Hi everyone,

This will have to be short as I can hardly type but I just wondered whether any of you have bruising in your RSD limbs??

When I went to see my PM Dr and Orthopaedic Dr on Tuesday about my RSD and suspected broken arm/ligament damage, my PM took a look at my arm and said that he has never seen bruising in RSD before and that I have some underlying illness other than the RSD ... we just have to find out what it is!!!!

My mum had a look on the internet and couldn't find any pictures of RSD and Bruising. All of the pictures just showed redness etc. The bruising in my arm is blue, red and yellow in different places.

Just wondered if any of you have bruising in your RSD limbs? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!!

No no bruising, but when I do get a bruise in my RSD limb it's excruciatingly painful and it takes months for it to clear up due to poor circulation in the limb.

Your bruise might be from the fall or the injury, and... my theory as a layperson here is that maybe the circulation problems in RSD somehow enhance or don't "handle", "process" the bruise as well.

I have been getting dry colored spots on my legs that won't go away the last two to three years. They're like a bruise but they're reddish/blue.

Did you notice the bruising before your fall? Have you had blood work lately? I know some deficiencies can cause this. I do know for me with rsd I seem to be more sensative in general even to the areas not with rsd. Sorry I can't be much help but you are in my thoughts and hope you feel better

Have you had bloodwork done recently? I'd ask them to do that.

How has your diet been lately? Could you be anemic? If your red blood cell count is low then a little bump could cause bruising, plus tension on your vessels from swelling could. A simple blood test ask for (CBC with diff, and a BMP). Also, do you only have bruising....no traces of blood in urine or stool? If so that needs to be checked out asap...sorry for going all nursing on you but it is habit after 8yrs of being an RN. Hope you feel better soon! Feel free to private message me if you have more questions.
Jennelle

Dear Ali,

I don't often reply to your posts, but I read all of them and think of you often. Please know that you are always in my prayers.

Can dietary supplements help you while you are healing? For instance, I am almost positive that I have read somewhere that calcitonin (might need a script for that) is used to help bones stay strong when you have RSD. There's also iron, vitamin C, calcium, multivitamins, Omega3's, B-12, etc that could help. Your doctor or therapist might be able to suggest the best ones (or other members of the board who are better informed).

Take care of yourself, Sandy

On RSDHope it mentions bruising beside the #2 inflammation entry. http://www.rsdhope.org/Showpage.asp?...=3&PGCT_ID=545

At RSDSA is a link called Skin Complications in RSD patients. It's the 4th bold head named Complications, 2nd article under Wounds that won't heal. There are pictures and discussion, bruising is mentioned. http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...ive/index.html

http://www.rsds.org/3/clinical_guide...hotos_5_8.html

3rd picture with bruising

taken from a lawyer page describing rsd. This is pretty much the same words on rsd hope link above.

http://usarsd.org/page_symptoms.php Also mentions bruising under inflammation.

http://www.rsdcanada.org/parc/englis...arc-pearl.html Bruising easily is under the Vitamin C entry here. Very interesting read! It covers the vit and minerals that may explain some things.

Hope this all helps anyone who needs it.



Karen

Karen,

Thanks for this information. I have red blotches and bruise-like patches on my legs, mostly on the feet and lower leg here and there. I never gave it much thought until now.

Dear Ali and Karen -

Thank you so much for your contributions to this thread. For years I have had recurrent non-traumatic bruising at the site of my original injury. At first, I had it photographed, but the responses from my doctors were always the same, some version of "I dunno."

Personally, I think that the bright boy or girl who finally explains the mechanism of endothelial [from endothelium: the layer of epithelial* cells that lines the cavities of the heart and of the blood and lymph vessels and the serous cavities of the body, originating from the mesoderm] and/or small blood vessel dysfunction in CRPS at the cellular level will have moved the ball farther downfield than anyone else in recent times. And here I'm talking not just about reduced blood flow/oxygenation, but actual structural changes in the nature of very small blood vessels and/or their linings.

My hunch is that it's a big deal posing as an artifact.

Mike

*The covering of internal and external surfaces of the body, including the lining of vessels and other small cavities. It consists of cells joined by small amounts of cementing substances. Epithelium is classified into types on the basis of the number of layers deep and the shape of the superficial cells. http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?epithelium

Thank you all so much for the replies - I really appreciate your input!!

I suspect that the bruising is probably from the fall but I dont know. When we spoke to my PM Dr about it on Tuesday, he said that he has never seen bruising before in RSD and that is why he suspects I have some underlying injury from the fall, be it a fracture, soft tissue damage etc. We wont know for certain what is wrong until we go for it re-xrayed Tuesday. When I normally go into a flare, my skin changes colour although it doesn't bruise ... it just goes red.

Daniella - Thank you for your input. The bruising came a few hours after the injury along with the swelling. It started off red and then turned purple etc. I haven't had any blood work done lately but my PM Dr did mention taking some blood to check for any clotting issues - I think he must have decided against that though as he never said anything else about it unless he does it when I see him Tuesday.

Jennelle - I had been thinking about being anaemic also. My diet is the same as its always been so i'm not sure if its that though. I'm the first to admit that I dont always eat healthily - I am a stress eater and we are currently waiting for a referal to a dietician about it. Thanks for the idea ... i'll bring it up when at my appt Tuesday.

Sandy - Thank you for the prayers, I really appreciate them!! We spoke to my dr about Vitamin C and he said that it hasnt been proven to help with RSD but tha it might be an idea to take it. I'll speak to my mum about the dietry supplements. Thanks again!

Karen - Thank you SO much for the links, I really appreciate you taking the time to research things for me and will definitiely check them out!!

Heres a quick photo of my arm so you can swee the bruising. I will keep you all updated on how my appointments go and what we find out. Thanks again for the ideas and advice!