Opening My Hand: Dupuytren's Contracture Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe Dupuytren's contracture, the slow tightening in the palm that draws fingers down towards it. Almost everyone remembers a lump they ignored, and many were first told it was a callus, a cyst, arthritis or trigger finger; one hairdresser was told women don't really get it. Writers include a truck driver whose insurer said no twice, a plumber, a baker kneading dough at two in the morning, a session guitarist, a viola player, a jeweller setting stones the size of a grain of rice, a large-animal vet, a tattoo artist, a family doctor and a 29-year-old rock climber. They write from Amarillo to Aarhus and Leeuwarden to Sao Paulo. Treatments include watching and waiting, the needle procedure, the injection treatment and its bruised, swollen day after, radiation, open surgery, skin grafts and hand therapy, along with waiting lists, journeys of two hours each way and creams that did nothing. Partners and grandchildren are part of it, from the wife who made the appointment to the granddaughter who holds the straight hand. Outcomes vary. One man was left with a numb patch, a second operation proved harder than the first, a retired office cleaner chose no operation at all, and one man decided with his surgeon to lose a finger to keep the hand.

Who it's for

For anyone who has found a firm lump in the palm or a finger that will not lie flat, and for the partners and children who often notice it first.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 241 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.