Hello Truthone76 -

Glad you found your way here. This is by and in large a good place to be, especially when the focus is on reaching out to people such as yourself.

A couple of quick points. First of all, there are two websites you should be aware of, if you haven't stumbled over them on your way here. The first is the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association page at http://www.rsds.org/index2.html. There's a ton of stuff there, including a number of articles on various treatments writtem for lay people at http://www.rsds.org/3/treatment/index.html and a much more comprehensive library of medical articles at http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...ive/index.html. Once you're there, check out the following article, listed alphabetacally under "Research":

"Efficacy of Stellate Ganglion Blockade for the Management of Type 1 Complex Regional Pain Syndrome," Ackerman WE and Zhang JM, The Southern Medical Journal, 2006; 99:1084-1088.

The bottom line is that nerve blocks work very well if initiated within the first 16 weeks of the onset of symptoms. So, if you fall into that catagory, and you should pardon the expression, RUN, DO NOT WALK, FOR TREATMENT ASAP!

The second site not to be missed is that of American RSDHope at http://www.rsdhope.org/

Good luck with all of this. There's much more to be said, but this is a start.

Mike