Originally Posted by catra121

I am so sorry to hear about all that you are suffering from. Having multiple conditions (especially with RSD as one of them) has got to be a lot to deal with. RSD is a very strange condition and many things that work for other conditions either don't help or make the RSD worse (as Terralyn pointed out with the ice).

Because RSD is such a bizarre condition and affects everyone differently in many ways, what helps one person may not help another. Here are the things that I have used to help control my RSD:

1. Physical Therapy - RSD is a use it or lose it condition. If you protect or guard the limb (using braces or just from disuse) your pain will actually get worse. I know it hurts to move but by goodness you HAVE to do it because if you don't it will continue to get worse.

2. TENS Unit - I use this to help with the pain. I surround the area that hurts with the electrodes (easy for my ankle but harder for areas where the pain is more wide spread unless I am having a flare in a particular spot). I wear mine on my ankle throughout the day and turn it on when I need to.

3. Hot baths with Epsom Salts - I take these twice a day to help with the pain and swelling.

4. Ultrasound Heat Therapy - I do this twice a day on my RSD areas following the baths. It seems to extend the relief I get from the bath and other treatments.

5. Lidoderm Patches - I typically use these if I am in a flare or if I will be doing an activity that I know is likely to cause a flare. They work best if you do not wear them in the same spot every day but rather only once or twice a week.

6. Four F's Diet - I follow this to help with the inflammation. I don't take any anti-inflammatory meds so I do what I can to control it with my diet.

7. Desensitization - I could not even tolerate clothing touching my skin for a long time until I made myself do this. I still have sensitivity but it is MUCH better than it was in the beginning. Air movements and cold are BIG triggers for my RSD so it was important that I be able to wear clothing to protect those areas.

8. Heating Pads - I have several different kinds of heating pads and a space heater that I use to help with the pain. I have come to really like the stick on heating patches and use them mostly to deal with flares when the pain is really bad. I buy the cheap generic ones that you can buy in the first aid section of the pharmacy.

9. tDCS - This has been HUGE for me the past few months in reducing my pain and sensitivity in my hands and arms. I am hoping that with continued treatments I will see improvements in more areas since the hands and arms were the last areas that the RSD spread to.

It's also very important to identify what triggers your RSD to flare up and try to avoid those things as much as possible. I have found it helpful to keep a journal every day of the pain, how much sleep I get, symptoms, etc so that I can see how things are progressing and identify triggers as well as improvements (sometimes these are subtle day to day but over the course of a week or month can be significant).