As some of you may know I went away last week.... to the Scilly Isles, 28 miles off the Cornish coast. I was pretty nervous about the travelling, the heat, walking, controlling pain, expectation, sea, sand, food the whole CRPS nine yards of things that could cause problems.

In the end it was idyllic. The weather was beautiful - warm but not stifling (not like now) at about 22-24*C. The boat journey was steady and calming, our boat transfers were easy, and everything was humped about for us, so no luggage concerns. We had a golf buggy to use so that I didn't have to walk too far, our cottage was beautiful inside, and right on the most magical sea view outside. I could wake every morning and look at the sea from our bed .

The island had no wi-fi, very patchy mobile reception, no cars (a tractor and some golf buggies only), has a very clear atmosphere with very little pollution (had to be really careful of sunburn), and is surrounded by shallow, crystal-clear, calm seas.

We had taken every precaution in case my CRPS played up, but it just got better and better. Nice but odd. I paddled in the sea (pretty cool), crunched barefoot in the sand, swam in the pools (one cool, one warmer). We had hired a rowing boat, and I rowed several times with bare hands on wooden oars with no heat or pain. On the second to last day we went to Tresco Abbey Gardens, world famous for the amazing tropical trees and plants - it was an amazing place, and the weird thing was that by then I didn't even consider asking for a buggy. Unheard of for the last two years. I walked for about two hours, with regular sit downs and not going mad. I climbed the Neptune steps - a huge flight of stone steps going right up the gardens. I felt pretty good. Afterwards I didn't have the usual kick-back that normally happens of an evening when I've overdone it.

Now I'm back home I can feel it all coming back. I've been trying to keep up my activity level, convinced I'd cracked the formula but I just can't do it - my knee hurts a lot more again, my feet are burning if I'm up for too long....just like before. I wouldn't say I was pain-free on Scilly, but my pain was greatly reduced, and I was able to do a lot more. My burning reduced drastically, and my hands and left arm (more recent additions to the CRPS party) were fine. My swelling in my knee went down a lot, even though i was walking more and more, but I didn't elevate as I usually do. My feet didn't burn up in the late afternoon like usual. It feels like it was magic, and of course now I have the holiday blues times about a hundred!

So I'd be interested in your theories please

Was it the holiday vibe, relaxation, not stressing at home etc?
Was it the pleasantly mild temperature and cool sea-breeze?
Was it the lack of cars, wi-fi, computers, etc?
Was it the combination of all these things?!
How do I find it again?

I'm just finding the differences bizarre right now. A small improvement from a lovely calm holiday I was hoping for, but that was....fantastically weird. Needless to say, I didn't want to leave, and I want to live there!

Bram.