Michele Strand
I also had a minor injury over 4 years ago when about 10 cans of soda fell ontop of my right foot while wearing sandals. I had the usual brusing, swelling etc. About 3 months later I simply stod up and felt a "pop" on the top of my right foot. I had a burning compression type of feeling with difficulty in putting weight on that foot. The pain increased and I had a MRI & bone scan done that showed a deep contusion of my large bone on my foot 5 months after the accident. I was shuffled around to all types of Doctors, most who thought my pain was way out of proportion to my injury. I was often humiliated when I asked for pain medicine, and even denied pain medicine, forcing me to sit in the emergency room on more than one occasion. Finally I was referred to a pain clinic, and initally treated a having a neurothapy which is a wide diagnosis, and helped with my pain. After 1 1/2 years I went for physical therapy and there the head Doctor gave me a diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, stage 1. It is also better known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy and there is currently no cure, only management of symptoms. If caught early though, within 6 months, a series of epidural nerve blocks may stop the brain from misfiring of the nerves thinking there still is a injury. There are many websites one of the national ones is RSDhope.com ( I think,) just do a search. Your symptoms are some of the symptoms of RSD. 3 years after my injury to my foot I had a car accident involving my upper body , whiplash. It then spread to my whole upper body also. I now have what's considered full body RSD. I have chronic pain with flare ups if I even do anything that is slighly physical. I get epidural nerve blocks and trigger point injections in my back by the spine where nerves exit. My hands are tingling and slightly numb now from typing this much, and I've had to shake them out to get back the feeling. I was a professional salesperon in the media, and now at 45 I've had to file for SS Disability because the pain is constant and flare ups common. I hope this helps, and I hope you have neither, but email me if you want to "talk", as it is hard to talk to friends and family when every day is painful. Or anyone else out there is welcome to email. I am not a doctor and can only tell you what I've experienced. by the way RSD as it's called has been around since the civil war, and affects over 5 million people!! The weird thing is noone has really heard about it. I wish someone had told me about it early on, it would have saved me many Doctor's visits. I also do not have the look of my feet and hands that you will see in books. In fact most of the time I 'Look Good", which makes it harder for Doctors to believe I had this. It's mostly diagnosed through process of elimination, and symptoms. Please excuse my spelling errors as my brain and memory is slightly affected with this. I've had RSD over 4 1/2 years now. I"ll put you in my thoughts. Sincerely, Michele