Dupuytren’s Contracture…

Bent fingers are the noticeable effect of Dupuytren’s Contracture (so named after a French physician) which is sometimes referred to as the Viking disease. Several months ago I noticed a lump had appeared on the palm of my left hand. There was no pain other than a slight sensitivity when it was put under pressure. I tried not to think about it too much and hoped it would go away over time, but it didn’t, so when I had a check-up at my local doctor I asked him what it was. Apparently it is a rather common affliction, especially with people of northern European or Viking decent or with people who suffer from epilepsy, liver disease, diabetes and alcoholism and can be inherited. I had never heard of it before and didn’t know anyone in my family to suffer from it and I was pretty sure I didn’t suffer from any of the other diseases, so the doctor ran some additional blood tests and referred me to a specialist. The bloods came back fine showing I was otherwise healthy and the specialist was rather dismissive of the condition. He explained that what I saw was early signs and that it would be likely to progress slowly such that my little finger would become more bent as the growth in palm started to develop and limit the extension of the tendons. He said that they do not recommend and action until the fingers are bent to at least 30 degrees as the only relief was to break down the growth with surgery that runs the risk of damaging the tendons and nerves and doesn’t actually prevent it from reoccurring. It would seem that medical science is not totally sure what causes it and doesn’t have a cure. It least, for the moment, it is only in my left hand and is not causing my any real problem. I should get around to having those guitar lessons soon before it’s too late – I bought a guitar over a year ago and still haven’t done anything with it.