Is it CRPS???
 

I had some plastic surgery on my arms on December 21 '09. Pain started getting worse and fortunately PS thought it might be RSD. Wounds were very red, flaming..and burned, ached 6 weeks post-op which were well beyond what they should have been according to the PS. Pain was at a strong 8..

Have been on percocet, fentanyl .25, lyrica, neurontin...no relief. Two pain doctors, one at UCLA and another highly recommended, aren't sure it is CRPS...but UCLA one is treating aggressively and I'm having stellate ganglion nerve block this Friday.

The wounds themselves now seem to be healing..much less red and the pain has gone down from an 8 to, on the best days a 4 and on the worse a 5. I have no pain at night (never did), though always believed it was because I didn't move my arms 'cuz when I did in the morning it started hurting. Pain definitely increases during the day which I have been thinking is due to the arm movement and by end of day is probably a 6.

It did spread from my left to my right...though left is significantly much worse than right. This is what makes me think it is CRPS..but pain docs say maybe not. One said it could be blocked nerves in my neck?? and the other (UCLA) says he's seen hundreds of cases like mine where nerves can tak months to heal from the trauma (he's also the one treating it aggressively though).

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experiences similar to this where it turned out to be CRPS or not...

Did you mean to say Dec 21, 2010?

Or has it been over a year and now you are going to try a nerve block? Often a positive response (I.e. - no pain) is considered a diagnosis of RSD. a series of nerve blocks can help put some into remission.

The best luck to you. Keep us posted...Sandy

Sorry, it was Decemer 21, 2010...

Linda