Panthers legend Greg Alexander reveals he is suffering from rare ‘Vikings disease’ – and the best way to fight it is through surgery that has left him with HAIRY PALMS
- Penrith favourite son has Dupuytren’s contracture, aka ‘Vikings disease’
- Condition makes tissue on the hand tighten, bending fingers in towards palm
- Best treatment is surgery to cut out tissue and skin graft with hair follicles in it
Legendary Penrith, NSW and Kangaroos half Greg Alexander is suffering from a condition that can make it hard to straighten his fingers – and the best treatment is grafting skin with hair follicles in it onto the affected area.
The current Fox Sports NRL commentator told the Sydney Morning Herald that he is battling Dupuytren’s contracture, also known as ‘Vikings disease’ because it often strikes people of northern European descent.
The condition sees tissue under the skin of the hand harden, thicken and tighten, making the fingers curl back towards the palm and become difficult to straighten.
Alexander (right, with fellow Panthers legend Mark Geyer, left, in 2021) now has to pluck hairs out of his palm after treatment for a hand condition known as Vikings disease
‘I’ve had it now on both hands,’ Alexander explained.
‘What they have to do is open you up and then it’s almost like a calcification where they have to cut it all out.’
The surgery then involves grafting skin over the affected area. In Alexander’s case, the skin was taken from his underarm.
The condition can bend the fingers back towards the palm and make them hard to straighten – leaving Alexander (pictured playing for Penrith in 1992) in need of surgery and skin grafts
‘If it’s skin with hair follicles on it, that means that the Vikings disease can’t come back … so…
Source : dailymail
