Dupuytren's Contracture is a progressive condition affecting the hands, which cause the fingers to curl inwards towards the palm. There is a genetic component. <link>.
Currently no preventitive treatment exists.
Until now.
The proposal is for a pair of carefully reinforced gloves, with wristbands; something like motorcycle gloves. From the tips of the glove fingers, thin cords run back over a lightweight "bridge" positioned in the centre of the back of the hand, and are anchored to the wristband via adjustable tension springs. When the hands are completely relaxed, there is enough tension in the springs to keep the fingers straightened, but do not prevent the hands being used normally, albeit with a little extra effort.
The idea would be to wear the gloves at night, every night, from middle age onwards, providing physiotherapy while the wearer sleeps.
Supplied with a small horsehair-strung bow to allow the wearer to play tunes on the strings.-- 8th of 7, Jun 20 2008 Dupuytren's Contracture http://en.wikipedia...ren%27s_ContractureMore detail [8th of 7, Jun 20 2008] Xtensor Gamer Hand Excercisor http://www.thinkgee...meoffice/gear/a33b/Similar [Spacecoyote, Jun 21 2008] It's an important clinical sign and if it doesn't happen it might distort the picture someone is building up of someone's health. If someone had spider naevi and Dupuytren's contracture but no other clinical signs suggesting liver disease, it'd be pretty likely they'd have liver problems. If they had spider naevi but no Dupuytren's contracture, probably you'd end up deciding it was less likely until they develop a more serious problem, or they'd end up having a blood sample sent off for a path lab to have a look at, resulting in more expense for them privately or the taxpayer in a state healthcare system. Therefore i have to vote against this.-- nineteenthly, Jun 20 2008 This condition seems to be due to the thickening of tissue around certain tendons, rather than a shortening of the tendons themselves. Also, linked article doesn't mention physiotherapy as a treatment.
You've got my bun for an interesting idea - but do you think this would work?-- Jinbish, Jun 20 2008 Rather than beef up the muscles used for contracting the hand, wouldn't it make more sense to provide flexing resistance and build up the muscles that allow the hand to open? Sort of the opposite of squeezing a tennis ball...-- phoenix, Jun 20 2008 What happened to my anno?-- 4whom, Jun 20 2008 Not us ... we don't delete annos ....-- 8th of 7, Jun 20 2008 And in advance, what happened to my anno of what happened to my anno?-- 4whom, Jun 20 2008 The little yellow pixies stole it ?-- 8th of 7, Jun 20 2008 <original anno> Nice idea, but why stop at deseases that exclude the auto immune? Many afflictions would benefit from continued stimuli.-- 4whom, Jun 20 2008 This is true. For instance, an embarrasing and socially humiliating condition known as "short arms and deep pockets", leading to the persistant inability to buy a round of drinks in a pub, can be cured by corrective physiotherapy, defined as "having one's arms held behind one's back by one's drinking companions while a member of the party squirts condiments and sauces (the ones that come in those little plastic sachets) into all available facial orifices".
Malt vinegar up the nose and horseradish sauce in the ears is specially effective on Yorkshiremen, for some unknow reason. Southerners tend to give up after just a tiny bit of tomato ketchup up their nose. Wimps.-- 8th of 7, Jun 20 2008 How can you say that? Horseradish sauce in the ears, or grated horseradish for that matter, is one of my favourite forms of recreation. In fact, maybe i should try that out on my clients with otitis media.-- nineteenthly, Jun 20 2008 // maybe i should try that out on my clients //
Thankyou for that .... the surreal vision of [ninteeenthly] patiently packing horseradish paste into a patient's earhole will take considerable effort to dislodge .....-- 8th of 7, Jun 21 2008 When I eat horseradish my nose clears, so if I put it in my ears...what my vision clears?
Back to the idea...not that I know anything about this, but from the Wikipedia link, having your hand straight won't do anything about the growth of the fibers, though it might keep them longer.-- MisterQED, Jun 21 2008 When I eat horseradish my nose clears, so if I put it in my ears...what my vision clears?
Back to the idea...not that I know anything about this, but from the Wikipedia link, having your hand straight won't do anything about the growth of the fibers, though it might keep them longer.-- MisterQED, Jun 21 2008 The question i ask myself is, are there any conditions involving Dupuytren's contracture which horseradish sauce can alter? Also, you've made me want to go out and buy some, which i will probably now do.-- nineteenthly, Jun 21 2008 I think I found a device that does the opposite [link]. I made something like this with rubber bands and velcro out of boredom.-- Spacecoyote, Jun 21 2008 // having your hand straight won't do anything about the growth of the fibers //
Has anyone tried, though ?
Thanks, [Spacecoyote], that device is almost exactly what is envisaged - but in reverse .....
Potentially, a good starting point for the design.-- 8th of 7, Jun 21 2008 So, could you put that thing on upside down on the opposite hand? Come to think of it, are there right- and left-handed versions?-- nineteenthly, Jun 21 2008 So, basically, you want to use a an afflicted person's hand to build a miniature guitar, with the fingers acting as the neck and the wrist acting as the sound box?
Cool.
Bonus points for therapeutic, if esoteric, purpose.-- shapu, Jun 22 2008 Actually, no; this is a preventative. The user wouldn't necessarily have developed symptoms, and the device should help prevent or delay the onset - as well as being musical.-- 8th of 7, Jun 22 2008 I believe this can work, but THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I have been looking everywhere on the internet and been thinking about solutions to prevent my hand from closing. The day before yesterday this same idea came to me!
I'm in stage N, which means the fibers are there, but my hands still opens well, although I feel tension on my skin in my hand palm when I open it. I'm a musician and I've decided to do all I can to stop this "disease". So I went to the doctor yesterday and explained my idea to him of wearing a glove especially for Dupuytren's postoperative care. He said "Why not?"and prescribed me one and I'm going to give it try. Trying massage as well with different oils. If this works it would be great!-- BOZO56, Mar 20 2009 random, halfbakery