Flux Health Forum

Dupuytren's contracture

Joints & Arthritis
#1

My mother was recently diagnosed with Dupuytren’s Contracture, aka Dupuytren’s disease, Morbus Dupuytren, Viking disease, palmar fibromatosis and Celtic hand. This is where thick knots of tissue develop under the skin that eventually pulls usually the ring and/or pinkie finger(s) into a bent position, restricting movement and causing hand deformity.

Causes are unknown, but it may be hereditary. Mostly occurs with men of Nordic origin over the age of 50. More likely to occur among diabetics and people using tobacco or alcohol or drugs treating seizures. Funny, no one in our family is ever known to have had it, my mother is obviously not male, nor is she diabetic, does not drink or smoke and has no Nordic blood in her. Only common feature is that she’s 81 years of age.

We thought of applying the M1 on it for the past month, but so far to no effect. Protocol Omni 8, intensity 6 for an hour. I’m thinking this thickening tendon is quite stubborn and I should have her apply a higher intensity, maybe 9-12? Maybe for longer periods? Anyone with some thoughts on this?

#2

That is one of those applications where higher intensity might be helpful. Also, it might be two or three months that are required.

#3

Hmm, yeah, I thought so too. I looked it up and it says it’s one of the most common afflictions among older populations. It would be very interesting to see what ICES could do to reverse it.

#4

I started having contractions on my hands last year. I could not straighten my ring and pinky fingers. It came on suddenly and may not have been Dupuytren’s because it was also somewhat painful, and my understanding is that Dupuytren’s typically is not very painful (but I could be wrong about that). But also it did not seem like muscle cramps. In my case, I started using my M1 or C5 immediately, while I slept, and the problem would go away for a few hours but then creep back in again. I kept using ICES-PEMF, and it took a few weeks, but it was getting progressively better with ICES-PEMF (less frequent and less intense), and then after a few weeks, the problem pretty well was resolved and has not returned.

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#5

Dupuytren’s should be easy to spot after a certain point because the thick tissue literally sticks out. It starts out as protruding knobs and over time you actually see the thickened tendon or cord that disfigures the hand. My mother’s is at the early knobby stage but our GP immediately diagnosed it on sight. And you’re right, it’s generally not painful, unless you press on the knots.

#6

yes, so that probably was not what I had. But I did catch it very early and was able to reverse it.

#7

Which is definitely promising. I suspect Dupuytren’s contracture will take much longer to treat because you’re dealing with thickened tissue, but there is no cure and other treatments are quite invasive, painful, and disfiguring. What’s more there’s a 25% chance of the condition returning, so if ICES-PEMF can treat it, no matter that it takes longer, it’s a much better choice. When it’s not painful and disfiguring, and you have a chance of regaining the use of those fingers, my mother is definitely going to opt for the longer noninvasive treatment! Besides, from my understanding, surgery isn’t called for until the fingers start to contract, but then, you’re still faced with recovery time plus several months of physio, so it’s not like you’re saving any time with this option.

#8

I think this is a good general approach for tendon-ligament-joint issues:
1- start as soon as possible using ICES-PEMF
2- Higher intensities may be necessary in these cases
3-Take note especially if this helps to slow or stop the progression. This is a good sign
4- Expect to keep going for several months of daily use for 6 to 8 hours per day (or more) because these tissues heal very slowly.
5- Continue use for at least 2 weeks after elimination of symptoms to assure that the underlying damage has also had a chance to heal.

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#9

While trigger finger isn’t the same but to attest to the help ICES PEMF M1 has given to a family member with finger ligament issues, ICES M1 restored full range of motion in both hands that had trigger finger after several weeks, without requiring cutting the ligament as recommended by the doctor.

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#10

Better and better! When our GP diagnosed my mother’s condition and said there was no cure, the only good news was that this disease usually was slow to progress. But the idea of any invasive treatment was abhorrent to the both of us. M1 has already paid off in its many benefits, and still it’s one of the first options we think of whenever we have a medical issue to contend with.

#11

How is she doing now? I think she would need 4 hours a day of treatment with the M1.

#12

@QuaiZen:

So far, we haven’t seen any changes. It hasn’t gotten worse but neither has it improved. The issue is that this is very slow progressing and I would imagine results would be slow in manifesting themselves if she makes any improvement. She is using the protocol Omni 8 on the M1 with intensity of 9, one coil on the front of her palm, the other on the back.

The other problem is, she leads such a busy schedule, so she is unable to do the recommended 6-8 hours. Instead she does about 3. But if she does make improvements, I would definitely post it on this forum.

#13

Has she tried using it while sleeping? 3 hours is definitely below the minimum 8 hours threshold to see results on average based on all the posts in this forum.

#14

She did try that. She created a thin glove-like band to hold the coils in place, but the issue is is that she unconsciously yanks them off because she’s irritated by the coils and the band. That’s why she won’t do it except during the day.

In any case, I figure three hours is better than none at all. If it takes longer to see results, it’s okay. This disease is slow progressing and symptoms only showed up several months ago… and she’s 81 years old. Aside from minor health issues, she’s quite healthy and spry.