October 1, 2018 PDI Newsletter
Greetings to all PDI and DCI Warriors,
Welcome to this October 2018 Peyronie’s Disease Institute newsletter.
A little research business first. Last month I asked for everyone with Dupuytren’s contracture to participate in the DCI Survey on the Variability of the Dupuytren’s Contracture Palm Nodule. This is the first attempt to collect and interpret information about the ability of the palm lump to change, come and go, or fade in and out in the early stages of Dupuytren’s contracture.
We got a good response last month, but far from the number of people with DC who read this newsletter. The survey is already pointing to important information that does not follow the usual thoughts about Dupuytren’s contracture. DCI needs more people to respond to make these research findings relevant and valid. Everyone’s response is important.
Some palm lumps change a lot, back and forth, smaller and larger and then smaller again, while other palm lumps do not do change at all this. How common is it for early DC palm lumps to change in a back and forth cycle? Is there a difference between the people whose palm nodules change and those whose palm nodules do not change? Can we do some something to make everyone’s palm lumps get smaller and softer? We are going to find out if you help us.
Please, click here to take the 5 minute Dupuytren’s contracture survey. Thank you.
After taking the DCI survey please come back to continue reading a few new informative and inspirational emails from folks like you who have Dupuytren’s contracture or Peyronie’s disease. With this information you will be able to treat your DC and PD better. Since PD and DC are so similar in many ways, treatment is also similar; what can be done for one problem can also be done for the other.
Read this series of combined emails like the back-and-forth of two people talking while one occasionally interrupts the other to make an important point or answer a question. To understand the flow of the conversation, keep in mind that the text in black is from someone with DC or PD and the text in red is from me.
Good Saturday to you, MSXXXXXXXXX,
See below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore R. Herazy, DC, LAc
Peyronie’s Disease Institute
Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute
From: MSXXXXXXXXXX[mailto:msxxxxx@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2018 10:52 AM
To: Theodore Herazy <herazy@comcast.net>
Subject: Question from MSXXXXXXXXX
Good day Dr. Herazy,
I hope you are well. Yes, thanks. I think you may be asking about my life-long shoulder problem I believe I mentioned the last time we spoke. Well, I found a young genius chiropractor in the area who works with the Cubs, White Sox and Bears. I have been seeing him for 10 months or so, and I am remarkably better. Considering I am 72, and I remember have a lot of left shoulder pain in first grade (age 6), I can’t believe the progress I have made. In fact, by the time I was in high school I had a chronically bad shoulder and often needed help getting dressed. I was introduced to chiropractic for symptomatic relief when I was a high school freshman; this was such big deal to me as a kid to get even a little help with the shoulder that I decided to become a chiropractor. The orthopedic surgeons have been after me for years to get the shoulder replaced, but I resisted. The recent progress I have made with this young DC is remarkable. In a way this shoulder story of mine ties into what you are doing for your PD: Trying to help the body heal in a way that is unique. Bad tissue changes are said to be only helped by surgery, although sometimes the body heals the problem if given just a little help. With the help of this DC my old bum shoulder can still make positive changes in cartilage, tendons and ligaments; tissue that is not supposed to change after being so bad for so terribly long. As long as you are alive, your tissue tries to heal. Sometimes it is fast and easy, other times it takes longer and is more difficult. But surprising things can happen if you help the body and keep after it. You only know if you try hard. In a few hours we are going up north (south for you) to Gurnee to grab some supper. It is such a great day it would be a shame not to get out a bit to enjoy this weather. Soon all of that will change. Something about making hay while the sun shines, eh?
I have a question regarding the application of moist heat: do you see an issue with using a warm moist wash cloth and then placing a heating pad over it? Nope; that is good technique. I am typically waking up at 5:00am and then coming back to bed for 15-20 minutes of the moist heat application followed by gentle stretching. But I’m having a challenge keeping the cloth warm using the towel method and/or the water bottle. The idea is not to bake or poach the tissue; just enough pleasant warmth to cause nice gentle redness of the area; don’t burn yourself. More is heat not necessarily better; just get tissue pink, that’s enough. If you want to retain heat longer use a larger towel. Just wring the towel out well to keep you relatively dry. My wife suggested placing the heating pad over the moist cloth. They ARE smarter than we are. That is the way I suggest keeping the moist towels warm for a longer heat treatment.
