rsd affects the tissues in our body and can cause swelling and stiffness. i'm not exactly sure how thats done, but rsd hope and rsdsa can explain it better then me. early on with my rsd my neurologist gave me high doses of prednisone for a short time period to help bring down swelling so i could get more movement in my fingers and wrist. it helped a little with my fingers but not my wrist. pt exerices helps too. you may or may not get full range of motion back but its important to see your neurologist and/or pain management dr on a regular basis and keep exercising to try to keep you joints from swelling and stiffening up more. take care. hope your swelling goes down and soon.