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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Rangers hero Ally McCoist lifts lid on living with incurable hand condition

Ally McCoist has revealed that he is living with an incurable hand condition. 

The Rangers legend has lifted the lid on the disease that causes his fingers to bend towards his palms.

Dupuytren's contracture is an abnormal thickening of the skin in the palm of your hand at the base of your fingers.

Over time, this can cause one or more fingers to curl towards the palm or pull sideways.

McCoist has now revealed that he's been living with Dupuytren's - which two million people in the UK are estimated to suffer from - for several years. The 62-year-old's parents both suffered from it too. 

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Rangers, Kilmarnock and Scotland striker revealed he's has two operations to straighten his fingers, but the problem has not been resolved.

He said: "I have got Dupuytren's. It's a hereditary thing where your fingers close in.


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"I have had them done twice. I went to see the doctor and he said to me 'Did your grandfather have it?'. I said 'I don't know' because I never met any of my grandfathers, sadly they passed before I was born.

"I said to him 'But my dad had it'. He lifted his head up and said 'You're unlucky because it normally skips a generation'. I said 'That's good news because I have got five boys'.

"My wee mum had it as well. My mum had it, my dad had it, it's a hereditary thing.

"The bizarre thing with Dupuytren's is when I went to see the doctor he said 'I will operate on it but it will come back in roughly nine years'. And I swear to God nine years later it came back.

"I have seen myself sending a text message which takes me five minutes to text with one finger when I should just dial the number."

It is estimated that two million people in Britain have some degree of Dupuytren's and other famous sufferers have included Margaret Thatcher and actor Bill Nighy.

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