We want to Introduce you to Phillip Robert, Chief Encouragement Officer of the Burning Limb Foundation

Please watch this short video of Mr. Phillip Robert who spoke at our conference in Fayetteville, AR as he tells his story and introduces his Foundation which is helping individuals with CRPS and others suffering with chronic pain.  You will not disappointed: To learn more about The Burning Limb Foundation, please visit their website #TheWednesdayBurncontinue reading

Independence Redefined

By Elisa Friedlander Hello dear readers! This post below is from an article I wrote a few months ago. It was published in the Inner Peace Column of our local newspaper, the Ashland Tidings. Enjoy, and please pass on! Click here for the link to her article. Recently, during a dinner outing with my wife and another couple, I mentioned my plan to try driving again (it's been several years since disabling neck pain and other medical problems made driving a thing of the past). One friend responded, "Great! You can finally be independent!" There was no ill-intention in her comment. Still, it felt like an eyelash jabbing my cornea. At the time, I just nodded. My "response" came later…continue reading

Long Road Traveled

By Kaylee Sills While I grew up in the church and went to Christian school, there were still aspects of my story that God had to redeem. Since middle school, the only consistent prayer in my life was for wisdom, understanding, and that God would finish the good work he had started in me. I knew that I desired my grandfather’s gentle spirit of wisdom. While I didn’t understand in my youth the impact that prayer would have on my life, God was faithful in honoring my request. I was in a freak accident in junior high. The injury triggered Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, one of the most painful conditions the body can endure. Nerves continuously tell your brain that your…continue reading

My L-Arginine Story

By:  Katrina Gould - gould5052@gmail.com I’ve had CRPS/RSD 25 plus years from a devastating injury to my left brachial plexus. I slipped and fell backwards in a parking lot and violently jammed my left arm underneath me.  As a result I have severe nerve pain in the upper left quadrant of my body, including my chest, neck, back, and especially my left shoulder, arm, and hand. My neurologist is always working to find relief for the excruciating pain that his CRPS/RSD patients suffer, including me.  And I love him for it, because those of you that have it know how unrelenting this pain is. Several months ago, Dr Neurologist’s latest experiment was to prescribe the over-the-counter amino acid L-Arginine to…continue reading

Steroids for Pain Flare

  By:  Steven Richeimer, MD Chief, Division of Pain Medicine Professor of Anesthesiology & Psychiatry Director, Online Master Degree in Pain Medicine University of Southern California Are steroids useful in the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome? Steroids are one of the oldest treatments for complex regional pain syndrome. They appear to be most effective in the very early stages of the condition, or during acute flares. How much steroid should be taken, and for how long? For new onset of symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome, I typically treat patients with either a 12 day or an 18 day course. Methylprednisolone is available in blister packs (commonly referred to as Medrol dosepacks). Each dosepack is a six day treatment…continue reading

Hope on the Horizon

By:  Karen Binkley, MD Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto kareneb@sympatico.ca If you have CRPS, you may already realize that existing treatments do not work as well as we would like.  The best hope for improved treatments will come from a better understanding of what is going wrong in CRPS, so that we are better able to fix it.  In this column, new developments in our understanding about CRPS, and implications for treatment are reviewed. Developments in the understanding and treatment of other autoimmune conditions, which may be relevant to CRPS, are also highlighted, in the hope of generating research interest to explore new treatment possibilities that are so desperately needed. Topical ambroxol for CRPS Researchers in Germany describe…continue reading

The role of the physical therapist in treating Complex Regional Pain Syndrome CRPS) or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSDS)

By Christina Price, PT: http://bodyimagephysicaltherapy.com/physical-therapy-fitness-leadership   I am a physical therapist, working on 28 years of practice in Colorado.  My first memory of seeing a patient well past the first stages of CRPS was about 24 years ago.  She was a middle-aged woman who had injured her foot and ankle, presenting post operatively for physical therapy.  She refused to look at her foot, and certainly was not going to touch or massage the area. She clung to her crutches as she handed over the orders for full weight bearing, mobility and strengthening, but refused to even place her foot on the floor.  She had presented with a bare foot, the skin was shiny and she was severely hypersensitive to touch all the…continue reading

My Pain Journey: When Physicians Treated with Confidence to Now Fear of Reprisal from the DEA

By Rochelle Odell:  Email – crpspain25@outlook.com NIB, Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics published in Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics • Volume 8 • Number 3 • Winter 2018 I suffer from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), one of the most painful and difficult diseases to treat. Toss in fibromyalgia, multiple spinal problems and osteoarthritis for good measure and you quickly see pain was the center of my life. 2016 proved to be the year of marked change for me. In January my then CVS pharmacist informed me he would no longer be able to fill my Dilaudid prescription. He kept telling me ‘something’ was coming down the pike. It was the CDC 2016 Opioid Guidelines. Granted, 900–4 mg tablets is a large…continue reading

I Recovered and So Can You!

By Rita Labarbera “Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.” Norman Cousins “Anatomy of An Illness” It’s an honor and a privilege to write this article for the RSDSA Association, the intent of which is not to offer false hope or ways to manage this wretched condition, but to inform the world that you can fully recover from RSD/CRPS. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, how your condition started, the severity of your RSD, how many years you have suffered, you or your loved one can get better!!! My deepest hope is that by sharing my personal story and journey, I can help others to recover as well… FULLY. I was diagnosed with RSD/CRPS and…continue reading

My CRPS Conqueror Story

By Kristi Oen:  CRPS Conqueror, Founder of P.A.I.N. Help, Vice President of the Naples Holistic Chamber of Commerce Like many people with CRPS, I have spent most of my life avoiding and hiding because the reality of living with CRPS is just so cruel.  Having conquered my CRPS I am happily sharing my journey with you and hope that you have pain-free days again. Summer in the Chicago Suburbs always meant going to Santa’s Village.   I had been a little chicken about certain rides and was going to skip the Tarantula, but my sister and brother teased me and I got the courage to go on the ride that changed my life forever.  Mid ride the arm broke and my…continue reading