Research shows that to maintain a healthy body, joints etc. you must weight-bear, flex your joints and do a small amount of impact exercise.
So where does this all leave those suffering with a condition which is said, by many scientists and doctors, to be one of the most painful conditions known to man?
Simply put the question is; will exercise help you deal with your chronic pain more?
In my opinion the answer is yes. It has been shown in many pain management courses that the fitter you are the more you cope with the agony of CRPS. That of course doesn’t entirely make the pain better but you do produce more endorphins and thus the pain seems less.
I feel I stand as a testament to this philosophy. I have been suffering with CRPS since 1973; I was a young child and thus not believed. The thing is because I wasn’t believed for the most part I just got on with it. I also come from a family which tends towards being very active, I had to keep up. Actually for the most part I surpassed those I competed with. I took up gymnastics, swimming, running and hockey as a youth and later various martial arts. Not bad for a patient who’s CRPS is spreading.
Then in 2002, following a small accident, my CRPS went ballistic on me and I became increasingly disabled. My activity level went through the floor and I seemed incapable of getting out of the hole being slowly dug by the pain and huge amounts of medications I was stuffing down my throat.
Then in 2008 came what I feel was the turning point of dealing with this illness. I underwent a pain management and neurostimulation course at St. Thomas’ hospital in London. The course was designed for those who were felt to be candidates for neurostimulation, and to give that patient an informed choice. Even then there are no guarantees that this will help and there are a lot of foreseeable problems with having the unit fitted. So in addition to the module they give pain management strategies.
Unlike a lot of other hospitals who argue that due to the high risk of infection they don’t advocate trial units, St. Thomas’ do exactly that – fit a trial unit for a period of one week to see what, if any, relief the patient will get. For me the trial failed. Though not unexpected it did leave me down for a while until I started getting a handle on the pain management strategies and life without medication, which also did not work for me.
So I am now getting on with life without medical intervention and one thing I have made a choice about is exercise. I am determined to get fit again. The weight, due to medication and inactivity has piled on and now it is time to get rid of it. I am not yet confident enough to rejoin a gym, swimming pools are a no go zone as the cold water makes me spasm and martial arts are probably not for me right now. So I am continuing with the exercises given to me during the pain management sessions and, in addition, I have taken up yoga. I have so far lost over a stone in weight and I am feeling more in control of my problems than I have ever felt in the last 6 years since my CRPS went ballistic on me. I am less stressed and have far more energy than I have had during my battle.
Is the pain down? No, I can honestly say it isn’t. Are the associated symptoms reduced? Again, I can emphatically answer no to this. So why do I feel better? Not easy to answer except that I feel more in control, my head is clearer and not so fogged up with drugs and I am truly sleeping better.
Is this all due to exercise? Well other than being off the pills, yes, I believe it is.
Now I am not saying we should all be training for the London Marathon here but I am advocating being as active as you possibly can be. I also don’t believe that all patients can drop their mobility aids off at the local A&E unit and start doing the fandango around Tescos. I do appreciate as well that I do have a fair head start on many, as I was extremely fit before my CRPS went ballistic, though I am no where near as fit now. I also know that I won’t achieve the levels of fitness I enjoyed previously, my age if nothing else is against me. I do however feel by getting my weight down I am putting less stress on my body and by being more active I am producing more of the painkilling endorphins which in turn makes me less aware of my pain. I have also noticed my concentration is better and my depression has lessened.
You can’t cure CRPS but what you can do is control it. The trick is finding out what works for you and to be as active as possible. It isn’t easy, I know that better than most but you can be in control and your overall fitness will play a major part in this.
Sian – FightingRSD