I have Stills Disease which manifests as RA with joint pain, stiffness, swelling, fatigue, fever, rash and sore throat . I also have Interstitial Cystitis and Lichen Sclerosis both associated AI diseases.
I’ve developed a ‘nodule’ on my palm, painful if poked, could this be contracture?
It sounds quite likely with your list of problems - as though you don't have enough. But you need to show it to someone who would know!
Turns out my Dad and brother both have Dupuytrens contracture, less common in women apparently but I reckon that’s what is - I guess I must be special after all.
My hubby has dupuytrens too. Apparently it’s prolific in Cornish people, There’s a thing! Horrible little creepers in your hands. 🥵. His never hurts though 🤷♀️ Poor you - sounds like you’ve an awful lot going on. Hope you get to the bottom of it.
“Creepers in my hands” 😱Imagination running riot now, have you seen Alien 😳🤣
😂😂 👽
Is it just below the base of one of your fingers? If so this is where I had a steroid injection to release trigger finger (middle finger left hand). What looks like a nodule is the tendon being all bunched up for want of better words! It may be similar in DC?
Hmmmm could be described as nearer the middle of my palm, it hurts if I press it - ok ok I know, stop pressing it 😆
Hahah! Definitely something to show your Rheumy.
Trigger finger and dupuytrens are the same condition. The sheath around the tendon is inflamed and causes the contracture. Usually the middle finger that is affected, and yes you can feel the nodule. I’ve had two separate steroids injections which released it. Unfortunately the last one didn’t last long so I’m going to have an outpatient procedure to ‘snip’ something, not sure what. Supposedly very straightforward and better than having a finger that is stuck in bent position and quite painful.
Hope it goes well, send me an update please 😀
You're correct in that they are similar insofar that both the flexing of the finger is affected & there is fascia involvement but the two are different conditions. I thought they were one in the same too at one time. With trigger finger the tendon becomes inflamed & the sheath which surrounds it also becomes inflamed so the normally smooth action doesn't work properly. This is how the finger triggers, it jumps as it attempts to do it's normal job of gliding & a nodule usually appears at the base of the finger. Eventually in more advanced cases the finger may remain stuck in the bent position.
In Dupuytren's Contracture it's the palmar fascia (a triangular fibrous layer of tissue) which thickens & over time tightens causing bending of the finger, again a nodule (or knot) at the base of the finger is noticeable. It doesn't release in the same way trigger finger does, it remains bent. In the UK they are treated differently too, I presume it will be the same. Often steroid injections help trigger finger though if advanced may require surgery (local) to cut through & release the inflamed tendon. Sounds as though yours is trigger finger if you're having an OP procedure? There's no option but surgery (general) for Dupuytren's, the part of the plantar fascia with the nodules is removed. There are other differences but these are the main ones.
NB I've found this video explaining the difference in the two. m.youtube.com/watch?v=J09-X...
Thank you! Great explanation.
I've had trigger finger but not Dupuytren’s. I needed to research what the heck I actually had when my old GP (man, now retired) said it was neither. Whatever was it otherwise?!! My Rheumy confirmed it was months later when it had become stuck.
I too was diagnosed by an older doctor. Told him I really needed this middle finger to work well. So I could use it when I was driving next to idiot drivers, 😆. He had a really good chuckle.
Hahaha! 😂 It might have help had the GP said it was trigger finger, it would have saved me months of problems. I hope yours will be resolved once & for all.
Sounds like it. I have it in both palms.
I have Dupuytrens contracture, on my left palm under my ring finger. Can’t say it hurts though even when prodded.
Thank you, hope yours doesn’t get too bad
I have a similar issue but at the base of my fingers. A1 pulley ganglion cysts. Hand surgeon (plastic surgeon) says he can either pop them with an 18ga needle (20-30% success rate) or cut hand open and remove. Maybe get a consult with a surgeon. Should be day surgery that takes around an hour.
That’s interesting
My disease still has no diagnosis except rheumatoid disease. Have been tested for stills, Addisons, castlemans, whipple, lyme, lupus, etc. I get these nodules every once in a while over the last 6 years. Not very fun.
My diagnosis came after 3 months of bed ridden agony and one week in new Addenbrookes Hospital as it was then. My bloods show nothing and never have, it was the fever and rash that confirmed Stills.
That is good to know. I had fevers, night sweats, lost 57 lbs in 7 weeks, resting heart rate of 120. My bloods only showed extremely elevated CRP levels. And a CT showed 47 lymph nodes the size of my thumb in my abdominal cavity. First diag came back as lymphoma, but when two lymph nodes were removed and tested, lymphoma came back negative, which is awesome.
I’d be interested to know how things progress for you. Hoping for the best of course.
I appreciate that. Thank you. I too am hoping the doctors can identify what I have, been waiting for 6 years now. All that has been done is treat symptoms. So I have been on all the DMARDs, humira, kineret, and now tocilizumab (3.5 yrs). The toci keeps my crp down, which inturn keeps my heart rate down, blood pressure down, and my overall feeling a little better.
It was over 40 years ago but I remember steroids and Indocid SR capsules worked for me with enteric coated aspirin and all I. An recall of the pain medication was it DF118 stamped on it 🙂
The DF118 was dihydrocodine stills. You jogged my memory with Indocid too. They were the first NSAID I was ever prescribed, not for RD though.
At least our memories are not affected.....Who am I 😜
It's funny what you remember or retain & that was one. Another of my Mum's meds was a black & green capsule but I can't remember what that one was for just that it was what we called it!
I remember clearly the embarrassing horror of a full physical examination in my pants and bra at Addenbrookes hospital aged 17 with my mum in attendance to a room view of students who didn’t look much older than me!
I can imagine! Not the best age to have to do that in front of strangers. It was bad enough with just my Consultant & my h at 48! Then again with my Rheumy here a few years later. You must have just had to suck it up & hope it wasn’t for long. More importantly, did your knicks & bra match? 😉🤣
And I thought 7 years was a long time.
It is but RA is part of my life so I remember it all
Pouring rain here today so joints extra achey (is that a word) if not I’ll substitute stiff
Hi stillsdisease, that sounds like Dupuytrens contracture - my wife, and her father have both suffered with that and even after several operations to relieve the pressure, still have hard bumps/nodules where the finger tendons run though the palm. By coincidence, I have had some form of issue in my middle of right palm, where the skin that dries and cracks regularly if i dont keep it moist.
Hi, yes I also think it’s the start of DC, my brother has it as does my father, rarer in women apparently. My fathers is quite pronounced but the pandemic caused the cancellation of his operation to release it. Since then he’s had pneumonia, Covid and sepsis whilst in hospital for Non Hodgkinsons Lymphoma. At 85 he’s using up his nine lives 🐱Thank for your reply.
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