Sores that don't heal, or sores for no reason
 

do any of you get sores for absolutely no reason at all...or when you get sores, do they heal slowly? I have them all over my legs....on the NON-RSD parts of my body. Anyone else? On the NON-rsd parts?

Sores - Yes
 

Hey Lisa - Yes my husband has had these sores. Mostly they have been on his affected parts but have shown up occasionally in other areas. The sores he has are open and weeping and will not heal. They have tried creams and such but nothing has seemed to work - The largest one he ever had was the size of a silver dollar on his leg. His arms now with the new RSD are getting sores on them - 3 currently. The best thing we have found with the sores is to make sure they are getting plenty of air and to apply an antibacterial so that they do not get infected. Thats about it tho - Nothing much seems to work - They come and go as they want.....

Thank you so much. Mine are small, but every now and again, I get like a dime sized one. They are almost like, say, if you have a pimple and you pick and pick and pick it....it turns into a yucky, oozy sore. It will scab up but it always breaks open. And they are scarring up, so I have all these dark spots nowon my legs where these spots were.

I can't let them breathe, cuz they are on my legs...and I work....and I can't come to work with no pants on! LOL! But, I do change right away once I get home from work into my jammies cuz I love to be comfy.

Sigh....perhaps do you think neosporin would help?

Dear Lisa -

Although I have not (yet) had to deal with the issue of skin lesions, there's a fair amount of literature out there on it. Let me first of all refer you to the following articles - and corresponding photos - that are listed on the RSDSA Medical Articles Archive page at http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...ive/index.html, under the heading of "Complications:"

Author: Goris RJA
Title: Skin Complications in RSD patients

Author: Greipp ME, Thomas AF.
Title: Skin Lesions Occurring in Clients with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. Source: Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 1994;26:340-341.

Author: Webster GF, Schwartzman RJ, Jacoby, RA, Knobler RL, Uitto JJ.
Title: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Occurrence of Inflammatory Skin Lesions in Patients With Stages II and III Disease.
Source: Archives of Dermatology. 1991;127:1541-1544.

That said, I am personally quite familiar with the general case of the issue you raise, which falls under the heading of peripheral vascular abnormalities. For me, that's manifest by constriction of peripheral blood flow, to the point that it's often very difficult to (1) draw blood from my veins or (2) insert any form of a catheter wider than a 22-gauge needle, and that's getting fairly small. For a good article on that point, see, "Vascular Abnormalities In Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (CRPS I): mechanisms and diagnostic value," Gunner Wasner et al (incl. Prof. Dr. med. Ralf Baron), 124 Brain 587-599 (2001):

"In conclusion, it is suggested that, in CRPS I, unilateral inhibition of sympathetic vasoconstrictor neurones leads to a warmer affected limb in the acute phase. Secondary changes in neurovascular transmission may lead to vasoconstriction and cold skin in chronic CRPS I, whereas sympathetic activity is still depressed."

I would be happy to send a copy of this article to you or anyone else who may be interested in it. (At 491.48 KB it's too large to post as an attachment here.) Just drop me a pm with your email address.

Mike

lisa, have you tried a product called Nu Skin? it's a liquid bandage. it''s antibacterial. keeps the wound water tight.

products like Mederma ( and the store brands) will help fade any scars

Heya

I have those - both on my bum (from pressure) and over my arms and legs - I get ulcers from the RSD and weird lumpy sores - especially at the end of my toes? (Bizzare).

I use magnesium sulphate to draw the infection out and then leave it to the air - I also have the nurses come in to help with them. Have you considered HBOT? I have had that for nasty ones.

Hope it imrpoves!!

Rosie xxxxx

I get those sores too. Most of the time they're on my legs. I've had quite a few and they always take a couple of weeks to heal and leave a scar. My skin has gotten so bad a small cut even takes a long time to heal and leaves a scar. My sores come from small red spots that look like blood blisters. It started not long after the RSD started. It sucks but just keep them clean and if they get big or look infected go to the doc.

Hugs,
Karen

have you been checked for folicolutis? I had a bad case of this cos of RSD and that caused the small purple sores to develop..

Rxxxxx

Thank you, Mike. You have directed me to that site in the past, and I don't know WHY I didn't go there first cuz it is EXTREMELY helpful. In fact, I've printed out several of the articles for my family to read, and it's helped them tremendously to understand. Especially the one (I don't remember the title) about the PT who is confronted with an RSD patient. It is direct, to the point, and easy for people to understand because it's not written in medical jargon so much so that people don't "get it." It's a GREAT site.

I would VERY MUCH appreciate it if you could email me the article that you have. I do have dsl, so can handle the file. Please do email it to me. I will send you a pm with my email addy pronto.

I do see a photo of what my lesions look like. the one on the left CLOSELY resembles them, but they aren't so close together that they look like a rash, as this picture does. They are quite far apart. If you can picture, for example, the seam of your jeans, that's about how my lesions run. Perhaps that's part of why they are there (though I do not wear tight jeans), as well as on my rear end (pretty attractive, eh?). The picture on the right resembles what they look like after they finally heal. The scars arent raised, but they turn into a discoloration....a greyed, brownish spot, almost like an "age spot" I suppose.

Thanks, Curious, for your response. I did purchase some mederma (boy, that stuff is EXPENSIVE!) and have been using it. I haven't seen any improvement yet, but the tube says for existing scars it takes 6-8 months to see if it works, applying it 3x's a day. So, we'll see. In readig the tube, it stated more that it takes care of the raised skin, smooths it out, but mine aren't really raised...it's the discoloration. I was wondering about lemon juice. I know it bleaches hair. Do you thik it would bleach skin?

In reading Mike's literature, it doesn't sound like much of anything will heal the lesions.