Originally Posted by GalenaFaolan

The skin discoloration that comes with rsd is permanent and is always there. It started in my leg/foot and the only time it wasn't a blue/purple color was when I put the leg up. It's been 5 1/2 yrs now and is still the same. My hands and arms are discolored if I let them hang down at my sides.

The emg will show an entrapment or injury to a nerve or nerves. It'll show up as an abnormal reading. I don't know enough about the names of nerves around the ankle or foot to know what to test for or not to test. A thorough emg test will be done at several points in and around the point of pain.

What is her pain like? Like, is she always in bad pain or does the worst pain come only when she tries to use or move her ankle and foot? With rsd the pain is always there. It can vary in intensity depending on the weather, activity level, things like that. But it never lets you forget it! LOL Some days it's a real bad pain day for no reason as well. I hope I'm explaining myself well enough. It's hard sometimes to find the words to explain the pain. Using myself as an example, my pain fluctuates all day long. When I wake up it's pretty bad until my pain med kicks in. It goes up and down all day long too and can stay bad if it's raining or there's a cold front coming through. If I do too much I'll hurt a lot more. It is always sharp, stabbing and shooting. Since almost my whole body is affected it moves around. Sometimes my muscles hurt along with the rest of the pain and at times I can feel the pain in my bones. Taking tylenol or advil doesn't help relieve any of the pain at all. I can't help the pain go down by massaging a certain area or by just not moving it. One minute the pain will be ok, the next second I'll be in tears.

Does any of that sound like what she goes through? I hope I gave enough info so you know what I mean. With rsd it's a matter of doing extensive testing and ruling out everything else it might be. It's just there are some "classic" signs that the majority of us have that makes it clear it's rsd. I'd say the top 3 are the constant pain, skin discoloration and temp change. You can have rsd without swelling, without burning and without sensitivity. I've found those without sensitivity of any sort are a minority and might not be present at first but will usually pop up about 2 months. It usually doesn't take too long though.

Hope this helps you out.

Hugs,

Karen