Kathy,

A multi-disciplinary approach is often needed and recommended with CRPS.

I have CRPS in my foot, diagnosed in 2008, a byproduct of multiple surgeries.

I have seen a dozen doctors, disregarded half of them who hadn't a clue, and have used the information, recommendation and treatment of the others to help me manage my condition.

I have a pain mgmt. doctor for meds, a podiatrist to deal with actual foot issues, a chiropractor which helps me deal with compensatory pain up to and including the hip because of my "altered gait" for such a long time. I also use a massage therapist, but only infrequently.

My chiropractor is possibly the most knowledgeable of all. And his treatment helps me greatly.

With the above professionals, I have come up with a daily routine of stretches, exercises, baths, that have worked quite well. I spend 3 hours every day religiously working on my CRPS. I am one of the lucky ones, who is able to have a relatively normal life with this condition, although I had to file, and was recently approved for SSDI. I am thankful for that.

Bottom line is as mentioned, this is such an individual condition, that you need to determine what works for you. And then continue to tweak it as necessary. And fight for coverage!

PT is VERY VERY important! It keeps you moving.

I have been suffering from Chronic Pain since a skiing injury back in 1998 and since then have been diagnosed with RSD/Fybro however when I got some new X-Rays from a Chiropractor since I am looking for other ways to treat my pain instead of meds, they found a few pinched nerves one in my lower back....

I am wondering if this maybe what has caused most of my pain all of these years.. I did my first adjustment today and they have a huge rollout of things we are going to be doing in the next few months... I hope this can help me, I am so tired of the PAIN and the MEDS... Fingers are Crossed.

Unfortunately, when an insurance claim is paid, one of the first things keyed in is the "license type" of the practitioner (MD, DO, DC) and that will determine whether the CPT/HCPC procedural codes will be paid. Standard of care issues may apply based off of license type so a particular code might be paid to a PT but not a DC and visa versa. Provider bias runs amock!

Williamrock,

I have had RSD/Chronic Pain since a roller blading accident in 2003. My husband always wants me to go to a chiropractor and just try it. He went for many years for his back prior to having 3 back surgeries. Most of my pain, which is under control but I do have times of flares, is related to nerve damage and I have limited use of my right arm. I never thought chiropractic care would help. After many years of treatments, medication, more treatments and more medications I have come to the conclussion the less meds. the better. To be fair I did have success with Ketamine therapy and that is what got me to a point where I could get off the medication and stapled me off to where I am today.The 2 things that I would love to get under better control are the headaches and the sleeping. I do get headaches which sometimes lead to a migraine and sleep forget it, I have the worst sleep pattern ever. Prior to this injury I was a great sleeper.

I would so appreciate your input as you go through treatments with the chiropractor.

Good luck, I wish you much success.

Gabbycakes

Gabbycakes, is there a possibility that your headaches are caused by TMJ? Or is it a result of a neck injury resulting in tight muscles of the head and neck from the roller blading accident? Sleeping, boy, if you come up with a good answer let me know!

nyt2,

I have thought of that and have asked my dentist, because it is common for the women in my family to grind there teeth. My mom wore a mouth guard and my daughter does grind sometimes. The headaches always start in my arm/elbow and go up. Also the headaches are always right sided, I can draw a line right down my face that's how right sided it is. The right is my RSD side.

I had serious ulnar nerve damage as a result of my injury and had to have a ulnar nerve transposition. The ulnar nerve is connected to the c8 - t1 in the spine and runs right up your arm through the shoulder into the neck to the spine. I believe it's the largest unprotected nerve in the body by unprotected it's not covered in muscle and tissue. My surgeon and a ton of reading on ulnar nerve problems is how I know all this, I'm just a bookkeeper.

Prior to my ketamine procedures I would get headaches all the time and some would go into migraines, which is horrible.

I appreciate the response. Hope you are having pain freel days with all this horrible weather we have been having on the east coast.

Thanks again,

Gabbycakes

I have had the best physio from a chiropractor. She is excellent and works very hard at keeping my mobility and flexion from deteriorating. Her care is one to one. I know she is an exception but if she is out there then there are others too. Many of my previous physio treatments from a physiotherapist were very poor. The physio would have a couple other patients and spent very little time with me but had no problem charging $75 per visit. The chiropractor has a strong knowledge base that I found lacking in physiotherapists. My chiro is not afraid to touch me. She really is trying to help me. Anyway that is my input. Take care everyone. Hope your days are peaceful and fairly comfortable as can be.






know I don't post alot (cause my hands hurt so much and it is painful for me to sit up typing) but I do try to read every few days or so to keep up-to-date. I laugh when you laugh and cry when you all cry.

I see there is some mentioning of chiropractic treatments here. I have had my full-body rsd (and Fibro) for over four years now and have used a chiropractor for two years of it and see a huge improvement in pain and function. However, the insurance co does not see any improvements and is cancelling my care. Now, I have to go to court and represent myself because I want to continue it. I've been told that chiropractics and RSD don't go together and I am lucky I received it for as long as I did...yet it helps me so much. I see a great chiropractor who doesn't do the "crack you and your out the door" thing. She does many different types of fascia work and PT with me. She has enabled me to walk again. How does everyone feel about chiropractics and any ideas on how I can keep continuing to use it in my future and get workers comp to pay for it. I went six months without it and I've gone down the tubes. I appreciate all your help.

I have to let you all know that when I have a terrible day and no one seems to understand I check out this site and most of the time I find someone who feels as though I do and then some. Thanks for all your help with this daily battle of RSD. You all are the best and I pray for your healing.
Take care,
kathy d [/QUOTE]

I have a wonderful NEURO chiropractor. Believe or not a neuro chiropractor right here in river city little town usa. She is Brilliant. Honestly she should be in Harvard. Even though my RSD has spread I think it has slowed because of her. I cant say enough about her. She spends endless time researching this disease from a hollistic approach. She hates that I on meds but understands that we need to work with in the beginning in order to try to get a handle on it to try and turn this thing around. She says the biggest thing is stress. Stress is the food this demon feeds on. You have to have a low stress life to start with. If there are any stresses in your life they need to go..Her name is Ala Smith and she is at Smith Chiropractic in our little river city of Fergus Falls Mn. Wow I sound like a commercial..really not meaning to do that because shes that good.

Hey Krank,

I'm just down I-94 from you near Melrose MN! And I couldn't agree more with how stress affects CRPS. I have noticed that a few of my worst flares directly correlated with high stress. I have a mother with Alzheimer's and about 5 other chronic conditions, so some of you can relate to what that can mean to your stress level, on top of handling the challenges of CRPS.

I'm glad to hear you have a great chiropractor nearby. I have a great one in Sauk Centre too (Dr. John Welle) It really is hit and miss with this profession. Some are good, some are okay, and there are a few that can make things worse if they don't understand your unique condition. The one thing I would stress when picking professionals is to shop around. You do NOT have to settle for the first name you come across in the yellow pages. If you don't "click" with the doctor, chiro, therapist, etc....... then keep making appointments with others until you do. It is a PROCESS for most of us. I would say it took me about a year to pick my team. And I'm happy with every one of them.

In fact, I have to make an appt. with my Chiro today! It is the treatment I look forward to the MOST.

Hang in there!