Hello. I was in a car accident more than 10 years ago. I've had back pain ever since, and I've had MRI's that show bulges, and I had an EMG that showed some damage, but in addition to my back/neck pain, the bottoms of my feet burn like...well, like I can't even describe it. So my doctor wants me to see a dr. at Drexel to see if I have RSD. I've been living with pain for years, and it's the severe burning that kills me. I have no skin changes, except for changes in color--my feet turn bright red when they're bad, but usually only when I'm laying down.

Anyway, my dr. mentioned getting ketamine or lidocaine infusions. I was curious if they still give you your pain medication while you're in the hospital getting the 5 day ketamine infusion. I read about it, and the whole process scared me, but I'm definitely jumping the gun here, b/c I don't even know if I have it.

How do they diagnose RSD? Does anyone know? I haven't had any MRI's, EMG's, CT Scans, etc. for about 10 years. Would the doctor test me again for everything?

My physical therapists does think that I probably do have RSD, but we'll see I guess. It would be nice to know why I have such bad pain, but...I'll be honest, it's not a diagnosis I want, if that makes sense. It's so hard to walk on my feet when they're bad, and they've been terrible for about 3 months now. Pain seems to go up and down, but then I get into a flare for months or even years with my feet, but then I'll have a bit of time where they're a little bit better and I can deal.


Thank you to anyone to answers.