Lisa,
I am not sure what you mean by my second post, and you saying where you live???

Well, anyway, here is the info on the gloves. They are made by Valeo. I got the Model GAFS which may be just the one hand, so you may need to ask about that. THe package I am looking at is for the right hand. I originally ordered a left hand, but they sent me a right hand by mistake, and told me to keep it. One good thing is that they sell them for either hand, and they are individual, so if you only need one hand, you can get them. I think a pair is less than $15. I got the Full finger ones because that has the padding on the fingers, palm, thumb and thumb joint. The Valeo company only sells to companies, not to individuals... so I had to order from another company. I ordered from US Safety. They were very nice. You can call Valeo to find a company in your state to order from if you like, their number is 800-634-2704.

About the meditation. You said you had a meditation CD. I'm going to recommend that you get the book/CD Break Through Pain by Shinzen Young. It was the book that helped me - more than the CD. The CD guides you, but it was what he had to say in the book that really made an impact, really made sense to me. Shinzen has worked for so many years with chronic pain people, he has a real understanding of us. Here is a website that has a brief synopsis of the book. It's great that NeuroTalk will let us post websites!! It is so helpful! I've sent people to this synopsis before, and even this has helped some people understand Shinzen's approach. His book made me understand how the pain affects the body, and how the meditation can help us. In a way that just listening to the other chronic pain meditation tapes and cd's I bought in the past did not. I think he has a unique perspective. Of all the things I have tried with RSD, medications, blocks etc, I think Shinzen's book helped me the most. Through this book, I have learned not to fear the pain. This has allowed me to be calm about the RSD. I think this is very important with RSD. Once I started with this, my pain decreased significantly. My body was no longer so tense.

It seems to me that most meditation wants you to more or less, concentrate on nothing. To empty the mind, to become blank. With Shinzen's you concentrate ON the pain, you learn more about it, how exactly it feels, where it is , where it isn't. The "breath pleasure" meditation is the one that calms me down when the pain is bad. I have learned to combine the meditations together, modifying and customizing it. The member of BT1 who had been to the Shinzen retreats helped me understand that.

http://www.shinzen.org/shinsub3/artPain.pdf I hope that worked. If not go to www.shinzen.org and look on the left to "articles" then down under the heading "Applying Meditation in Daily Life" to the first one, A Synopsis of Shinzen Young's Book Break Through Pain

When I go to the massage therapist, it is very painful -- she works on my spasming muscles, and of course, because of the RSD. Before, I used to cry the entire session, often openly sobbing. I use the meditation now during the sessions. I can "go with the flow" (LOL) and be way more relaxed. It does me so much more good when I do this meditation while she is doing the massage, even though I can't go very deep into it with her working on me, as she needs to talk to me to some extent. I will still cry, but it is just an occasional tear running down the cheek, no more sobbing. Much much calmer now.

Of course, it won't work with everyone. But, I really think reading the book would help everyone that has chronic pain. Perhaps a library could get it on inter-library loan?

I did order his other CD on chronic pain after having success with Break Through Pain - but found it was the same info, just without the book. :-(

Jules