Ice treatment
 

I cant seem to find a answer myself. Does anyone know if ice treatment could make any permanent damage on RSD. I know that most cant tolerate the cold, but can it make any difference in the future painfelling, where iced earlier.

Gitte

Hi Gitte,

I have full body RSD/CRPS 9 years now. I use ice and have no damage. It helps with the deep pain and the burning. I bought the ice packs from my Chiropractor after I had my stimulator implanted to help with the pain from surgery. I use them for 15 minuets every hour if needed. They are suppose to last for an hour out of the freezer my RSD heat melts them pretty fast.
Take care,
Sherrie

Ice is associated with the cause of RSD.

Iniatially ice seemed to be beneficial for my pain but over time it has simply delayed and amplified the pain. I'm not sure I could even try ice any more but the last time I did it put out the pain like a bucket of water on a blowtorch. It just doesn't last and when it warms back up it's worse than it had been. Warm water usually works well for me.

Have a look at this link.

http://www.rsdhope.org/Showpage.asp?...3&PGCT_ID=1910


Although the information is dated from a doctor now retired it makes sense to me. I could never could stand ice, made my pain much much worse despite being sternly lectured by my orthopedic surgeon about how bad a patient I was for non-compliance to his instructions about icing my foot.

When something like ice makes my skin turn purple, shiny and swollen I listen to my body, not the doctor.

MsL

I could not live without icepacks.

I've read how it makes rsd pain worse. I've wondered if my use of ice is what caused my rsd to develop. The thing is, my pain meds are insufficient to manage my pain, so I really have no choice.

I have read that ice may reduce pain by numbing the nerves, but may also worsen it beyond the immediate effect by damaging the nerves and also constricting the veins and reducing blood circulation. I know Dr Hooshmand's website is very vocal about this, but I seem to recall reading it elsewhere.

In my case cold water (not actual ice) *seemed* helpful when my RSD was not so bad, but harmful when it was more advanced (dramatically increasing stiffness and etc.)

Hi WolfLarsen
And by that, do you mean a permanent damage or what? By the way, where are you from: Larsen is a danish name...:winky:

Thank you from gitte

I was told to use ice before I was diagnosed with having RSD and it made me a lot worse. We used the spray ice cans that you can get (like an ice cold mist) and even that, caused my leg to hurt a lot more. Each time I used it, I got more pain and more spasms and colour changes so I had to stop using it. It was only when I was diagnosed with RSD when we found out that you shouldn't use it - my PM Doctor said he knew as soon as I was diagnosed that ice had had to have been involved and that you shouldn't use it as it can aggrivate the nerves even more.

Here's a link that we were given about the use of ice in RSD that you may find useful:

http://www.rsdrx.com/rsdpuz4.0/puz_102.htm

I guess everyone is different though and no two people react the same. For me though, it was a bad decision.

Best wishes!:hug:

Thank you so much, that was a great link i havent actually read that. I hope you are doing ok - i have read some of your post with interest :)

hopes for the best - Gitte