By Dr. Stevan Luther
Special to the Courier-Times

This relatively common condition of the hand is worthy of explanation.

It might save you a trip to the doctor’s office, though it’s always a good idea to have it checked to confirm the diagnosis.

The patient will complain of bumps forming in the palms of the hands.

There may be some pain or tenderness when trying to grasp and squeeze objects. Over time, there will be a tendency for the fingers to draw up and form a “claw.”

Often, people will think they are dealing with arthritis, but it isn’t. The problem is progressive scar tissue formation over the tendons in the palm of the hands.

Quite often the patient doesn’t notice any problems for months or years until they begin to feel bumps forming along one or more tendons of one or both hands. It shouldn’t affect more than two or three fingers. If it does, you definitely should see your doctor for a consultation.

As time goes on, the finger or fingers corresponding to these tendons will begin to draw up, becoming more and more difficult to fully straighten, until eventually a claw-type deformity will occur.

It is not uncommon for similar nodules to form along the tendons of the feet, as well. In addition, in men there can be similar scarring and nodularity of the shaft of the penis, called Peyronnies disease.

The cause of this disorder is unknown, as is the case with so many conditions in the body.

It’s usually not very painful and really doesn’t become a problem until the advanced stages. It does become more and more difficult to grasp objects firmly, such as a hammer, but people seem to do well with it for many years.

Treatment for it in the early stages is simply stretching of the fingers in an effort to break up the scar tissue.

Physical therapy may be helpful in getting started with a home program. We advise patients to try to avoid heavy gripping of objects, which might cause the scar tissue to form more quickly.

For more advanced disease, steroid injections can give temporary relief. For the most severe cases, one can consider surgery to remove excess scar tissue.

Unfortunately, the scar tissue will eventually recur and we don’t usually recommend this approach until after age 70.

Also, external beam irradiation has been helpful in some cases. For the most part, though, this condition is mostly just a nuisance and really doesn’t interfere with one’s lifestyle.