Lump in the palm of my hand...dupuytren's contracture?

[GusChiggins]

Background-

 

• 10 years of climbing (off and on)
• About a year ago, I noticed a small lump appear in the palm of my right hand. It's about an inch below my pinky and ring finger and was the size of a small metal BB. Pretty solid and didn't move around. I took most of the next eights off/did only easy climbing (and ski season), and there were no changes to this lump.
• Then in March, I got back into my climbing training program and eased into it. After the HB workouts and a couple campus workouts I noticed that the little lump started to change. So did some digging around on the internet (yup I know) and the only answer I could come across was dupuytren's contracture.

  I'm seeing an ortho hand speRCTMkicksAsst this week but I just wanted to see if anyone else has this thing because the medical community has not made me feel so warm and fuzzy about the recovery...and not to mention what ends up happening to your finger has me freaked out a bit. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

[Chris W]

There are a number of things that can do this, including Dupuytren's. It may just be a small nodule of fibrous tissue within the palmar fascia. Worst case scenario, with Depuytren's you remove a chunk of the fascia, not the "important" stuff like tendons, bones and ligaments. I'm not certain, but it could take longer to rehab a bad A2 sprain/strain/tear than it would to rehab a Duputryen's surgery. I'd be pretty clear with your doctor about your climbing and the way you use your hands and fingers.

And be polite and respectful. Doctors get a bad rap these days, and no one can be right all the time, but many doctors deal with patients on a daily basis who act very ugly towards them. 

[cozisco]

Gus -- do you have any limited ROM in your pinky? Also, how did the lump change after HB workouts?



I've had very similar lumps in both hands for 5-6 years now. After the first year, they grew in size from a BB to a pea, but haven't changed since then. I think I may have lost <5 degrees of range of motion in both pinkies within that first year as well. I've significantly ramped up my training and climbing within the past 3 years, but haven't noticed any change.

Anyway, I asked a general practitioner about it and their response was that "if it's not causing pain, restricting any more ROM, growing in size or generally getting worse, then don't worry about it." That was 3 years ago and I'm still tempted to see a hand speRCTMkicksAsst, though.

[uplandermark]

I've had dupuytren's for about 25 years now. My dad has it too. It hasn't impacted either one of us from normal use. I'm 61 and have been climbing 11 years. I went to hand speRCTMkicksAsst when I first noticed it and he said surgery would be a last resort if the mobility got bad enough. That's when my dad said, "you mean this?", I've had it for years. So, I didn't worry about it after that. I cannot bend my fingers back like I used to so there is some limitation.