Hi Pete,

I have cold RSD in my leg and hot RSD in my arms. My leg is ALWAYS cold and my arms are ALWAYS really sweaty and warm. I can literally just be sat here and all of a sudden, my arms will just start to pool with water and sweat will drip off them - really gross and embarrassing!!

For me, neither hot or cold is really good for my RSD; I have to have just the right temperature which is REALLY hard to manage!! If it is too hot, I go into a massive pain flare and if it's too cold, I go into a pain flare too - theres just no winning it seems !! I'm going to Spain in just over a week to visit my grandfather so i'm hoping that the heat wont get to me there which i'm sure it will unfortunately.

I've never been able to tolerate massage on my RSD limbs. My PTs once tried massaging my leg to get rid of the swelling (lymph drainage) and I was crying in pain and in a pain flare for a few weeks after that. I get really bad swelling in my arms when i'm in a major flare too so my PTs once put me under general anaesthetic to try and massage the swelling out of my arm but it didn't help and I could still feel the affects after I woke up.

I'm glad your patients have been getting some positive results from your massages. I guess like everything with RSD, everyone is different and no two people will react the same. I want to thank you for taking the time to research RSD - not many other health care professionals would do the same unfortunately!

Alison