OXYGEN IS A GAS!

Humor is one of the best ways to deal with chronic pain. Laughing triggers endorphins and that helps battle pain. 

So hear are a few little tidbits for you;

 

Science Exam Quotes (from 11 year olds) 

_{Laurie Sale/Norman Josephs}

* "Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."
* "When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire."
* "Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars."
* "Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

So, what is the latest update? 

Fantastic news. After this mornings treatment, I noticed the burning in my hands has decreased to only about 10% !!!!!!!!!!!  That is nothing! So exciting!!!!

The allodynia is still quite strong, as it is in in my feet, legs, and arms still and the burning is still strong in my left foot and a little less so in my right foot. But one step at a time. This is so amazing. 

After my discussion the other day of the Third Symptom of CRPS, Spasms in the blood vessels and muscles of the extremities, I received a few emails. Some saying they were grateful to hear they weren't the only ones who experienced those things and some asking what the other three symptoms were. I even got two asking if you needed to have all four symptoms in order to have a diagnosis.

So let me try and answer all of those here :)

First, the FOUR MAIN SYMPTOMS OF CRPS are;

1) Constant Chronic Burning Pain (includes allodynia - extreme sensitivity to touch, sound, vibration, 

2) Inflammation - This can affect the appearance of the skin, bruising, mottling, etc.

3) Spasms in blood vessels and muscles of the extremities

4) Insomnia and Emotional disturbance (includes major changes to the limbic system; among them are short-term memory loss, concentration difficulties, inability to find the right word, depression, etc.)

 

There are other CRPS symptoms of course. 

In answer to the question about whether you need to have all four symptoms; no. But it is unusual for a patient not to have at least three of the four. Not every patient has the constant burning pain but probably 85% of patients do. 

On another note, we recently added an article from TIMES ONLINE called "IS PAIN ALL IN THE MIND?"

It is an interesting article but I think it falls far short of what the typical chronic pain patient deals with. It deals more with what I term "simple pain". But check it out and decide for yourself.

HBOT CLINICS - Someone asked me for a list of clinics around the country. If you visit the links in our HBOT section you can find some of the clinics there and most of them have a list of clinics. For example; the AZ HBO Clinic has a LISTING OF HBOT CLINICS 

Also, someone asked what conditions are covered for HBOT and which aren't covered by are treated with HBOT.

On the RAPID RECOVERY HYPERBARIC website, there is a great page that lists these two things right next to each other. Check it out!

Ok guys, that is it for today. Check back tomorrow!

peace, Keith