Dupuytron's Contracture - home/herbal remedies?

Question

I was recently diagnosed with this condition and want to know if there are any non-surgical treatments available that are both effective and safe

Answer 1

There are experiments being conducted using enzymes to treat the thickened bands of skin, which show promise but are not yet out of the lab. The only treatments currently which are effective to my knowledge involve surgery. You would want to speak with a surgeon who specialized in hands, and discuss with him how radical a repair you would need. In some cases, they use steroid injections. Since the problem usually progresses slowly, unless your hand function is really impaired, you probably have ample time to explore your options for treatment. The treatments options really depend on how much skin is affected and how thick the band of restriction is. You could be talking simple splitting it, a partial fasciotomy, or a full one. Find an expert in hand surgery, and get the full story, and you will be able to make a much better decision. There aren't any home/herbal remedies that I am aware of, because it's not really a disease with an identifiable cause. It seems to be more a genetic thing, associated more with Scandanavians and males. The trouble is with the palm of the hand, making the fingers curl in. They still move, the problem isn't with the tendons, bones or muscles, so I can't think of any exercise or physical therapy that would help. Perhaps you could try using an emollient hand cream and massaging it into the skin of the hand to keep it supple as possible, but there really isn't anything you can do about the thickness- and that is what the problem really is. I've only known of two people with the problem, and they both opted for the surgical repair. One had to have the surgery done twice, and the other never had another problem with it. With both of them, it affected their dominant hand, though. If that's not the case with you, you might choose to simply not do anything, or wait until the hand is really nearly unusable. Sorry, that's all the info I have.