Do you have worse pain when your rsd area is exposed to water ?

What has been your prior experience with swimming or bathing ?

Although a too hot 'hot tub' can be too much for me, otherwise I could happily live with my body submerged in water 24/7. It helps my TOS pain so much and is so psychologically uplifting, I don't have any issues with allodynia from being in water of a comfortable (that is key) temperature.

Does water aggravate YOUR allodynia ?

Then there is the issue of what the exercise/therapy does to your level of rsd pain. I found aquatic therapy to be much more pleasant and easier to do, with each motion causing less pain than if it was done 'on dry land'.......BUT....I could not arrrange transportation for pool therapy so I suffered through holding off on taking regularly scheduled narcotics so that I could drive there and back. Driving 1/2 each way, plus exercise time, free pool time, showering, and changing was 3 hours. Although I was fairly comfortable IN the pool, for reasons mentioned above, those 3 hours of going without needed pain meds PLUS the added pain that driving causes, PLUS having to get dressed and undressed frequently, and possibly plus added pain from the exercises, I can tell you that I definitely felt WORSE after the whole course of therapy, not better

I hope that you have different results !

I will add......I have recently found an ideal 'program' of water therapy that is working very well for me. This summer, I have been spending a lot of time at my parents' house on Cape Cod. I have been taking my scheduled pain meds on time, taking a prn dose, waiting 1/2 hour.....then walking to the local pond, doing some swimming and gentle exercises, then chillin' in the water with a good book for an hour or so, then walking home. The results are soooooo much better than my 'official' go round with aquatic therapy......there is just no comparing the two. I feel A LOT better. And I'm moving better.....and getting some exercise and losing some weight, which is a big plus for my overall health.

I think one of the biggest struggles with the RSD monster (after finding a doctor with a clue !) is realizing that no two of us are alike. What helps one's symptoms can aggravate the next person's. There's no ONE pill or treatment that will work for all of us. It's trial and error to see what will work for you.

I do love that the contributions of all the members here can include such varied 'solutions' to rsd problems, because we all have such different symptoms and remedies that work for us. Sometimes you get that one idea that you never would have thought of that will work perfectly for you.