Hey Tessa! What is thermography? I've never heard of that.

I was told when I had my 3-phase bone scan that it checked for blood pooling and flow. And that is what I read online too...and that it is not very reliable. Did not know about it showing those other things??

Ditto what Birclake said!!!

Hey sorry Nanc, I was a bit vague in my response and I wasn't saying you were wrong just adding that the reason for the testing is to look at your bones - the flow or lack thereof would be considered part of the reason/confirmation if in fact, say osteopenia was found if that makes sense. As you may have read online and as the title suggests 3 phase bone scans have just that 3 phases to them each giving different information about how pathology surrounding or affecting our bones. In the first phase it looks for things like inflammation or tumors, in the second phase it looks for vascular changes causing abnormal blood flow to the bones (need good blood flow to the bones & marrow to keep the bones healthy) and in the third phase it looks for how the quickly your bone is replenishing itself. Bone is constantly reforming and essentially replacing itself. With CRPS especially those with Cold CRPS we suffer from lack of blood flow to affected limb(s) and this causes bone loss (osteoporosis) and pitting (osteopenia).

Thermography is actually infrared imaging that looks out our bodies temperature or blood flow in a different way and without additional radiation. It cannot detect changes in the bone structure but it can see where blood is pooling/flowing indicating a warmer image or lack of flow showing the colder body parts.

I do hope you are feeling better, you have been on my mind!

They are inconsistent for diagnosing CRPS. All they do is check for abnomalies in the bone itself. Mine showed arthritis already forming in my right knee and that the space in the right was really small. I got to see the images on a monitor above me. It also showed pooling around my left knee and ankle. I also had the emg/ncv and all my signs were crps. The Dr that did it even said I have crps and put it in his notes.