Category: Guest Blogger for RSDSA

24 Tips For People With CRPS

By Guest Blogger Jennifer Ginsburg Jennifer has been living with CRPS for 24 years. In her 24 years with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, she has learned a lot about herself and about the nature of CRPS. How can her experience help you? She created 24 tips to help you! As I just entered my 24th year with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, I’ve realized I lived with this disease for well over half of my life. I’ve had the “benefit” of being a child with CRPS and just wanting to move on in life.  I’ve suffered the “disadvantages” too and had to end my career in my mid-thirties. My CRPS gave me 8 glorious years of remission.  It’s also taught me…continue reading

When Treatment Offers Hope For Normalcy

By Guest Blogger Jamynne Bowles Jamynne discusses a potential co-morbid condition of CRPS- Dysautonomia. How does this impact her life? How did the treatment of CRPS impact this condition? What does she do to make the most of each good moment? Find out what happens when treatment provides hope for a better day, but makes some of your days more complicated. Yesterday, I was feeling brave. I was feeling invincible. I was feeling like I “could.” And so, I did.  I grabbed the car key, put it in the ignition, put it in “drive,” and went. I just went. I think I drove a good 20 miles. Admittedly, it was tough at times to see the road through my tears,…continue reading

Experimenting With Treatments/Modalities

By Guest Blogger Lorna Fortner This blog comes at the perfect time, as RSDSA has been asking the community for different treatments or things that they do to minimize their pain or reach remission. Lorna took the time to write about the various methods of treatments that she has tried and why the "opioid crisis" is a problem for those with chronic pain. Hi, y’all! I’ve been seeing some conversations regarding “What now?” Okay. Got a diagnosis, but what is the best way to treat it?  All of us individually made-we’re as differently as our fingerprints.  Some people may respond best to physical therapy, some to epidurals, sympathetic nerve blocks, some may do better with medications, or a combination of…continue reading

From Professional Patient To Young Adult Photographer

By Guest Blogger Caroline Bert We were lucky enough to meet Caroline at our Achilles Walk and then at our Long Island walk. As a young adult with CRPS/RSD, Caroline did not want to just be the "sick" girl, she wanted to be known for her dreams and talent. See how she did that here. My name is Caroline Bert and I am 23 years old. I was diagnosed with RSD when I was 12. It started with an injury on my left wrist and then spread over time. In school I was known for being the girl that “always has a broken arm.” I was the girl who felt right at home when I was with my pain management team,…continue reading

CRPS – Find The Fruit Or Rot Inside

by Gracie Bagosy-Young This blog was originally posted on The National Pain Report. Click here to see it there. Gracie discusses how CRPS helped her learn a lesson about herself. This involved finding the fruits of life every day. I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome many years ago. Sometimes I forget how long it has been. Of course, no one explained what those 4 letters meant to me, they simply wrote them on a piece of paper and told me to google them. I left there irritated and confused. After some research, I landed on words like “incurable” and “lifelong” and those feelings soon turned to anger. That anger ate me up! It was rotting me from the…continue reading

When Is Physical Pain Emotional Pain?

By Guest Blogger Deborah R. Brandt, PT, DPT, CMA Twice, I have had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic [complex] regional pain syndrome (CRPS) occur simultaneously.  In case other people may have PTSD associated with their CRPS, here are some insights and information I have gained from my healing process I would like to share with you. MY STORY I discover myself running on an unfamiliar path in Central Park and watch my 6 month-old Golden Retriever, Lily, ears floating out like wings, enjoying running with me. Why am I running nowhere in Central Park on this beautiful fall day? Slowly, I remember. I was playing with Lily in an area with other dogs and their owners when a tennis…continue reading

A Conversation With Our Newest CRPS Blogger

By Lorna Fortner Lorna is a member of the CRPS. As a new blogger, she wanted to introduce herself and tell her story before she continues on her blogging journey. We bet that many of you will be able to relate to Lorna. Make sure to give her a warm welcome. Hi, y’all, I’m Lorna Fortner.   I have CRPS2 since 1994, but it took about 7 years to get the diagnosis. Since I new to blogging, maybe a little background would be nice for you to fill in some of the gaps. I was born in Wisconsin in 1951.  Had asthma-first attack at 6 mos.  For the chronic sore throats, they once gave me penicillin, at age 3, I had…continue reading

My Top 5 Strategies For Dealing With A CRPS Flare

Written by Melissa Wardlaw for the RSDSA blog As a person living with CRPS, Melissa has had to manage a number of full body flares and pain for almost two decades. Because of this, Melissa was able to compile a list of tips that work for her to deal with pain flares. While these may not work for everyone, it may be a great starting point. As a patient who has suffered from systemic CRPS/RSD (full-body) and multiple other chronic illnesses and pain for over 15 years now, one unfortunate factor I can rely on in my medical journey is knowing I will experience flares; aka, an increase or exacerbation of pain & symptoms. Flares can be mild or severe,…continue reading

Finding Your Flashlight With CRPS

By Guest Blogger Morgan Trevithick Morgan experienced a CRPS diagnosis after doing something she loved. She was then surrounded by the darkness that CRPS can bring. What did it take for her to come out of the darkness? A flashlight. See what she means below. Most people have passions, and even if they don’t admit it, there is always something that secretly brings them joy. This, for me, was running. I could have suffered the worst day of my life, but the second I heard my feet bounce on and off the pavement, all my stress dissipated. On July 8, 2015 I suffered an extreme running accident that lead to nearly every injury one person could possess. After about a…continue reading

5 Things People With Chronic Pain Need You To Hear

Written by Rachel Ehrenberg for the RSDSA blog. Often times, we discuss what we want to hear from our loved ones about chronic pain. It is not often we get to tell them the things we need them to know and to hear. Rachel took the big step to make this list happen. There are so many misconceptions about people with chronic pain. Unless you are living with it, nobody can actually truly understand what living in with it feels like. It becomes extremely draining emotionally and physically for us struggling with chronic pain. And for me, whenever I am having a rough time, there are a few things that I wished people knew about. I suffer from Reflex Sympathetic…continue reading