thanks for explaining this to us. My great aunt had arthritic hands that closed up like this. I don't know if it was ever diagnosed as Dupuytren's but it certainly fits the bill.
Hearing some of the folklore behind the disease was interesting.
best wishes on choosing a path forward to alleviate its progression
Thank you for the best wishes. I'm going to seek out radiation therapy and see where that takes me. According to my doctors, they haven't heard of a case that occurred too early. It normally happens with the elderly and the result is sudden. It's the way my dad's hands ended up deformed. He never even knew he had it.
Oh, I forgot to add that Dupuytren's disease (DD) isn't the only ailment that would cause hands to close up as I described. While DD can cause the hands to close inward on itself, there are images on the internet that shows fingers bent outward for those suffering from DD.
I think Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) also causes the hands to fold inward. My wife's friend is a cop in NJ who has RA. It's a nasty ailment. She's got to take all sorts of stuff to have a normal life.