When it comes to Dupuytren’s contracture disease, there’s a great difference between women and men. Men are more likely than women to contract the disease, but the cause of this difference is unknown. Research suggests that women experience a more extreme degree of contracture, and women take more time than men to develop Dupuytren’s contractures.
Women experience the effect of estrogen, which slows down the contractures but consequently extends the pain and tenderness of the nodules as the hormone has an effect on collagen. Further evidence also indicates that inflammation and pain before contracture are felt more greatly by women than men.
The slow process of Dupuytren’s contracture disease can also cause more shoulder-related pain in women than men, making women more likely to develop frozen shoulders.
Men with Dupuytren’s Contracture disease
Still, this disease, as uncommon as it may be, is a male-dominated disease. Men are more likely to be affected than women. Caucasian men aged 40 and above are most likely to get the disease, but in men, the disease creates stiff, thick, and tightened fingers, rather than pain in the hands.
The disease develops faster in men than women, causing less pain to be felt as contractures form. The nodules always get inflamed and tender, but in men, they harden and tighten more quickly.
Men also produce testosterone, which does not have much of an effect on the collagen of the nodules, thus lessening chances of inflammation and pain. Moreover, men experience less shoulder pain or frozen shoulder than women who have the disease.