I also wanted to let you know that after a break, I am reintroducing the vitamins and enzymes into my daily regime. Perhaps because I accelerated too quickly in the past, I was experiencing some GI issues and discontinued all but the Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Acetyl L Carnitine. But I’m ready to go again. I’ll just be more gradual. I have thought about your last email from a few months back about your reaction. I cannot comment with authority because I am not your treating doctor, but I have felt that your (foot/toe?) complaints you attributed to the therapy was not the culprit. As I vaguely remember your complaint had something to do with one of your toes or a part of your foot being slightly darkened. My guess is that your foot complaints were a coincidence to something else, and had nothing to do with your therapy plan. I mention this only because what you reported at the time was so unusual compared to what could be physiologically related to the supplements. Just my theory.
One development: for the first time, I am seeing a reduction in the scar and interestingly it is at the point where I first noticed it. It’s a small, very small reduction, And that, sir, is why it is required that you measure the fibrous tissue carefully down to a small and discreet degree because changes often – but not always – occur to a small degree or distance. If you measure your child’s growth from month to month, and you are taking very precise and detailed measurements, then you can notice that he/she is 1/16” of an inch taller this month. Otherwise you will miss that small growth if you are only eyeballing it, as many people do when they try to keep mental track of their progress. They just miss it because they are only guessing. These folks often miss the boat because they refuse to follow this procedure properly. but I’ll take it. I have been rereading your book and can now relate to your comment regarding the dynamic nature of PD. 11 months ago I first noticed the scarring primarily on the right, close to the glans, which caused the rightward angle when erect. Over the next 7 months, the scarring increased and became more uniform, which eliminated the curve and created the bottleneck affect. And now with the reduction on the original right side occurring, I now have a very slight angle to the left when erect. Exactly. Your scar got larger (worse) but your curve became smaller (better). The opposite also happens. The degree and direction of curvature and related distortions are not always directly proportional to the scar. Small scars can create larger curvatures and distortions than large scars; and scars that are getting smaller can definitely increase a curve or distortion. Large nasty scars can create smaller curvatures and distortions than small scars depending on their location within the shaft; and scars that are getting larger can definitely reduce a curve or distortion depending on their location and if they are balanced by similar scars. Reduced scar development can look temporarily worse. With continued treatment and continued reduction of scar tissue the shaft distortions eventually are resolved and absent once they are too small and weak to cause trouble. This is why it is so very important to track the size, shape, density and surface features (SSDS) of the scar to access progress, and not merely judge the angle of curvature or distortion.
Take care and expect some reorders in the near future.
Thanks for all your work on this! Been getting a lot of positive reports from DC and PD folks, so the considerable work is worth it, for sure. I go to bed tired after all these emails and research tasks knowing that there are many people getting better – and avoiding the knife – because of this work. Tissue heals to the best of its ability; do what you can to help the tissue heal. TRH
MSXXXXXXXXXXX
Greetings SQXXXXXXX,
See below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore R. Herazy, DC, LAc
Peyronie’s Disease Institute
Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute
From: SQXXXXXXXX [mailto:sqxxxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2018 11:04 AM
To: Theodore Herazy <herazy@comcast.net>
Subject:
Hi Dr. Herazy,
This is SQXXXXXXXXXX and I recently purchased the large plan. I have a few questions:
Could I use ultrasound with the DMSO copper and vitamin E to kill two birds with one stone or should they be done separately? Separately, not together. It is all about sound conduction. The liquids in the vitamin E oil and Super CP Serum do not conduct sound as well as the gel found in the DMSO product. Adding all those other liquids together into the DMSO product would reduce sound conduction compared to using the DMSO by itself.
