Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome

Excerpts from the entry on Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSDS) in Relieving Pain Naturally by Dr. Sylvia Goldfarb and Roberta W. Waddell. For full entries on all 37 conditions and 27 treatments, order the book.

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS) is a disorder that usually develops following a traumatic injury to the limbs, such as a fracture or a sprain in the foot or hand that can involve nerve damage. The condition is known by several additional names, including complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), shoulder-hand syndrome, or its most common name, posttraumatic syndrome. Its original name, causalgia (hot pain), was coined by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, who discovered the condition among the injured soldiers he treated during the Civil War. It currently affects more than 6 million people, about 80 percent of them women now, and not many doctors are familiar with it. Although age is not a factor—RSDS can strike any, from less than a year old to the aged—the condition is generally contracted by people in their thirties to forties. It starts out in an acute stage, characterized by burning spontaneous pain. Six or more months after the original injury, the joints often become fixed, the muscles and tendons contract, the bones demineralize, and ultimately the muscles waste and atrophy. Early diagnosis is critical because, if this highly destructive condition is treated early enough, the chances of reversing it are very high.

Also in this entry:

• Symptoms
• Common Causes
• Diagnosing the Problem
• Conventional Treatments
• Problems with Some Conventional Treatments
• Self-Help Alternative Treatments
• Assisted Alternative Treatments
• Practical Suggestions

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