Barbara
After having been diognosised 4 years ago with RSD and having gone through all the treatments only to finally have a SCS implanted did I get SOME relief without the side effects of all the other treatments and meds. There is a window of oppertunity to put RSD/CRPS in remmision (3-6 months) after that it becomes chronic. If you email me direct I will talk to my doctor and find a referal for you in PENN. In the intrim I can tell you some of the things that are a must with RSD, passive erercise of the effected limb and then rest. My RSD started in my left leg and even to walk caused intense pain, but I refused to just let my leg muscles deteriate. I found that being in a hot tub doing 10 minutes of exercise 4 or 5 times a day then resting in the hot tub another 20 minutes helped so much. I still even with the SCS continue this passive exercise program. You must remember that RSD is not like the original injury where the physical therapy is aggressive, the "NO PAIN NO GAIN" does not apply to RSD, if I start getting an increase in pain during exercising I immediatly stop and rest, from experience I found if I exceed my threshhold for pain I end up in a flare up that takes days or weeks to subside. RSD is very puzzling and debilitating, the phycological effects of constant pain and in my case the drastic change it caused in my life from extremely active to barely functioning, as I explain it I was in 5th gear one day and then stuck in park the next was so hard to accept and I never will so I continue to learn new ways to accomidate these changes. The only thing that I have yet to figure out is how I will ever return to a full time job, when I know that if I do not follow the "rules of RSD (rest, passive exercise, and never go beyound your physical tolerance limits and time limitations doing any one activity) I end up flaring up, who will hire someone with these limitations, sorry boss I need to go home and get in the hot tub, or sorry boss I will not be able to come in today because some days it is all I can do to get out of bed and get dressed. This is the most frustrating part of RSD for me. I wish your husband the best of luck and I will try to find him a doctor that is educated in this disease. God Bless.