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Nynke Sminia
Nynke Sminia, 30 years old, biologist and active in international equestrian sports. Thanks to Hirudotherapy, after almost 3 years I am as good as cured of CRPS type II. Here`s the story of my recovery courtesy of Drs. Aislou Guiliazova.
In the particularly successful year that I participated in the European Eventing Championships, in November 2007, I broke both my tibia and fibula of my left leg in several places as a result of an unfortunate fall/jump from a horse.
Partly due to inaccurate and late treatment and surgery, an acute compartment syndrome occurred, which was only definitively diagnosed almost 24 hours after surgery. I was then immediately operated on again to limit the nerve and vascular damage as much as possible. For this, the wounds were left open at the time to prevent the entrapment as much as possible. Despite this operation, severe paralysis had already occurred in the foot, ankle and leg, which put me in a wheelchair, but which mainly caused terrible (nerve) pains. Although the doctors indicated that it would take quite some time, the prognosis was that all this would recover reasonably well with the help of physiotherapy. So I started physiotherapy as soon as possible after the wounds were closed.
More than 4 months later, in which the pain had hardly subsided and hardly any recovery of the nerves had occurred, I had another operation to remove the (too large and incorrectly) placed ironwork. This had to be done as quickly as possible to maintain the ankle`s mobility. According to the doctors, a simple procedure that turned out to be terribly painful.
Even after this operation, there was such a slow and little improvement, I was still walking on crutches after 7 months, that I was almost certain that there must be something else going on. Finally, in the summer of 2008, I went to my doctor because I really couldn`t bear the nerve pain after such a long time (almost a year). He then suspected post-traumatic dystrophy and referred me to a pain clinic anesthesiologist. This doctor diagnosed CRPS type II and prescribed Gabapentin for nerve pain. This drug did provide relief, but also had some very unpleasant side effects because it desensitizes part of the brain. In addition, I started using both DMSO ointment and N-Acetylcysteine (free radical scavengers) and Ketensin (vasodilators). The N-Acetylcysteine had no effect on me, but the DMSO ointment and Ketensin did lead to some improvement. In particular, the coordination of the leg and foot improved and in many places the feeling came back partly, only the pain decreased very little. In the summer of 2009, the anaesthetist with medication turned out not to be able to do much for me and the GP also had no options. I was told that I would just have to learn to live with my disability. This while I was still in constant pain and still couldn`t lead a `normal` daily life, but could stand and walk for a very short time, let alone practice my sport. This has hit like a hard blow, especially since until then I had fully assumed that although it took a very long time, it would eventually recover. I didn`t want to and couldn`t just accept that from the age of 29 I would have to continue with this enormous limitation, terrible pain and therefore enormous fatigue for the rest of my life.
As a last resort, the anaesthesiologist had advised me acupuncture and as if it should have been so, my colleagues pointed me to Hirudotherapy, a therapy with medicinal leeches (also called the living acupuncture needle). Hirudotherapy turned out to be able to achieve good results in many patients, including my colleagues. It therefore seemed to me the best option to inquire about the prognosis of this doctor about my situation. After extensive research, she guaranteed (as far as possible, of course) to achieve at least 70% improvement with hirudotherapy. The choice was made quickly and I started the therapy in August. At that time, on the advice of Drs. Guiliazova stopped the laser and physical therapy treatments.
The treatment involved a weekly visit to the practice where she places leeches on the affected nerves. The first 12 weeks in particular were extremely difficult for me. At first because the bite of the leeches was quite painful for me, due to the damaged nerve pathways (which is usually not the case with other patients. Until about December I underwent this treatment weekly and luckily the response to the treatment became less intense. From about the 6th treatment there was also improvement. I can perhaps best describe it that I felt that blood started to flow again in my foot and that it came to `life` again. The sleeping feeling also slowly disappeared but sure, the mobility of my ankle increased and the coordination slowly got better.
I have now been treated by this doctor for almost a year and the treatment has already been reduced to once every 2 months. As for the result, I can say that it is beyond expectations! Instead of the `guaranteed` 70% improvement, this is already about 90% and I expect this to increase even more. Probably 100% will no longer be feasible, but I am convinced that 95% can be achieved. The complaints described earlier have now either completely or largely disappeared, I can walk and stand for longer periods of time, have sufficient muscle strength in my calf, sufficient mobility in my ankle, rarely have a cold foot anymore, rarely have extra pain in the evening and feel me fit. In the meantime I have even completed the first eventing competitions with successful results.
It is a great pity that this treatment method is not taken seriously by everyone, because I think many more people could benefit greatly from it (with various different complaints). In addition, I must unfortunately also note that most health insurance policies do not reimburse any of the costs of this treatment, which is relatively expensive for patients. As a result, this treatment is a considerable financial burden for many patients and not even possible for others. A pity for many who (perhaps unnecessarily) have to go through life with chronic pains. . . .
