in the later stages.

>> How to start Dupuytren treatment with Alternative Medicine

Reasonable assumptions

We have seen that 12% of 59 people self-healed their Dupuytren’s disease during the middle and later stages. This happened without the benefit of any nutritional, physical therapy, stretching or enzyme treatment.  It happened spontaneously.  It seems reasonable to assume that if these same 59 people received adequate nutritional, physical therapy, stretching and enzyme treatment assistance during the middle and later stages of Dupuytren’s disease, the percentage of people who self-healed would have been larger.

Further, it seems reasonable that if 12% self-healed in the middle and later stages of DD, an even larger percent self-healed in the early stage. This would likely happen because in the early stage of Dupuytren disease the connective tissue mass in the palm is softer, smaller and less infiltrated with excess collagen and fibrin. As an example, it is reasonable to assume that a greater percentage of people self-heal their minor cold or sniffles while the problem is smaller, than when it gets worse and becomes pneumonia.

Lastly, DCI treatment verifies that people self-heal Dupuytren disease.  When people use the large DCI treatment plan, good things can happen. DCI receives 8-10 reports of moderate to marked improvement, even elimination, of the palm lump, for every one report of failure.

>> How to start Dupuytren treatment with Alternative Medicine

 

Dupuytren’s Contracture Self-Help

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.