CRPS

I am very happy that my md diagnosed me early with Crps and put me on meds my pt has been great I have all the signs of Crps it needs to be treated early for a better chance of recovery I am doing much better since going to pt and meds I feel bad for Vicky because her dr should of diagnosed hers earlier I can't imagine waiting as long as Vicky I am lucky it was picked up st 5 weeks post op

Thank you all for your replies. The orthopaedic consultant did not give me further information about the CRPS except that he feels the altered nerve pathways may have been triggered by an old fractured elbow I had as a child that I had surgery for twice as it trapped my artery. I lost use of the arm for a year and only regained about 98% range of movement but that didn't ever stop me doing anything. I now with this wrist fracture cannot supinate/pronate and this is what is stopping me from doing anything, coupled with an elbow that doesn't extend due to stiffness after keeping elbow bent and pain in shoulder, biceps and triceps. He has also told me I have developed "tennis elbow" which I had to smile at!! I wish I could play tennis!

Anyway, he told me to continue with PT and he has referred to wrist and hand specialist. He was going to refer to pain clinic but feels the mobility needs addressing first. I have gabapentin after allodynia after prolapsed L4-L5 and will take those whilst I wait ( this is being done off my own back but will check with GP ) .. I will push on as I cannot believe the CRPS stops the mobility that much. It's not so painful just seems "stuck". Trying to stay motivated. I will beat this. Driving is my goal. Got in the car today just to sit and see what it felt like. I cannot do the brake, put into reverse etc but at least I could put my hands on the wheel!! Keep the positive vibes coming, as I need days where I'm not crying and feeling that this is it!! X

I had to chuckle about your response when you learned that you developed tennis elbow because the same thing happened to me except I developed golfers elbow.  I don't golf or play tennis and never heard of golfters elbow before.  It's simply that the pain is on the other side of the elbow from the pain with tennis elbow.  When I was given a brace to immobolize my wrist I couldn't believe it.  "HELLO doc, the pain is in my elbow not my wrist!"  Well it worked and gave me an excuse to never even think of playing golf.  Interesting about the "stuck" feeling. Maybe it's not "CRPS" pain after all.   PT worked beautifully for me but I did the work!  Keep on saying that you will beat this and do the work because you will beat this with patience and effort.  I also had a PT hand/wrist specialist for my hand when I fell a few years ago and a PT foot specialist this year when I fell and broke my 5th metatarsal.  That's why I couldn't drive for months and when I started again it was in an empty parking lot with my husband getting me to and from.  "Hands on the wheel" is the first step to FREEDOM.  More good vibes and keep your spirits up.    Dev's Mom

Vicky, my son has CRPS, and yes it can affect mobility that bad, my son got hurt playing football and he kept complaining with his shoulder hurting and my husband took him to one of those physicians care clinic and the woman Doctor or NP looked at it felt, not even where he was having problems, she said it was cartileage and he would grow out of it. He went for a while taking what she had said as right but he kept hurting and it was getting worse finally I said enough and took him to the ER and they did x-rays and his collarbone was dislocated at the sternum and and they referred him to an Ortho Doctor and he said surgery would cause him to have less mobility and range of motion and that it should be right with him still growing. He referred to PT and he was working in there and things just got worse . That Doctor sent him to another doctor like does Thorasic Outlet Syndrome repair and she sent him back to PT, but this time for stretching exercises instead of trying to build things up after a coupld of times he couldn't do that . Then finally one day my son had taken a shower and when he got out he said Mom, my hand is so cold and I was peeling potatoes and I told him to touch me with the hand that felt normal to him first and then the one that was cold and when he did I looked down and his hand was blue. I took him to the ER and they of course checked to see if he had a blood clot and there wasn't a blood clot. I had, had enough and I decided to take him to my Chiropractor of about 27 years and before that we found out that my son had an extra rib right in behind his collarbone and I had never heard of such but anyways the Chiropractor said the nerves were being pinched and he gave him some adjustments and things got better. Well after that he would go in for adjustments ocassionally and things seemed to be much better with his arm/collarbone then one Sunday as a matter of fact this past Easter my son said that his leg was hurting and that it kinda felt like he had pulled something and the next day I told him to go on to school and if things got worse to call me and I would leave work and come and get him. I had no more than got to work an he called and said it was hurting so bad he could barely walk on it. I went to get him and his leg was cold and discoloured and had a bluish tint to it and I took him on to the Chiropractors office because all the other doctors I had taken him to in the past did nothing for him but cause more pain. We got to the Chiropractors office and when we walked in and the Chiropractor saw his leg his ask my son what all kind of symptoms was he having and when my son told him he said oh my gosh you have what my daughter has, he said you have RSD. My son started to ask questions about this and as he explained everything I got really scared but I didn't let my son know just how scared I was, you see with his daughter they didn't have a clue what they were dealing with so she went for a very long time and was in bed for about 18 months and he said she would absolutely scream she would be in so much pain finally him and another doctor figured out what was going on with his daughter. My son had to be on crutches for over 2 months because he couldn't walk with that leg and he would go through bouts of the temperature difference and the hurting, swelling and we tried to find a doctor close to where we live adn either they would say they knew something about it then they couldn't tell you nothing about it or they would say oh I've seen RSD and that's not what he has and try to send him to PT and he couldn't even walk to try to do anything for the pain, then finally it happened one night he woke up to go to the bathroom and he said it was like everything quit working and he fell face first to the floor with crutches still under his arms and he couldn't walk, luckily my Chiropractor gave me his personal number and said if we needed anything to call him or text well that was the night for that. My son had been taking Ibuprophen & Benadryl for the pain and inflammation and he had just been taking one and he ask how long it had been since he had taken any and it had been about 4 hours, so he said to give him some more so we gave him 2 of each Ibuprophen & Benadryl and after about an hour- hour and a half he could get back upon his crutches but things got really bad my son gained from about 143lbs to170lbs from March to June the swelling was so bad that he has got stretch marks down his legs where he had so much swelling. I wish you all the best of luck and hope everything goes alright with you I just wanted you to know some of the ways this can affect you. God Bless you and you will be in my prayers. My son's was caught pretty early but he has alot of nerve damage he now has Tremors, & ticks sometimes and he can't feel temperature very well anymore... I hope that story helps you. I would suggest that you do look this up because it's different for everybody and something might help you,,,

Are you not in a cast/splint? I was under impression when the plate and screws are removed if necessary that the holes left by the screws need at least 6 weeks to fill in so it needs to be treated as a fracture?? I may be mistaken but that might be why pt hasn't been offered yet? Carry on healing slowly and I wouldn't try any full weight moves until you've discussed with consultant

Hi Welshsue,  Boy you are having a time of it and I certainly do understand impatience, but what can we really do except wait and see?  Since this is your second go round with the same wrist I feel so very sorry that this has happened to you again.  Accidental falling is a real danger and for me it just happened out of the blue on 2 steps in my home that I have gone up and down many times each day.  Is it that I'm getting older?  Not paying attention (to something so simple as 2 steps)?  It's scary and makes me wonder will it happen to me again as it did to you?  3 weeks after surgery is probably too soon for PT and you also have decisions about other procedures to but you will be seeing your surgeon soon so that would be good discussions to have.  My PT started about 6 weeks after my recent injury and xrays showed the fracture had healed well.  Good luck to you and keep us updated because we care.