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If you’ve had surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture, there’s a period of time where you’ll be recovering and not be fully functional. We usually require patients to wear a bandage and a splint after surgery for seven to 10 days. After this, a series of bandages will be applied until the surgical incisions are healed enough that no bandage is necessary. That’s usually two to three weeks for most people. During that time, you can resume bathing and light activities like feeding yourself and dressing yourself, but forceful activities that put a lot of pressure on the palm and on the surgical incisions, any weightbearing or any friction on those incisions, should be avoided for at least six weeks. Therefore, depending on your occupation and your normal activities, you may have a period of time where you’re not able to return to full function for at least six weeks after surgery. After six weeks, most people are able to return to their normal activity level, although they may still have some stiffness and difficulty making a full fist, there may be some discomfort, and they may feel weak. Hand therapy is the best way to get people back to function as quickly and reliably as possible. And this is almost always prescribed after surgical treatment for Dupuytren’s disease.
