Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Therapy using an Endless Pool
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Idamarie avoided more surgery by employing a daily therapeutic routine in her Endless Pool. |
Idamarie Scimeca Duffy recently received
the inaugural "Hero of Hope" award
from the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association.
The story of her intractable illness - which has all
of the highs and lows of a roller coaster ride - culminates
with her walking after eight years in a wheelchair.
Idamarie credits the Endless Pool with being "the
thing that has helped turn this whole thing around."
A traumatic injury is often the impetus for
the onset of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), although it is also thought to be triggered by any number
of physiological circumstances, including infections,
heart attack, and certain invasive surgical procedures.
In Idamarie's case, the first indications of
RSD followed a severe injury to her right foot in a
1984 accident involving a heavy metal door. After six
years of misdiagnosis, Idamarie's condition was determined
to be RSD, a neuromuscular and neurovascular affliction,
and she underwent a sympathectomy operation to alleviate
her symptoms.
This involved severing the network of nerves near the
spinal column, which was thought to be the cause of
the problem. Unfortunately, the procedure left her with
additional complications, affecting her other leg, her
right arm and hand, and problems with her esophagus
and eyes.
After persuading her insurer that it was both
superior therapy and cheaper than the morphine-pump
implant one specialist had recommended, her Endless
Pool was installed in September 1999. Idamarie uses
it virtually every day for a 90-minute routine in water
heated to 95 degrees in winter, 85 in summer. Her routine
includes simulated bicycle pedaling with a flotation
belt, some swimming, and range-of-motion exercises with
hand weights.
"They're amazed," she says
of the many physiotherapists and other specialists who
have helped her, one of whom decided that the elbow
surgery he had been contemplating was no longer necessary.
"And I know I wouldn't have been able to come along
as quickly as I have."
For more information on RSD, visit the RSDSA
Web site. It contains an article written by Idamarie
on her trials and triumphs over RSD.
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