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?

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

Karen, are the sores on your rsd affected parts of your body, or the non-rsd parts? Yes, some of them start as blood blisters. I do know that some of them itch, and really without thinking about it, I scratch, and THERE THEY GO! Off and running. And some of them get so bad that they actually "crater" - get really deep. I haven't been putting anything on it, mainly because (and this will sound silly!) recently one of my puppies had an ear infection which made him scratch so badly that he had a hot spot near his ear. I put some neosporin on the spot and the vet said it was a no-no, cuz the air couldn't get to it to dry it out. That thought went thru my head when I started to get these sores. That if I covered them, they wouldn't heal. Welll......they still aren't healing! I shower every day, and they remain clean, but there are so many, I really can't put bandaids over every single one, and the nuskin I believe Curious spoke about....it would probably take a whole bottle each time I did cover them once! LOL!

Have you talked to your doc about them? If so, what has he/she said? Do they leave scars afterwards? Raised skin or just a discolored spot?

Thanks Rosie....I know you have full body rsd, and that you are in a chair. The ones on your bum (which I do also have them there), do you think the pressure is from sitting all the time, and does your rsd extend to your bum? My lesions are on my legs, and my rsd is NOT on my legs. I'm wondering if pershaps the lesious are a sign that the rsd is getting ready to move there.

I've heard of HBOT, a lot, but to be frank, if something is posted here that doesn't relate to me at the moment, I don't really read it right away. Can you explain it to me a little? Is that something that is common and paid for by insurance?