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RSD Alert is a voluntary organisation publishinginformation about CRPS (traditonally known as RSD). Most of the date is provided by readers.
NOTE: what works for one person may not work for others. Always consult your medical advisor about your own treatment.

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Treatments

Thermal Imaging

Description

A diagnostic procedure that identifies temperature variations in the body and displays them visually. It enables the physician to see what the patient can feel. For a technical definition see our alternative page on Thermography.

Thanks to Catherine Taylor for providing this picture (see her comments below)

Notes

The experience of unusual temperature variations between different limbs is a fairly common symptom of RSD/CRPS. Thermal imaging measures this effect. Focusing on one symptom, it does not provide definitive proof for a diagnosis of RSD, but a useful piece of evidence.

Comments

Has any body ever had thermo image photos done? I am in the last throws of legal action but the other side want thermo image photos. What are they and what do they show? Are they the last word in confirming the condition of CRPS? Colin - Porthmadog, Wales

I've had Thermal Imaging done many times. I went and had an injection in my arm, then an hour later I came back and had the x-rays done, it shows up heat spots on your effected bones, my x-ray sheets have the colour show up, red and yellow. Chris - New Zealand

I had a thermal image done when taking part in the RSD Research at Hope Hospital. When my Consultant, Chris Spanswick saw it he wrote me a letter saying that the picture confirmed that their diagnosis of CRPS type II was correct. I don't think it is a definitive test for RSD/CRPS because some people don't get the temperature changes. It is certainly not reliable enough to be used as a diagnostic test. I have put a copy of my arms picture on this email for you to see. Catherine Taylor - Administrator of RSD_UK Group and rsd-crps.co.uk

Many thanks to Pam Lockwood for discovering an Australian website which explains thermography very clearly at - www.thermalimaging.com.au - in the words of Anthony Tobin (editor of Quickbase) this is "the best site that I have seen for information on this subject".