Well, I guess I am going to have to step in here and add my two cents worth. Some of you may remember me as Zida on the old forum. For those of you who don't remember or are new, I'll try to make this short. I was diagnosed with RSD in 1989 with migration to all 4 extremites. I have had a upper thoraic radio frequency sympathectomy, blocks and all the cocktail of meds. Then, with research and conversation with my dear friend Vicc, I decided, I had nothing to loose.
I was truly ready to throw in the towel!!! My beloved Doctor of 15 years had taken her own life and I had never felt more hopeless. So, I sold my Jaguar and headed for Canada, where I recieved 40 dives @1.5 ata, (Yes,yes, yes with grapeseed extract, suppliments and a nutritional diet). My first series of dives, made an amazing improvement on pain levels, and I was able to walk.
I eventually was able to get off mega pain killers...100mg Fentanyl patch plus
100mg MS Contin 3X daily, plus dilaudid 4mg for break through, on top of nuerotin, effexor, baclofen, clonidine, sleep aids, etc. Those 40 dives impacted my life , I am forever changed. I got results for almost a year, in which time I was able to live life differently than I had previously. To make a long story short, I had 2 more 40 series dives in the US. Also, with about a years worth of pain relief each. There is so much more to this story, but to shorten things, I bought a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber and made a chamber room for treatment, with all the safety features possible. I also took up scuba diving and I am now an advanced diver, as well as a rescue diver working on my master divers cert. I realize that everyone seems to respond to treatment differently, I personally find that I need to continue maintenance dives to keep RSD at bay. As, far as the ear infection, I'm not sure that was a result of the dives. In diving, we have open spaces that must be equalized, when under pressure, the sinusis, the eyes and the ears. In a chamber clearing the ears, and a slow desent or assent, should not leave you with any pain. For those of you who have felt worst after a series of dives, I have as well. But weeks after the series, I would find that I reaped benefits far beyond my expectations for months to come. I cannot say enough about HBOT. These are my personal experiences over many years. This works for me and I have a great deal of confidence that the benefits of HBOT are worth exploring.
I'll be happy to answer any questions. Love to all...Diana