Although dragging myself to work each day was incredibly hard (the tiniest movements caused my foot to ache terribly) and focusing on work was exhausting, it created a distraction from the pain and allowed me to avoid falling completely into a cycle of self-pity. As an Injury Prevention Specialist for electrical utility employees at the City of Seattle, my job was to develop physical re-conditioning programs for injured employees, as well as make appropriate modifications to their work equipment and work environment to minimize re-injuries. Focusing on employees' needs and on their recovery was indirectly healing for me.

In addition to working full-time, I attended graduate school on weekends. Both work and school kept my thoughts directed away from myself and also forced me to physically move about, use my leg, and get out of the house nearly every day.

After three months of religiously attending and participating in the RSD program, I was able to do more physically than before, but the pain was still incredibly limiting. I decided to add one more piece to the exercise puzzle. I started wearing a pedometer every waking minute. I kept track of the number of steps I took each day, careful not to go more than a certain number of steps further than the day before so as not to trigger a flare-up. The number of steps I initially started at was about 200 per day. Each day I would add about 20 more steps. If it was nearing the end of the day and I had not yet put in enough steps to match the prior day's number, I would force myself to walk the needed number of steps, regardless of pain. The pedometer method fit well into my other quota-based exercise scheme and it helped reduce the frequency of flare-ups because it eliminated the guesswork of how much I could safely walk.

Another "treatment" that I began applying of my own accord was nightly hot baths. They were calming and soothing and they worked well for increasing circulation in my leg. They also warmed me up all over since one of the systemic side effects of RSD for me was being cold. I often wore layers of sweaters and used several blankets on my bed year-round.