Rock climbing link to Dupuytren's disease

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Disappointingly, a lump has appeared on my left hand (palm below little finger - a classic Dup spot apparently) in the same spot as my right hand. The one in my right has stabilised/shrunk a little over the years - but the one on the left is a little niggly - I guess its new and making its presence felt :D

But my Q - is there any new knowledge or advice for this? From my scan nothing seems to have moved on much in the last 10 years or so? To summarise what I think is the present state of knowledge - no one knows why it happens though its possibly genetic (Scandinavian links), theres no real therapy for it - surgery is the only thing that seems to work (and mine is a long long way from being that bad). In other words get used to it TomTom....
 
That sounds like a fair summary. I'd add, avoid high dose vit C and glucosamine supplements, on a precautionary basis as there has been suggestion these can promote DC progression.
 
Bonjoy said:
That sounds like a fair summary. I'd add, avoid high dose vit C and glucosamine supplements, on a precautionary basis as there has been suggestion these can promote DC progression.
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Thanks Jon not taking either - anecdotally - the one on my RH got much better after having 2 months of high dosage vit D (250 ug a day prescribed for a deficiency - about 10 times the required) - though since then I've been taking a daily supplement at a regular dosage (10-25ug) so that casts some doubt on it...

It may be no coincidence that I'm climbing/training 5-6 days a week since March which is a step up from any previous frequency...
 
I thought I might mention here that training pockets on a fingerboard seems to aggrivate my dups. Not sure if others have a similar experience.
 
Is it worth chatting to a GP when you have had a lump for a while, or just wait until it causes issues (other than getting skinned on slopers every once in a while). I think the NHS site said just get in touch if it stops you doing things...
 
Danny said:
I thought I might mention here that training pockets on a fingerboard seems to aggrivate my dups. Not sure if others have a similar experience.
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I've been using my fingerboard a bit more recently, and find my fingers have a tendency to "lock out" the next morning when I wake up, and only move with a bit of pressure, and give a small jolt of pain, and a sharp click. Not sure if this is DC related or just old age. I have more discomfort training on a steep board and big holds though, they tend to catch right on nodules.

There is a group on FB called "DART, Dupuytrens Advocating Radiation Therapy" where radiation therapy seems to be recommended, but not sure about availability in the UK, and pretty sure not an option on the NHS.
 
Three, possibly four of the stupid nodule things here. I've been ignoring them for a couple of years now, they seem fairly benign and don't cause pain, other than if I really stretch the fingers open. I also have palindromic rheumatism and mentioned them to my consultant, she didn't seem overly concerned.

Are other people in the ignore camp?
 
Another ignore camp-dweller here. Modules on pinkie and ring finger tendons of both hands, been there over ten years now. They seem to have shrunk a bit over the last two years. Used to cause occasional minor discomfort but nothing at the moment.
 
My dad has dupytrens and has had 2 operations. I got a nodule in the same place (palm over little finger tendon), same hand, about 10 years ago. It grew a bit, was sore for a while when climbing, but over the last 8 or so years it has gradually shrunk and is now not really noticeable at all. I keep my hand stretched but I have no idea if that has anything to do with it.
 
I've not done anything. I personally don't think they actually shrink. More your hand adapts to accommodate them, and they desensitise.

I won't do anything until it significantly affects what I do. I am quite careful about keeping hands open, massage forearms at trigger points to reduce tightness, and stretch my hands regularly.

Neither of my parents had it, nor did their parents as far as I know, although one grandfather died young, the other was a hand engraver and violinist, and my dad never mentioned he had any issues.

I am the only one of 3 brothers to have any issues at all though, which sometimes makes me wonder if it is at all linked to climbing, but if you look at people on Facebook Groups it seems to indicate not.
 
My assumption is that climbing can trigger early onset in genetically susceptible people. People who might otherwise never present with symptoms, or maybe only much later in life.
That's based only on the observation that I know a lot of climbers with some DC presentation at an atypically young age. I'd also guess that this is a fairly recent phenomena resulting at least in part from increased climbing/training intensity in recent decades among participants.
 
Another in the ignore camp here. Mine were the most problematic towards the end of a long trip when I ended up climbing in Spain on pockets. My diet was poor and my alcohol consumption was probably relatively high.
 
My 67 yo dad has Dupuytrens and didn't know until I pointed it out - he thought the nodules were just calluses from decades of wielding spades at work. My Dupuytrens was sufficiently bad that I got the less invasive keyhole surgery for it 2-3 years ago (at age 41-42). It's since redeveloped and is near as bad now, as it was then. Now I've just decided to cope with it until it becomes unbearable (not much choice anyway - suspect it's a low priority for hospitals at present!). So, lots of stretching, particularly before climbing - as otherwise my little finger tends to prang below holds! And, needless to say, I really don't get in with big indoor slopers.
 
I went through a phase of hammering the shit out of mine with cross frictional massage and stretching, which seemed to aggrivate them. Ignore seems to be the best strategy for me at the mo. I've always been incredibly shit at climbing on pockets, and I only started fingerboarding--including training pockets--about 3 years ago. Mine have all cropped up over this period. Obviously all of these happenings covary with getting old, so I can't really pin causality. That said, since I've stopped training pockets they seem to have regressed.
 
Danny said:
I went through a phase of hammering the shit out of mine with cross frictional massage and stretching, which seemed to aggrivate them. Ignore seems to be the best strategy for me at the mo. I've always been incredibly shit at climbing on pockets, and I only started fingerboarding--including training pockets--about 3 years ago. Mine have all cropped up over this period. Obviously all of these happenings covary with getting old, so I can't really pin causality. That said, since I've stopped training pockets they seem to have regressed.
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Yeah - from the literature they are most commonly (by quite a margin) on ring and little finger - so training the back two is probably not going to er 'help' the situation..
 
I spoke to Huffy a few weeks ago and he thought that I had this amongst some other issues in my left hand. He said it was in its early phases and asked me to to do some lumbrical stretches kind of like this https://images.app.goo.gl/uifJqDep7LrS4YFc6 but straight armed and palm away from me to fully stretch it. I'll report any observations here.
 
tomtom said:
Danny said:
I went through a phase of hammering the shit out of mine with cross frictional massage and stretching, which seemed to aggrivate them. Ignore seems to be the best strategy for me at the mo. I've always been incredibly shit at climbing on pockets, and I only started fingerboarding--including training pockets--about 3 years ago. Mine have all cropped up over this period. Obviously all of these happenings covary with getting old, so I can't really pin causality. That said, since I've stopped training pockets they seem to have regressed.
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Yeah - from the literature they are most commonly (by quite a margin) on ring and little finger - so training the back two is probably not going to er 'help' the situation..
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Ach, and there I was getting all excited about trying Perfecto Mundo. I guess I'll just resgin myself to being always shit on pockets :)
 
yetix said:
I spoke to Huffy a few weeks ago and he thought that I had this amongst some other issues in my left hand. He said it was in its early phases and asked me to to do some lumbrical stretches kind of like this https://images.app.goo.gl/uifJqDep7LrS4YFc6 but straight armed and palm away from me to fully stretch it. I'll report any observations here.
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I hope not literally like that, there's no way any of my fingers will curl that much..
 

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