A young showjumper who was unable to ride for five months owing to debilitating pain caused by a rare nerve condition is back in the saddle – and jumping 1.30m – thanks to treatment not available in the UK.
Izzy Townsend had to travel to Italy to undergo a fortnight of scrambler therapy for the complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) with which she was diagnosed in February. She landed at Bristol Airport on Saturday, 25 July, then jumped a 1.10m at the Welsh Home Pony the next day. On the Monday, she jumped a 1.20m, and on the Tuesday the 1.30m pony showjumper of the year qualifier.
“You can see in the photos I bought, she was grinning from ear to ear,” Izzy’s mother Sarah told H&H. “She was beyond delighted.”
Sarah, a chiropractor, said Izzy’s condition started with a very minor incident.
“She was just handling one of the ponies, and over-extended her elbow,” she said. “Nothing even made contact but she said her elbow hurt. I thought she might have sprained it a bit so she went to school the next day, then her friend messaged me, very concerned as Izzy’s hand was turning blue.”
Complex regional pain syndrome
Izzy went to hospital, then a trauma centre, and a week or so later was diagnosed with CRPS. The condition is rare and poorly understood but it causes severe, debilitating pain.
“It’s to do with the brain misinterpreting the injury, so it’s incredibly painful,” Sarah said.
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“In Izzy’s case, you couldn’t even touch the skin because it was so sensitive; it’s known to be one of the most painful conditions you can have. There isn’t really any treatment for it besides physiotherapy and pain relief, and that’s really all you can do.
“Izzy worked so hard but she couldn’t do anything; couldn’t ride, couldn’t dress herself, and she had her GCSEs coming up.”
Sarah said there was some progress; the pain lessened slightly, and Izzy was determined to take her exams as she wants to go into medicine. But the condition is also affected by stress, and possibly owing to the pressure of the exams, the pain flared and spread so Izzy’s face was affected too.
“Her hand and eye were in sync with the pain; even going outside, the pressure of the wind would set it off,” Sarah said. “It was incredibly difficult for her but she did complete her GCSEs. Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital and her consultant and everyone helped her as much as they could but there wasn’t really anything they could do.
“After her exams, it started to improve a bit but she had no function in her hand and was in a lot of pain. I was so worried about her; she’d gone from such an active, busy life to basically nothing.”
Sarah did some research and found out about scrambler therapy, which uses electrodes externally to replace pain signals in the nerves but is not available in this country. Izzy’s consultant was happy for her to try it so the family flew to Italy for a fortnight.
(Image credit: Showground Photography)
“She had the most amazing response,” Sarah said. “She came back and jumped straight on the pony.”
Sarah said she had been told Izzy was a good candidate for the treatment, and that she had an 80% chance of it benefiting her condition.
“By the time she started on the machine she was in seven out of 10 pain, by the end of the hour’s session it was one out of 10,” she said. “It was that quick; by day two she could use her hand, by day five row a boat. It was just bonkers.”
Sarah then had to fly home, leaving Izzy with her father Jay, to get Izzy’s sister Nell to the Royal International and the Welsh Home Pony.
“So I didn’t realise she’d got even better,” Sarah said. “She arrived at the show to watch her sister and was saying ‘Can I get on?’ She got on Rosie, jumped a couple of fences and then said ‘Can I jump a class?’ I’d thought she might be able to hack or something that week but it was so lovely to see her back in the ring. And the doctor said the one thing she must do is keep using her hand, as if not the brain might revert to thinking there’s a problem. I don’t know if they meant quite this, but she’s using it!”
Sarah said Izzy was allowed to jump with strict caveats about retiring if there were any issues – but she and Connemara Hollywood Princess Rosie, who have built a strong relationship together, were back in the game.
She paid tribute to her daughter’s determination in such a tough year for the family, citing for example occasions when Izzy’s heart rate would be 180 owing to the pain, and thanked all those who supported them, including Emmie Horner and her family for riding and looking after Izzy’s novice pony, and the David Broome Event Centre for squeezing Izzy’s entry in.
“You realise there are a lot of good people in the world,” Sarah said.
Scrambler therapy for CPRS
Sarah wants to raise awareness of the benefits of the scrambler therapy. She explained that it can put conditions like complex regional pain syndrome into remission – which can be permanent – and benefit other issues such as nerve pain caused by chemotherapy.
“It’s not going against advice you get here but the condition isn’t widely known, and most medical people I spoke to didn’t know about scrambler therapy,” she said.
“But the difference it made to Izzy was quite incredible. I’m going to write to my MP and see if there are any UK cases as if it could be looked at here, it could be massive for so many people.”
Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