Anyway, personally I am incredibly happy that I finally found the way to Hirudotherapy and Drs. Aislou Guiliazova that allows me to live my life the way I love to do it again. Because of this I can finally be myself and happy again!
In the particularly successful year that I participated in the European Eventing Championships, in November 2007, I broke both my tibia and fibula of my left leg in several places as a result of an unfortunate fall/jump from a horse.
Partly due to inaccurate and late treatment and surgery, an acute compartment syndrome occurred, which was only definitively diagnosed almost 24 hours after surgery. I was then immediately operated on again to limit the nerve and vascular damage as much as possible. For this, the wounds were left open at the time to prevent the entrapment as much as possible. Despite this operation, severe paralysis had already occurred in the foot, ankle and leg, which put me in a wheelchair, but which mainly caused terrible (nerve) pains. Although the doctors indicated that it would take quite some time, the prognosis was that all this would recover reasonably well with the help of physiotherapy. So I started physiotherapy as soon as possible after the wounds were closed.
More than 4 months later, in which the pain had hardly subsided and hardly any recovery of the nerves had occurred, I had another operation to remove the (too large and incorrectly) placed ironwork. This had to be done as quickly as possible to maintain the ankle`s mobility. According to the doctors, a simple procedure that turned out to be terribly painful.
Even after this operation, there was such a slow and little improvement, I was still walking on crutches after 7 months, that I was almost certain that there must be something else going on. Finally, in the summer of 2008, I went to my doctor because I really couldn`t bear the nerve pain after such a long time (almost a year). He then suspected post-traumatic dystrophy and referred me to a pain clinic anesthesiologist. This doctor diagnosed CRPS type II and prescribed Gabapentin for nerve pain. This drug did provide relief, but also had some very unpleasant side effects because it desensitizes part of the brain. In addition, I started using both DMSO ointment and N-Acetylcysteine (free radical scavengers) and Ketensin (vasodilators). The N-Acetylcysteine had no effect on me, but the DMSO ointment and Ketensin did lead to some improvement. In particular, the coordination of the leg and foot improved and in many places the feeling came back partly, only the pain decreased very little. In the summer of 2009, the anaesthetist with medication turned out not to be able to do much for me and the GP also had no options. I was told that I would just have to learn to live with my disability. This while I was still in constant pain and still couldn`t lead a `normal` daily life, but could stand and walk for a very short time, let alone practice my sport. This has hit like a hard blow, especially since until then I had fully assumed that although it took a very long time, it would eventually recover. I didn`t want to and couldn`t just accept that from the age of 29 I would have to continue with this enormous limitation, terrible pain and therefore enormous fatigue for the rest of my life.
As a last resort, the anaesthesiologist had advised me acupuncture and as if it should have been so, my colleagues pointed me to Hirudotherapy, a therapy with medicinal leeches (also called the living acupuncture needle). Hirudotherapy turned out to be able to achieve good results in many patients, including my colleagues. It therefore seemed to me the best option to inquire about the prognosis of this doctor about my situation. After extensive research, she guaranteed (as far as possible, of course) to achieve at least 70% improvement with hirudotherapy. The choice was made quickly and I started the therapy in August. At that time, on the advice of Drs. Guiliazova stopped the laser and physical therapy treatments.
The treatment involved a weekly visit to the practice where she places leeches on the affected nerves. The first 12 weeks in particular were extremely difficult for me. At first because the bite of the leeches was quite painful for me, due to the damaged nerve pathways (which is usually not the case with other patients. Until about December I underwent this treatment weekly and luckily the response to the treatment became less intense. From about the 6th treatment there was also improvement. I can perhaps best describe it that I felt that blood started to flow again in my foot and that it came to `life` again. The sleeping feeling also slowly disappeared but sure, the mobility of my ankle increased and the coordination slowly got better.
I have now been treated by this doctor for almost a year and the treatment has already been reduced to once every 2 months. As for the result, I can say that it is beyond expectations! Instead of the `guaranteed` 70% improvement, this is already about 90% and I expect this to increase even more. Probably 100% will no longer be feasible, but I am convinced that 95% can be achieved. The complaints described earlier have now either completely or largely disappeared, I can walk and stand for longer periods of time, have sufficient muscle strength in my calf, sufficient mobility in my ankle, rarely have a cold foot anymore, rarely have extra pain in the evening and feel me fit. In the meantime I have even completed the first eventing competitions with successful results.
It is a great pity that this treatment method is not taken seriously by everyone, because I think many more people could benefit greatly from it (with various different complaints). In addition, I must unfortunately also note that most health insurance policies do not reimburse any of the costs of this treatment, which is relatively expensive for patients. As a result, this treatment is a considerable financial burden for many patients and not even possible for others. A pity for many who (perhaps unnecessarily) have to go through life with chronic pains. . . .
Anyway, personally I am incredibly happy that I finally found the way to Hirudotherapy and Drs. Aislou Guiliazova that allows me to live my life the way I love to do it again. Because of this I can finally be myself and happy again!
