I came, I saw, I conquered-RSD/CRPS

Two months ago a fifteen year old high school student presented to my clinic with severe pain in her left thumb for three months after someone fell on her hand during cheering. Xrays indicated subluxation of 1st MC joint with likely stress fractures. Her hand and wrist were in cast for 6 weeks. Had been taking 1800 mg ibuprofen on daily basis without any relief. Orthopedists said there was nothing wrong with her hand and did not have solutions but possible surgery. 

Based on the nature of her injury and history of treatment, I thought she was suffering from what is called reflexed sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) or complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) due to prolonged casting. I have successfully treated many cases like this before and am confident in this case as well. However, the first three sessions offered no relief at all to her pain. She always gave the same answer-pain was the same and nothing would work!

I sensed she was somewhat skeptical about acupuncture and she came to see me simply because her parents wanted her to try something else before possible surgery. In order to confirm my hypothesis, I sent her mom an email with the following two links for her to share with her daughter. Hopefully she would be interested in knowing that the western mainstream begins to accept acupuncture as a vital part of healthcare. 

http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/relieving-pain-with-acupuncture
http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/acupuncture/basics/definition/prc-20020778

To my pleasant surprise, she seemed a little positive at her fourth visit and even asked me a couple of questions about acupuncture. On her fifth visit, she said her pain was better after the fourth treatment. Guess what? She was pain free after two more sessions. 

The power of placebo or acupuncture! Who cares?! 

Frank He, L. Ac., QME, DAOM

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