My progress in words and pictures - by Derrick Phillips, RSD Alert Editor

RSD Alert

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Warning and encouraging

Derrick is the editor of RSD Alert. His first story "RSD - Sudden fall, slow climb back" was the first story on the site.

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My accident happened on 10th January 1999 and resulted in a simple fracture. It was set the following morning, under local anaesthetic, but the operation failed and the break had to be re-set and pinned 10 days later. As time passed the bones healed, but the pain got worse. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy was diagnosed in early March.
	Ruth Whelan, physiotherapist at the BUPA hospital in Bristol, set to work teaching me to work my fingers and flex my wrist until they loosened up and could move. By the time this photo was taken we had already been working together for a month, but the swelling and redness were still visible and I had no relief from pain - day or night
	A scrap of paper? A messy form? No! This chart recalls the results from 6 weeks of painful work - weekly visits to Ruth, 4 sessions a day of intensive exercises at home, plus constant wrist flexing as I tried to recover movement. Ruth held my arm on this piece of paper and drew the curved lines to record the maximum extension I could achieve on that date. Drawn today, the line would bend upwards - better extension than many 'normal' people.
Improvements came slowly - and it hurt! Ruth taught me to push the limb beyond the apparent limits until it got used to a new level of flexibility. As movement improved the pain boundaries dragged along behind. After a while movement was easy and it was no longer painful. By late March, this was the straightest I could extend my wrist and fingers.
	My early ambition was to achieve 75% recovery. As time passed I raised my aim to 90%. Each improvement reduced the visible symptoms as well as the pain. By the Autumn I was ready to believe that I could live a normal life. When this picture was taken I could almost hold my left hand straight (the right hand shows normal extension).
By January 2000, a year after the accident, I recovered a full range of movement and my discomfort could no longer be called 'pain'. RSD has not gone completely, but I can live a normal life and only those closest to me are aware of any residual problem. That isn't the end of my story. Two years after the accident, I still exercise to keep the gains I made. I still feel the odd 'twinge'. But, compared with many sufferers, I don't have a problem. Please help other people to escape suffering by doing your bit to spread awareness. Derrick Phillips December 2000	Advice to RSD sufferers:- Go to a physiotherapist. Do the exercises regularly. Push through the pain barriers. Tell other people about RSD. PS Still in remission another two years on, my hand still reminds me of its vulnerability - but I don't have the pain. Meanwhile, I am grateful for contact with thousands of people throughout the world through the success of RSD Alert. Something good came out of it! Derrick Phillips February 2002

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