Traditional - Western Medicine vs Complementary/Alternative Treatments For CRPS

There are a lot of opinions about how to treat Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) aka RSD.

The majority or 99% of the physicians out there will want to start with Pain meds., anti-inflammatory meds, Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy, local/regional blocks and then move on to Sympathetic Blocks.   If there is no improvement with these modalities the next conversation will most likely be about having a Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted.  Or a pain pump that delivers morphine directly to the nerves affected in the spine.



What happens to the patient when they are told by their physician there is nothing more they can do? Do you just continue on large quantities of pain medications and continue down the slippery slope?  Or do you fight to find something that will help, a treatment that can possibly put this awful condition into remission.



I have been on both sides of this.  I personally was diagnosed with a very aggressive, volatile case of CRPS.  Local & Regional Blocks did not work on me.  My Pain Management doctor was dumbfounded when this occurred.  Thus we moved onto Lumbar Sympathetic Blocks.  I had 13 LSB, until the last one caused my Adrenal Glands to completely shut down.  This landed me in the hospital for a week.  Following this my Pain Management doctor stated we could no longer do any LSB.  Thus, his next step was talking to me about having a Spinal Cord Stimulator implanted.  I was against the idea and had a really bad gut feeling about it, but I was told this was the last option I had to reduce my pain.  I went through with the trial and it went well.  Approximately 6 months later I had a Medtronic SCS implanted.  I had nothing but issues with it.  Every time I charged the battery it caused my affected foot to swell.  They could not figure out why this was happening.  The next step was to have the battery replaced with a non-rechargeable battery.  I underwent the surgery to change out the batteries in hopes this would correct any issues.  Keep in mind that with each of these surgeries I had to be admitted to the hospital to control my pain, even though they were supposed to be an out patient procedure.  Unfortunately, the second surgery to change the battery did not help.  I then started to have issues with the paddle that was implanted.  Long story short, they had to explant the Medtronic SCS and implanted a BostonScientific SCS. It was during this time that my CRPS moved into my back!  I had asked my Neurosurgeon if this could happen and was assured it wouldn't - it did happen after all...  I had this one for less than 6 months when I lost the ability to control the stimulation.  Upon further review of the situation and my symptoms it was determined that I had a build up of scar tissue on my Dura, that could cause paralysis if the SCS was not removed.  In Feb., 2011 the last SCS was ex planted from my spine.  At that point I was told by my Pain Management doctor, who is highly regarded, that there was nothing else he could do except to keep me on pain meds.  He was ultimately throwing his hands up in the air! This did not set well with me.  I'm not a quitter and this was no exception!



I had been inquiring into other types of treatment options that were available for CRPS.  I had received information on Calmare Therapy, and there had been a lot of promising write-ups on it.  My Pain Management doctor and I had even spoken with a doctor in Florida regarding Ketamine Infusion treatments.  I had been on oral Ketamine for years, so I had an idea of what Ketamine was capable of.  I also had some family members that gave me information on treatment options outside the US, in Frankfurt, Germany.  The treatments in Germany consisted of Alternative Medicine or what could be called complementary medicine.  My first trip to Frankfurt, Germany was when I was 6 weeks post-op from having my SCS removed.  I was on so many pain meds to just make that trip and I was still in pain!



Germany does more research on CRPS and is more advanced in the treatment options than in the US.  Plus, they do not have the same restrictions since they do not have to deal with the FDA.  My first visit there they worked on boosting my immune system, I did Stem a Cell therapy utilizing Stem Cells from my own blood, Neural Therapy with Ozone, PT, Lymphatic Massages, bodywork, vitamin IV's, blood ozone therapy, and more.  This dropped my pain levels, but I did not go into remission.

My Pain Management doctor did not know what to say when I returned with my pain levels
significantly lower.  He was dumbfounded.



Between 2011-2013, I was treated outside of the US 5-6 times.  I was the first CRPS patient in the world to be treated with 'Regional Hyperthermia'.  This significantly decreased my pain levels.  There were numerous treatments that were completed in Frankfurt, Germany that decreased my pain levels to a 5 but over the long run I was unable to stay in Germany long enough to get into remission.

Unfortunately, in October of 2013 my pain levels started to increase again.  I had been told of a Master Hypnotist, Retired Captain in the Navy, Advanced Practice RN, Nurse Anesthesiologist, NGH - Ron Eslinger.    He specializes in Pain Management, working with patients that have Chronic Pain, Phantom Limb Pain, Cancer Pain & PTSD.  His office is located in TN.  I contacted Mr. Eslinger and we spoke for quite a while.  I wanted to make sure I was comfortable with going through with a commitment of time and money to be treated by him.  He also wanted an outline of what I had been through, how I was diagnosed, what treatments I had completed, etc.  He is very thorough to say the least.  I will say that I had tried hypnosis previously and it did not help me, but I was told by several people that Mr. Eslinger was considered the Top, Master, Best of the Best when it came to Chronic Pain.  I had nothing to loose and everything to gain!  The second week in November, 2013 I flew to Knoxville, TN.  Then I drove to the city that Ron Eslinger's office is located.



I was told to expect an intense week of hypnosis, bio-feedback, imagery, working with EFT, learning self-hypnosis and doing homework every night.  We spent approximately 6-7 hours per day together, then I had reading and reviewing of the CD's of our sessions as homework.  It was a busy, intense week, but every day I saw progress that I had not seen else where.  By day 3 the CRPS pain in my back was down to a 3!  Unbelievable.  With continued work, on day 4, my back dropped to a ZERO!  Then on my last day with Mr. Eslinger we were able to get the pain in my left foot/ankle to a ZERO!  In addition to this I had a little to that was in continual spasm due to a knicked lateral plantar nerve, and we were able to get the spasms to stop for the first time since 2007.  No one thought that could happen.  When I left TN, I was given homework to follow up on at home.  This included self-hypnosis, listening to the CD 's of my sessions with Mr. Eslinger, etc.  This is key to my continued progress.



I followed up with my Pain Management doctor a week after I returned from TN.  I walked in without my cane for the first time in 6+ years, I actually had long pants on that could touch my ankle, and I had a pair of shoes on!  When my doctor came in he was shocked to say the least.  He made me take my shoe off, he wanted to see if my little toe was still spasming as it had been since 2007. When he saw it was not moving, my coloration was great in my foot, and we could both touch my foot/ankle - he pushed back on his stool, looked around the room for cameras and asked, "Am I getting punked?"  I had to laugh at him.  How could someone make this up?  He finally told me, if I would have called him with this news he would have laughed at me, but seeing me in person is believing.  I just saw him for another follow up, and he said he can not stop thinking about what I have done... It is blowing his mind.  He is considering going to get trained by Ron Eslinger on his technique.  No joke.



Whether you try Calmare Therapy which has had some great success stories with CRPS, hypnosis with someone that specializes in Chronic Pain, or other proven treatments - there are options available.  Or you may be an individual that just wants to stick with Traditional medicine - do what is right for you and your body.  What is right for one person is not necessarily right for all, but as you can see there are other treatment options out there.  Sometimes you have to search, find resources,
and do some homework but if it can help you in the long run it just may be worth it.