Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a disorder that causes pain, skin colour alterations and other sensations on specific parts of your body, often the arms, legs, hands and feet. CRPS symptoms may significantly influence the functionality of the afflicted limb, sleep, routine tasks and mental well-being.
According to experts, CRPS is caused by a central or peripheral nerve system malfunction. The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. Your organs, arms, legs, fingers and toes get signals from your brain and spinal cord through the peripheral nerve system. The faulty operation causes an exaggerated response to pain sensations that your neurological system cannot suppress.
Subtypes of CRPS
Type I
If you have this kind, your nerves are not affected. It follows a health issue or accident that did not cause immediate nerve damage. The condition was initially known as Reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
Type II
After nerve injury has occurred, this form manifests. Causalgia was the previous name for this condition.
Acute CRPS is more common, although chronic CRPS may linger long (lasting more than six months). In most cases, treatment may alleviate the symptoms.
Major Causes of CRPS
More than 90% of patients with CRPS developed the condition after suffering nerve trauma or injury to the afflicted limb, which destroyed the fine sensory and autonomic nerve fibres. Pain, itching and temperature sensations are all carried along these tiny strands. Moreover, they regulate capillaries’ function and neighbouring cells’ health.
Bone fractures, particularly those of the wrist, are the most prevalent injury that may lead to CRPS. Nerves may be injured by the pressure of a cast or by a misplaced or shattered bone.
Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome may also arise without a visible injury or after long periods of inactivity. Among the things that may put you at a higher risk of getting CRPS are the following:
Genetics
Your genetic makeup may determine the speed with which you heal after an accident. Clusters of chronic pain syndrome have been identified in families. Rare as it is, this finding suggests a possible genetic basis for CRPS.
Unhealthy Nerves
A loss of nerve resilience and repair capacity may be a side effect of diseases like diabetes. Damage to the peripheral nervous system may make it harder for certain people to recover from injuries that normally would not be problematic. The inability to regenerate nerves may be further hampered by smoking and a history of chemotherapy.
Signs and Symptoms of CRPS
CRPS has varying severity and variable duration of symptoms in different people. It is estimated that the onset of CRPS symptoms occurs between four and six weeks following an accident, fracture or surgery, although it may also occur spontaneously.
For most people with CRPS, pain is the first and foremost indicator that they have the condition. The pain may be described as a scorching, stinging or ripping feeling and can be continual or periodic. Most of the time, it will be deep inside the afflicted limb.
Additional CRPS-related symptoms in the concerned region include:
Acne breakout or other skin rashes.
Impaired performance of the afflicted limb.
Temporal shifts in the skin’s surface.
Alterations to the development of hair and nails.
The Population Impacted by CRPS
Adults are at higher risk for developing CRPS than children. Typically, people experience the start around the age of 40. However, females are more likely to have CRPS than males.
Diagnosis of CRPS
Unfortunately, misdiagnosis of CRPS is common since the condition is so uncommon and largely unknown by medical professionals. Diagnosis is often made after thoroughly evaluating the patient’s medical history, physical exam and symptoms. If you have recently been in an accident or had surgery, your doctor will want to know about it.
They may arrange imaging tests like an ultrasound or MRI to detect nerve injury. Similarly, your doctor may prescribe additional tests to rule out other potential causes of your symptoms. Electromyography (EMG) is one diagnostic tool that may help identify the root cause of a patient’s discomfort and clear out more common medical conditions.
Treatment and Management
The primary objectives of therapy are symptom relief, limb function restoration and quality of life preservation. Effective treatment calls for many different, properly coordinated methods, such as:
Physical and Occupational Therapy
Doing the exercises prescribed by your physical therapist will help you regain mobility, endurance and muscle tone and enhance your ability to perform daily tasks. An occupational therapist can show you how to reorganise your routine to make it more manageable.
Adopting a New Lifestyle
A few things may be done to improve the odds of recovery and the rate of recovery by removing obstacles to nerve mending. This involves changing unhealthy habits like smoking and dealing with chronic illnesses.
Psychological and Behavioural Treatment
Anxiety, despair and stress all worsen when someone has CRPS. There is hope through psychotherapy. The process encompasses a wide range of approaches to care that focus on helping patients recognise and alter unhelpful patterns of thinking and action.
It is recommended that a clinical psychologist specialising in pain management and CRPS be consulted. By discussing what triggers your discomfort and other signs with a trained psychologist, you may develop strategies for managing them.
When is the Best Time for me to visit my doctor?
It is recommended to see a pain management expert or a speciality pain centre staffed by doctors familiar with CRPS if you have any of the following symptoms:
You suspect that you are suffering from chronic regional pain syndrome.
The severity of your symptoms continues to rise.
It seems that no other treatments have helped your situation.