How One Woman Found Relief From Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
After being sidelined by debilitating chronic pain known as complex regional pain syndrome for years, one woman discovered the remedy that restored her vitality and eased her pain more effectively than medication!
Tracey snuggled up in a hospital bed next to her daughter, who was ill with tonsillitis. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an excruciating pain shot through her leg and foot. It felt like someone had shaved off her skin, like peeling a potato. Her body jolted with such a force that it shook the hospital bed. She reluctantly climbed out of the bed, putting pressure on her foot, but the response was even more agonizing when it hit the ground. Oh no, she thought, it’s back.
Increasingly Helpless
“I was first diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome — a condition characterized by prolonged, severe pain that develops after a minor injury — in 1998. My 6-year-old daughter’s two-pound toy computer came crashing down on my left foot after falling off a high shelf, and the pain that shot up my leg was anything but normal. At the hospital, they told me I had fractured two toes and crushed my toe knuckles. However, after two weeks, the pain was still at a 10. My leg felt like it was on fire constantly, but it was cold to the touch. It was also discolored from my groin to my toes, like someone colored me with a magic marker.
“I went to a podiatrist, who diagnosed me with complex regional pain syndrome. He told me that it typically affects an arm or leg, causing symptoms like pain, swelling, hypersensitivity, and discoloration. Over the next six weeks, I had six outpatient nerve blocks and an in-hospital epidural. I was so hopeful about each procedure, but after 24 hours, the pain would return, worse each time.
“Two months after the injury, I decided to have surgery to remove part of the nerve going down my left leg. It worked — until that day four years later in my daughter’s hospital room.
“For the next 15 years, I was in and out of a wheelchair because the pain was so debilitating. I tried everything — lidocaine infusions, ketamine infusions, and countless medications, including fentanyl and other opioids for breakthrough pain. But nothing provided lasting results.
“By 2017, nearly two decades after my diagnosis, I was feeling helpless. My daughter — the same little girl whose toy fell on my foot so many years ago — had grown up and was getting married, and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to dance at her wedding. I prayed for a miracle every night.
A Chance Discovery
“One day, I was returning work emails when I noticed ‘Oska’ in one of my client’s email addresses. I had never heard of the company, but its name was intriguing, so I asked about it. He explained that the Oska Pulse uses electromagnetic fields to reduce pain and inflammation. He said that in addition to providing pain relief, the device could regenerate damaged cells as well as nerves, tissue, and bone. I’d had treatments with similar, much larger devices in a doctor’s office, but this was lightweight and portable — and I could use it wherever I felt pain.
“My mother-in-law purchased it for me, and I immediately started attaching it to my injured foot for 90-minute sessions while working or watching television. I was nervous that it would hurt, but I only felt a warm sensation.
“I noticed a dramatic improvement within two weeks. And within two months, I began to feel like a normal person again, forgetting about my pain for long stretches of time. The swelling and discoloration faded, and I no longer rely on meds for pain relief.
“Six months after starting treatments, my daughter walked down the aisle. I wore high heels and danced the whole time! After being unable to walk for so long, I have taken my life back, attending family functions and taking vacations. I am finally living again!”
But… are electromagnetic fields safe?
EMFs, the electromagnetic fields produced by cellphones, microwaves, and Wi-Fi signals are considered harmful to the body — but pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) are totally different, says magnetic field therapy expert William Pawluk, MD.
“EMFs are designed to cook or transmit communication so they have high frequencies and very short wavelengths, which means they can be absorbed by the body and cause cellular damage,” he explains. “PEMFs are extremely low-frequency and are very long, so they pass through the body without being absorbed.”
For example, a PEMF device may deliver electromagnetic fields at a frequency of 3,000 hertz with a wavelength of 9,800 feet, while a cellphone will deliver a frequency of 800 million hertz with a wavelength of just 1 foot. Adds Dr. Pawluk, “PEMFs are specifically designed to treat people, so they are completely safe.”
The At-Home Treatment That Eliminates Pain
More than 28 million women in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain —and many are given an Rx for opioids. In fact, women ages 40 to 59 are prescribed these pills more than any other age group —and twice as often as men. But as data on the dangers of opioids mounts, many are looking elsewhere for pain relief.
One option: pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy, which uses low-frequency magnetic fields to stimulate healing. “The magnetic field passes through the body like wind through trees,” explains William Pawluk, MD, an expert in magnetic field therapy. “After the wind comes through, the leaves are still moving. Magnetic fields stimulate ions in the body the same way.”
The PEMFs initiate a cascade of actions at the cellular level. “The value of PEMFs is threefold,” says Dr. Pawluk. “They improve symptoms, restore function and promote healing — unlike medications, which numb pain but don’t help the body heal.” The payoff: Research at Yale University found that osteoarthritis patients who received 30 minutes of PEMF therapy every other day for a month experienced a 50 percent improvement in pain severity and a 48 percent improvement in joint tenderness.
The best part: There are no side effects and no limits to how frequently you can use a PEMF device. “PEMFs are very safe,” says Dr. Pawluk. “People have used them for 12 hours a day.” But, he adds, the body does need to learn to react to the stimulation, so he suggests starting with 1-hour treatments daily.
While some doctors have in-office magnetic systems, they are not often covered by insurance. Fortunately, there are reasonably priced at-home options, like Oska Pulse ($399, OskaWellness.com) and MicroPulse A9 ($429, Micro-Pulse.com).
