Been diagnosed with rsd in my left hand on 9-1-10 after wrist surgery. Looking for a doctor in illinois with rsd experience. I have been seeing doctors in st.louis missouri and things have not progressed. I have had nerve blocks and numurous differnt drugs. Im on lyrica and tramadol at this time. Looking for someone who specializes in rsd.I have a appointment at mayo clinic but someone close would sure be nice

Dr. Lubenow at Rush in Chicago is one of the leading pain doctore for RSD. My daughter has been seeing him for 2 years. Be away that he is very busy and you will have a long wait. As soon as you walk into the waiting room you will know, it is small and packed with people. He is caring and will try his best to find a treatment that will bring some relief. Good Luck

I am very sorry to hear what you have been going through. I agree that Dr. Lubenow would be the one in IL that you would want to see (though I personally have not...but that is a long story). I have heard good things and a lot of people have had success treating with him.

Can I ask what else you have tried? Any way you go...you will likely have a wait on your hands. Have you been able to work with or find a good physical therapist? I did not have a lot of success with the various medications but physical therapy has really given me my life back. It's slow of course and you don't get any real immediate results with it but it does work if you are able to do it.

Another thing to maybe look into (in the mean time) would be tDCS treatments. There is a thread on here about it that I highly recommend reading. It is not invasive and is fairly inexpensive ($300 for all the equipment)...and the success some of us have seen with it is nothing short of miraculous. Ballerina and CRPSjames have made just amazing progress with this and even though I only started it a month ago I have also seen some wonderful results. Please read through the thread. It is long...but it filled me with such hope when I read through it. It sounds too good to be true...but it DOES work...at least for some people.

Good luck! I hope you are able to find some relief. Take care.

I have had numerous nerve blocks and a few differnt medicines. yes i do work and yes its very hard. Some days better then others. my hand swells and the burning pain gets worse by the of the day. Lots of pills. I received a letter from the company I work for telling me my time of being off had ran out and my job was not secure no more. I do not have any confidence in the doctor im seeing. I have a emg scheduled next month and am scared that it will flare. I did the pt until i went back to work. I was told by my doctor that eventually I would not be able to work and the use of my hand would be nill. thats when I made a appointment at mayo. Getting a appointment was challenging but I didnt know where to turn. I hope the they have a rsd doctor.

Not to be a downer...but I have heard that Mayo is not necessarily the best place for RSD or chronic pain. I had tried to get an appointment (souldn't get one) and after speaking to some people with personal experience over there for the treatment of RSD I just let it go. That doesn't mean it's not worth a shot of course, your experience could end up being completely different...I just don't want you to put all your eggs in one basket so to speak.

I definitely think the doctor you are seeing is the wrong one if he is already telling you that you will completely lose the use of your hand. It does happen but if he were doing his job well then it should at the very least not be a CERTAINTY. Definitely doesn't seem like he has your best interest at heart and apparently he has nothing left to offer you.

I suggest seeing Dr. Lubenow at Rush if you can. If not...still look for another doctor. I am currently treating with a primary care doctor and since starting treatment with her she has quite frankly given me my life back. Between her and my physical therapist I have regained so much function and I am on almost no pills anymore (though I do still suffer a lot of pain...but meds weren't cutting it so I figured why bother with them). She also approves of my treatment with tDCS and wrote the scripts for the epuipment and this is a treatment that I feel is better for me than the more invasive ones out there (especially after I experienced spread after a block).

I think your better bet is probably Mayo.

They use a team approach and get pretty good results especially in the first couple years.

Good luck.