Hello Everyone.
1 year ago I was on duty ( paid full time Firefighter) and was struck buy a fire hose coupling to the right elbow. I have never in my life had so much pain. My bottom 2 fingers went numb along with severe pain in my elbow. I went to the hospital that day and they told me to follow up with the ortho doc so I did. The ortho doc said everythign was fine and that I just needed to go to Physical Therapy. Im in extreme pain and can barley move my arm but i said what ever. After getting the Pt approved through comp I meet with a really good physical therapist that took one look at my arm and told me I had a severly compressed nerve. I had positive tinel's test and swelling around where the coupling hit me. The therapist told me to go back and to see the ortho doc with a letter because i needed to have somthing done quickly.
SO I did.
After Months of fighting with back and forth between the PT and the Ortho Doctor My hand started turning bright red, and constant buring pain all over my elbow. The Physical Therapist informed me that I was starting to show signs on RSD. My had was cold, color changes, couldnt even touch the skin. Here Im a 26 year old firefighter that has fallen off of ladders, had ceiling fall on me and can not believe that im in so much pain.
During this time I had been assigned a case manager nurse that never came and saw me. Pretty much the only person that was watching out for me was the physical therapist. Finally after getting no where with the current ortho doc and nurse case manager I recieved another nurse case manager. The new nurse thought I had a severly compressed nerve but the ortho doctor said no he has rsd and if you move the nerve it will be the worst thing you can ever do. And he also told me the problem was in between my ears!! Whatever Jerk

SO they started blocks. What a nightmare that was. I had 4 stellate ganglion blocks in my neck and all it did was warm up my hand and made my hand white again. DIdnt touch the pain.
SO the Pain Managment doctor decided to inject steriod into the elbow. That didnt work , it MADE IT WORSE. It made it so bad that I couldnt move my arm, and if i tried it felt like i was rubbing my arm over rocks.

During this whole time the PHysical therapist new I had RSD like symptoms but he really new I had a compressed nerve just by looking at my hand and signs and symptoms. SO he recommened a ortho doctor up in walnut creek CA That takes care of pro baseball players elbows.
My nurse case manager really went to bat for me and got me to this doctor who took one look at me and I was in surgery 4 days later for ulnar nerver transposition, bone spurs, loose bodies, Big pieces of scare tissue and steriod that had crystallized and was rubbing the sheath of the ulnar nerve.
After Surgery I had alot of buring nerve pain, so they increased the lyrica and that helped.
Therapy sucked because it took 7 months to finally get to a doctor who knew what was going on.
During the Rehab of my right elbow I had to go back in for arthroscopy because my elbow was locking up. Everything was looking pretty good after that my arm was feeling good.

I Soon found out all good things come to an end, my left elbow after many months of not being able to use my right decided to snap. They did a mri and sure enough my nerve was out of the grove and i had bone problems. SO we did A ulnar nerve transpositon and arthroscopy on the left elbow. I have had alot of nerve pain ever since the surgery and bone pain because of the grade 4 ware that was found.
My Left hand goes from hot to cold, white, bright red, blotchy, purple, and just extreme pain. I went to see the new ortho doctor and she took one look at it and told me it looks like rsd. =(
SO my nurse case manager and I are very upset about this whole thing and we follow up with my normal primary care doctor who tells me I dont have rsd. WTF
Im really starting to lose patience.
So I get put on new nerve meds to try and help with the pain , Higher dose of lyrica makes me to where im in a fog and gabapentin makes me extremely sick.
SO basically Im sitting here with nerve pain and bone pain from a surgery that I think didnt go so well woundering if i really have rsd.
I just had another Mri yesterday because my left elbow is locking up with extreme pain. The Physicall Therapist says that I dont have rsd but the ortho doc says I have signs and that i need blocks.

Im going to loose all my hair !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I use to go on calls ( being an EMT) thinking what is wrong with these people with so much pain, and now i can completly understand !!!!
Im going back up to see the Ortho doc next week , Hope she can do somthing to help me, otherwise it looks like Im screwed!!!! =(

Sorry to read about your ordeal. I am having surgery tomorrow, my ulnar nerve problem is determined to be caused by rsd.

I don't understand why they would make a point to say if the damage is blunt force or repetative. The nerve can be injured either way.

My doctor is a sports medicine not a rsd upper extremity doc, but he said the surgery is the same for whichever way you damage the nerve.

If you had a workmen's comp claim for blunt trama and then developed the same issues from repetative use I would think it would still be under you workmen's comp. It's an aggravation of the initial injury. Why would you have to bounce back and forth between doctors?

PS. I have been helped alot by using voice recognition software and a foot mouse. It makes my life much better! I hope you find some relief!

I have 2 doctors because of one being primary, and the other being the surgeon. You have to have one to be a primary to handle all the paper work for work comp.
I read the first line of your post about you have rsd and having surgery and almost hit the floor. Are you having A transposition or blocks or what?
Ive been told by alot of doctor now that surgery really can make rsd worse.
Be careful

Has anyone had alot of nerve achy pain from there arm pit down to there finger tips after ulnar nerve transposition.


Im about 4 months in recovery now for my left, and it is really getting worse , nerve pain wise.

Where the nerve is moved to I have shocking pains. I made a circle around the area that has alot of pain and arrows where im also feeling alot of achy throbbing pain.

wow only 4 months and your scar looks that good! mine is almost 1 yr. post op and is very dark and twice as long lol! i complained about a lot of pains adn extreme sensitivity after the surgery. my dr. basically thought i was nuts, but to be honest i think the new pain is worse than the old. im kind of regretting surgery. i still go numb and tingly. i can barely rub that same area with out having the most akward pain. and god forbid i thump the area, i have dropped to the ground lol!

I have noticed since the weather change that my arms are really pissed off, nerve wise. Ive been having to take pain meds if I go out side because the coldness or the rubbing from my sweatshirt really make the nerve angry. around where they did the transposition.
ANyone else have this problem?