Also can other substances like enzymes be used topically with DMSO or should only E and copper solution. You are playing with fire when you start adding things to DMSO to “push” them into the tissue. First of all, the enzymes would have to be in some type of liquid form, and this might get you into a real experimental area of trying to get a dry substance into a liquid form so that it could then be combined with the DMSO. Then there is the matter of molecule size of an enzyme that might prohibit it being able of being carried into the tissue by the DMSO molecule. All of this is way too questionable, experimental and possibly dangerous to do. I suggest keeping things simple and safe. Use your DMSO as we suggest and do what has been safely done with success for almost 16 years. Nice try. TRH
Thanks again,
SQXXXXXXXX
Greetings AHXXXXXXXXXX,
See below for comments…
Regards,
Theodore R. Herazy, DC, LAc
Peyronie’s Disease Institute
Dupuytren’s Contracture Institute
From: ahxxxxxxxx [mailto:ahxxxxxxxxxxx@sky.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2018 11:13 AM
To: Theodore Herazy <herazy@comcast.net>
Subject: Plan Changes
Hi Theodore,
Looking at your document Outline for Natural Treatment it talks about plan changes and 7-10 day cycles. It also mentions “early plan changes” (1st to 2nd plan changes). If you have great gut health you might even consider a 3rd increase in your early state of treatment that is larger or heavier than the later increases. Just depends on how well your digestive tract functions and how you feel about it. You can always pull back on a dosage change like the notes mention so you get back to a tolerable dosage level, wait a while at a lower dosage while the tissue adapts and settles down a bit, and then increase again to see how it goes the next time around.
How many weeks before you make 1st and then the 2nd change in the plan Approximately 7-10 days between each plan change. and do you make increase of 2-3 pills daily on both 1st and 2nd plan, Yes you can do it that way, depending on how you see your ability to increase dosages. Some people who have known digestive/ colon problems would probably want to reduce that number (fewer pills when they make an early increase), and those with the proverbial cast iron stomach might push it a bit. As always the rate of dosage increase is your call. so by the time you are on 2nd plan change you have increased by 4-6 pills? That is possible. None of these are hard and fast rules; they are suggestions and ranges to consider.
Finally how many weeks after 2nd plan change is the 3rd plan change? Another 7-10 days; after a lot of experimenting over the years I have found that the 7-10 days span works well. Most folks are good using this time interval. It is slow enough to allow the body to adapt to increased dosages, but still brisk enough to increase the dosages smartly. Again , if you have digestive or general health issues or a history of overall drug sensitivities you would probably do well to follow a 10-14 day cycle – or even longer. Best to be safe than sorry. Those who must slow down their rate of increase have to accept the fact that this slows down the process of recovery. Longer time between increases means longer time until you reach your therapeutic dosage. I am working with one fellow who has a terrible PD problem and a terrible gut. He goes weeks and months between increases, and on top of that he has to avoid several of the therapy items. He is in his 3rd year of treatment. But he is safely making progress, with less curvature and increased shaft size. If he was not doing the PDI protocol he would be a distorted mess or he would have to take the risk of surgery. Slow progress is still progress, and it is better than getting worse. TRH
Many thanks
AHXXXXXXXX
Well, there you have it. I hope everyone found this issue of the PDI Newsletter interesting and informative so you can do a better job of helping your own PD or DC condition.
Please, click here to take the 5 minute Dupuytren’s contracture survey. Thank you.
If things are going slowly for you, and you feel discouraged, put that energy into something productive. Write me an email that describes what you are doing, and include questions about those things you do not understand about your problem. I will do the best I can to help you so that you get the kind of results you want.
To get a helpful response to your questions about DC or PD treatment, please go to the “Ask Dr. Herazy” Q & A section of either website at Peyronies Disease Institute or Dupuytren Contracture Institute.
Enjoy the brisk fall weather coming our way.
Stay focused on your treatment plan. TRH
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