Hi I'm Jamie a 29 years old male and I work as a mechanical service engineer. I have played the guitar since I was 10 and I think this may be related but I am unsure.

So I stopped playing guitar regularly about 2 years ago as I have young children which take up most of my time, I recently picked up my acoustic and started playing again seriously and found that the morning after practising I had a stifness in my middle finger of my fretting hand (left) usually worst the morning after playing. I'd never had this before and initially put it down to old age or playing to much without warming up/easing myself back into it.
I also noticed that it ached if put under certain pressures like when I pulled the finger or made a tight fist.
Anyway after a couple of months I decided to go to the doctors and about this time I noticed that sometimes I couldn't properly straighten the middle finger without forcing it. So my Doctor instantly told me that it was DD and told me to rub iboprufen gel into it, but I have looked into it and I cannot see or feel any nodules in my hand at all.
It also, from what I've read here, seems unusual that it would start in my middle finger as most cases seem to be in the ring or little fingers.
Since the initial month or so of it really being stiff it seems to have become less problematic at work and I very nearly cancelled my drs appointment but as I had to wait for 2 weeks for a meeting with my GP I thought I'd better go.
Anyway as you can guess, I'm not convinced of the diagnosis, but I thought I'd ask some experts on this forum to see if anyone knows of similar hand issues that can give stifness and slight bending of a finger without nodules. This symptoms are pretty much non existent if I warm up my hands properly.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Jamie.

Jamie,

When I developed DD it started with me being a little clumsy. I was dropping things and I blew it off to to old age (53 years old)and arthritis. I noticed a stiffness in my middle finger and once again thought arthritis. That was in the summer of 2008. By late fall or December I had a sore spot in the palm of my right hand. Didn't think too much of it and figured I had an internal bruise or callus coming because I had been working quite a bit in my vegetable bed. Well by January I had a small knot in my palm, once again confirmed in my mind a callus was developing. But... I had been having intense pain in that entire arm, palm and hand. That finally took me to the doctor who did not have a clue as to what I had. She referred me to a hand surgeon. By the time I was able to get into see him in March I had a cord, a much larger nodule, dimpling, puckering, and a slight bend/drawing in of the middle finger. It all happend rather quickly. Once I was diagnosed with DD, I was able to go back in my mind and realize the clumsiness, dropping of things, difficulty slicing, and gripping were all the first indications that something was amiss. I recommend keeping a log of your symptoms and when they develop. Time disappears and changes when you try to go back and remember. I agree that you should see a hand surgeon for diagnosis. My hand surgeon said there were no treatments until severe contraction and then surgery was the only option. Obviously not true. I had RT last year and am now in regression and have been for 14 -15 months. I go back for my last check up in November. Nothing new has developed and in fact the nodule has completely disappeared.

Which reminds me... Wolfgang or anyone who knows. Why would the nodule disappear and the cord still remain? Are they not made of the same material?


Lori

Hi, all--

Since Jamie has brought up the issue of finger stiffness, I'd like to ask whether this is an ongoing issue for some people with Dupuytren's. I've read messages on the Forum that discussed stiffness in the morning or after waking from a nap, for example, and I wonder how common it is to experience finger stiffness and/or pain in the fingers, even when no contracture is present.

I also strongly agree with Lori that hand surgeons are the ones to consult for DD and any type of hand problem. Most primary care doctors know little about DD or tendon problems in the fingers.

Tammy

In answer to the question about finger stiffness with DD. My middle finger is stiff in the mornings. It feels like the skin is too tight for the finger when I bend it. If I bend the fingers in both hands I don't feel anything except for that finger. I can touch the palm of my hand with all fingers and not feel a twinge. With that middle finger I can touch the palm and flatten it, but it is uncomfortable and borders on slight pain. As the day goes on it loosens up. If I clinch that hand into a fist at night, I will wake up as I open the hand because of the pain.

Lori

Lori, it depends a little on the stage of the disease but growing nodules contain many myofibroblasts, those are cells that are also involved in wound healing and which are responding well to RT. Cords are essentially made of collagen which does not respond to RT. But, if I understand it correctly, growing cords still have a myofibroblasts core, so they might slow down growth after RT but won't vanish.

BTW, this is vice versa to collagenase: collagenase is expected to helps on cords (dissolves collagen) but not so much on nodules.

Wolfgang

lori:

---

...
Which reminds me... Wolfgang or anyone who knows. Why would the nodule disappear and the cord still remain? Are they not made of the same material?


Lori

Edited 10/10/10 18:33