Mr Pete,

I agree with CRPSbe...massage my knee and you would be the one needing painkillers...j/k...the very idea itself actually causes my knee to hurt some, and that's no joke. Bless you for trying to help folks though, you're a rare breed.

Yes, lol, her hands were freezing! But as far as the "trigger" goes, I am not entirely sure what it was. They have been trying to work on my hip here lately and this not exercise was just killing me. So I think that, plus it was extremely stiff when i woke up that morning and her hands being cold, i think it was a combo of it all. But yeah, I live in El Paso right now and it's in the high 90's, yet i still get goose-bumps and what not all the time. I don't even have my A/C on full blast at all, makes me colder.

Mr Pete,

Thank you for trying to get a greater understanding. That is more than many in health care try to do.

Like Ali, I have both HOT and COLD. My original RSD area (left foot) feels like it is burning. It gives off heat that others can feel and shows a nice bloom on thermography. It will swell and get red-purple-almost black like from blood pooling. The other foot has developed COLD type, where I feel like I am standing barefoot in the snow. Others can also feel the cold when they touch it.

Yes, Smoke and Marleen are saying "hands off" because there are times that any contact at all can be excruciating, but I know you are probably seeing people with "mild" cases, who are asking for your service. That being said, I think you should know that anything very cold will hurt, even with us that have the HOT type. It seems attractive, but because our nerves are screwed up, we can't always tell when it has been on too long, like "normal" people. Ice can literally damage the skin. Better to use slightly cool, like a few degrees lower than room temperature. A cool bath is good, because it will not cause any damage. NEVER ICE!

On the other hand, I can't seem to apply enough heat to make my right foot feel good for more than a couple of minutes. I will go to south Florida and bury my foot in the hot beach sand to attempt to warm it up! I keep a heating pad under my desk year-round, and I will wear a chemical foot warmer in my shoe even in warm weather. In that type of case, you could use warm compresses, but never a real hot pad directly on the RSD site. Again, we lack the proper nerve response to know when it might be causing a burn.

MODERATION!

Thanks for trying to help to get a better understanding.

Mike

I have hot rsd. I can't stand any heat. I'm so depressed in the summer due to the heat. I am always red and hot and looking like I'm having a massive heart attack, and that is sitting inside in a/c. I can't wait for winter where I will feel better. I have central a/c, a window unit in the bedroom that I keep on 65 degree when I'm in there, a celing fan on high, and a tower fan on high directed at me only. I don't use blankets or anything else on my bed. My poor hubby has all the blankets and still stays cold most of the time. I feel sorry for him, but I can't live with any heat.

Might I ask though; can we be actually injured by not knowing that we are being burned/frozen?

I can't take any heat either. I thought it was the meds, but that isn't the case. If it's more than 65 degrees OR there is any humidity, I freak out, feels like it's 190 degrees. My lady has slight anemia, and is freezing all the time. It can be 80 degrees in here and she is wearing a blanket, complaining to me about wanting the AC on. Lotsa fun.

Hey Smoke
Excluding the cold and heat application effect on rsd/crps........I do know that warnings on heating pads,not to sleep with them on,Because after a certain time period they and cold packs[20 minutes cause soft tissue , and nerve damage],,

Smoke 666
I have been burned many times from cooking and also from changing a light bulb. I did not feel anything until the damage was done.
Mike
Having PT many times, RSD suffers are affected differently to most treatments. I cannot stand any cold or ac in the room. The cold will also send me into higher pain and spasms. Touching me is very hard for me, however, I go through treatment so that I can have family by me. With that said, I have seen other's that will have mild cooler air and treatment that helps them. My suggestion to you is to ask your clients what works to them. Most clients will be able to tell you what they can do, or take. THANK YOU for asking and trying to learn about RSD, it is a very hard disease to learn about!!

Dear Mr. Pete,

My PT massaged the back of my head (occipital area, I believe it is called) on the 8th of 9th of July where I have RSD, and I suffered from excrutiating head pain for the following 2 1/2 weeks. It was probably the worst pain I have experienced ever in my whole life, and if I didn't like him so much I would have quit PT with him after that. I am fairly certain that he did not intend for the massage to end up having such a horrible outcome. It typically takes about 12 hours or so for my pain to emerge (I suffer a lot from delayed pain), so even though I was really dizzy and my head hurt a lot when he massaged it, the agony didn't appear until the middle of the night when I woke up and started to heave.

Since the first of 2 shoulder surgeries in May of 2007, I haven't allowed anyone to touch my shoulder. It's where my RSD started. My skin became desensitized last winter when I had to start wearing clothes. I need to put Lidoderm patches under my clothes first before I get dressed. But that's all I allow on my skin - no hands, NO MASSAGE. ever. I don't want anyone to touch me. When I wear heavy clothes it feels like I have a rock on my shoulder. What would be the point of massage?

Good luck with your patients. Remember to always ask them how they are doing.

Sandy

Hi Pete

I had never heard anyone call it hot and cold RSD but I guess I have both. I can't stand the heat and humidity it causes me to feel so bad and when thunder storms are near, my hand and arm burns terrible. But when driving a AC vent blowing close to my hand sets me on fire. My first discription of how my hand burned to a Dr. was If you stick your hand into a cooler and fish around to find the last drink and your hand get so cold it burns then mutiply that by 10 was how bad the pain was. I was lucky my surgeon knew about RSD and recognized it. Also the WC case nurse new about rsd and and we saw 5 Dr. everone that wc sent me to said I had RSD so wc didn't have a problem treating it.

My hand temp. runs from 3 deg. hotter to 3 deg. colder than my other hand. I have a friend that has a thermal image camera that he uses for his busniess and he has helped me document my temp changes.

On Massages I believe that it is a big help but my therapist rarely massages my affected hand and arm. I believe that the help comes from stress relief on rare ocasions I will ask her to do a little on my hand but she has a way off working it that causes me the least amount of pain. I usually pay for it latter with a flair up but I have almost no movement in my fingers so sometimes I feel that it has to be done. Woody