Although RSD can be a progressive disorder, it should not be assumed that all cases will advance and present all clinical symptoms and dysfunction. Early and effective treatment may lesson the effect of RSD in some individuals. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy is a system complex and patients do not have all the signs and symptoms or clinical features. A physician may consider RSD as a result of minor trauma, inflammation following surgery, infection, lacerations, degenerative joint disease, burns and any compression such as casting or swelling due to injury that may cause prolonged pressure on peripheral nerves. Peripheral neuropathies, nerve-entrapment, neuromas, thoracic outlet syndrome and carpal or tarsal tunnel can coexist.
Many physicians have a difficult time in going to the next step when they diagnose a disease.
It is hard for some to believe that you can have a dual disease process and not just focus on only one of the diseases. Many other chronic pain disorders may be mistakenly diagnosed as sympathetically maintained pain or RSD because of similarities in clinical presentations. Diagnosing RSD is very important so proper therapy can be applied. A wrong diagnosis is like having carburetor problems with the engine of your car and using a tire pump to try to fix it. The stages of RSD are the acute stage, the dystrophic stage and the atrophic stage.