Question

Briefly explain what you think living with reflex sympathetic dystrophy would be like.

Answer 1

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome is a disorder that cause lasting pain,usually in an arm or leg,and it shows up after an injury ,stroke,or even heart attack.but the severity of pain is typically worse than the original injury itself.doctors don't know exactly what causes it,but they are able to treat many cases.

The term reflex sympathetic dystrophy is a actually not a name that doctors use anymore.its an older term used to describe one form of complex regional pain syndrome.RSD is sometimes called I CRPs and its caused by injury to tissue with no related nerve damage.

Causes

Doctors think the pain caused by RSD comes from problems in your sympathetic nervous system.your sympathetic nervous system controls blood folw and blood pressure.

When you get hurt,your sympathetic nervous system tells your blood vessels to get smaller so you don't lose too much blood at your injury site later it tells them to open back up do blood can get to damaged tissue and repair it.

When you have RSD your sympathetic nervous system gets mixed signals.it turns on after an injury but does not turn back off.this causes a lot of pain and swelling at your injury site.

Sometimes you can get RSD even if you haven't had an injury although its not as common.

Symptoms

When you get RSD your symptoms may show up slowly.you may pain first and then it may get worse over time.you may not realize your pain is abnormal at first.

Types of injuries than can cause RSD include

* amputation

* Bruises

* Burns

* cuts

* fractures

* minor surgeries

Its most common to get RSD in your arm shoulder ,leg, or hip,.usually the pain spreads beyond your injury site.in some cases symptoms can spread to other parts of your body too.

Diagnosis

* bone scan

* MRI

* sweat test

* thermography test.

* xrays

Treatment

RSD doesn't have a cure but its possible to recover from many of the symptoms.some of the medications your doctor may suggest include: anesthetic creams like

* lidocaine.

* Antidepressants.

* anti inflammatory drugs

* anti seizure medications that may help treat pain

* nasal spray that treats bone loss

* nerve blocking injections.