rayefaye

First of all, I am lucky because I've never had to deal with WC, my RSD came from injuries from a car wreck I had 24 yrs. ago. It took 20 yrs. to get a diagnoises because I was treated for everything from arthritis to being bi-polar, everyone from my family to doctors considered my problems were all in my head. My injuries were my right arm was broken into with the bone severing my sensatory nerve into, the turn signal went through my left hand leaving a hole in my hand, my pelvis was cracked in two different places up to my spinal cord leaving a bone chip inside. My right ankle was twisted so bad that they told me I would have been off it had been broken instead.

What lead to my diagnoises of RSD is when one day out of the blue my left shoulder started hurting real bad and then it drew up to the point my shoulder was touching my ear. I went home from work and just relaxed and it went back down. Next day, went to work and went I starting using my left arm it starting doing the same but the pain was so bad I was in tears. I left work and went to the ER, the doctor gave me a prednisone shot and it went back down. Two weeks later same thing, so I got a doctor's appt. and they gave me some medicine and set me up an appt. for PT. I went one time and that was it, I was in more pain than before I got there. First, they put some gel on my upper left arm and rub this ultra sound thing on it, I asked the nurse was it suppose to hurt, she said no. So she stopped doing that, next was the cold pack which really hurt. Then she did some kind of electrical stimulation that like to have put me over the edge. I never went back and my arm and shoulder keep getting worse and everything I would extend my arm out, I would end up in excruciating pain.

To make a long story short I saw three specialist which neither could tell me what was wrong. My arm and shoulder kept getting worser and weaker until the point I lost of use of my left arm. It is now locked in a postion where my left hand touches my left shoulder. I finally got a diagnoises and was given medication for it. I did have botox shots put in my left shoulder and arm to try to restore my arm or at least allow me to strtch it out but they did not work.

As for you question about the TENS unit is concerned, I believe that the electrial stimulation is suppose help. But it did not help me at all when the nurse put it on my left shoulder were I have all the nerve damage, it literally cause me some much pain I was screaming. I had to scream to get her to take it off, it had every nerve in my shoulder and back throbbing. My husband got so mad and told her to get it off of me right now. It took forever for me to get the nerves to calm back down not to mention my pain level went through the roof. So that's my experience with the TENS unit, it might help some people but it's not for me.