What is a stiff hand syndrome?
It is thickening of the hands’ skin, which becomes waxy and tightened. Also called diabetic hand
syndrome (or diabetic cheiroarthropathy, from the Greek kheir, hand), this eventually causes limitation of
finger movement, with varying degrees of fixed flexion of the PIP joints. As a result, patients become unable to fully extend fingers or press their palms flat together (prayer sign). It is exclusively seen in protracted type 1 or type 2 diabetes, often paralleling microvascular injury.
It is thickening of the hands’ skin, which becomes waxy and tightened. Also called diabetic hand
syndrome (or diabetic cheiroarthropathy, from the Greek kheir, hand), this eventually causes limitation of
finger movement, with varying degrees of fixed flexion of the PIP joints. As a result, patients become unable to fully extend fingers or press their palms flat together (prayer sign). It is exclusively seen in protracted type 1 or type 2 diabetes, often paralleling microvascular injury.