Quote:
Originally Posted by Imahotep
This is very timely advice.
I've known this instinctively all my life and was told this at a young age. I knew when I got the RSD that it was no less true than before. Indeed, it's probably more true now.
My big problem is that my biggest trigger is exercise. Almost any use of my hand at all can bring on the pain and symptoms. If it would merely hurt when I used it then I could quit and I'd learn the specific triggers very quickly but the pain doesn't come for 24 to 48 hours usually. This means that it's scary to do anything rather than painful so it severely limits activity.
What makes your thread so timely is that yesterday I felt good enough to do some work for the first time in a little while. I started with cleaning the gutters. The aluminumladders are light enough to handle with one hand and I climb them with my right leg.
Today I wake up and my right leg is sore from overuse. This is pretty frightening for me since I used to be able to run long distances or use my legs for hours at extremely difficult tasks and just climbing up 125' over a twenty five minute period has made it sore.
This seems to be a warning that I'm not getting nearly enough exercise. It's so hard when you don't know what the effect of your actions will be. The doctors are always sating not to worry about the pain since it can't make you worse but there's always that little gnawing doubt that they are wrong.
But you will lose it if you don't use it and of this there is no doubt.
Maybe I'll try to go swimming today, afterall.
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Hi, I appreciated your thoughts and agree on exercise. I do feel overuse can be done, and I wouldn't be surprised if that could trigger a spread. I have full body. But I did go into remission twice following physical therapy/massage therapy to get use of frozen shoulder. I was even back to playing tennis and water skiing. But pulled hand while water skiing-didn't know I had RSD. I was misdiagnosed, and then when I went to a hand specialist across country and found out RSD, started pt again and got back half of hand. But I can bend fingers enough to type, yeah, cut food, maybe it would have been better to not be able to cut food LOL But I'm completely mobile- at one time my toes started curling off the floor, my Dr. had me in the pool dailey and doing certain exercises- got toes touching the floor in 4 months.
I've read on the RSDSA site the water needs to be 86 degrees. I continued massage therapy even after I got my shoulders back moving. Getting the right person- really does help keep our muscles toned and soft.
Stretching is also something I continue to do. Ladder- wouldn't trust myself up there. What does your Dr.suggest? Perhaps a physcial therapist could give you some exercises to do at home. There are the wide rubber band that work muscles, they come in different strengths-colors.
Thanks again for posting your experiences. Take care, loretta