What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)?
CRPS, also known as RSD (“Regional Pain Syndrome’), is a condition in which chronic pain affects a limb. Generally the limb has suffered damage through an injury or trauma, such as fractures, sprains, strains, soft tissue injuries, muscular dystrophy, or even a common medical procedure. Although some pain is usual after an injury, CRPS is continued magnified chronic pain after the injury should have healed.
CRPS is usually a clinical diagnosis that is made after an individual suffers continued excessive pain after an injury. Other clinical signs may include temperature changes, changes in skin color, and swelling. Although CRPS is more common in women and in individuals close to 40 years of
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Research indicates that damage to or malfunction of the central and peripheral nervous systems is the source of the pain. An individual with CRPS often has abnormalities in the peripheral nerves involving the unmyelinated and thinly myelinated nerve tissue that sends pain signals to blood vessels. These abnormalities may affect the functioning of the blood vessels surrounding the injured limb so that the injured limb may get a limited distribution of oxygen and nutrients, causing joint or muscle pain and damage under the skin or within the deeper part of the muscle.. CRPS is also commonly associated with other inflammatory or autoimmune conditions such as …show more content…
Though a previous injury may have only affected a small area of the limb, the entire limb will be extremely sensitive to touch and movement and may cause the patient to stop all use of the limb risking future development of serious physical dysfunction and muscular dystrophy. Often, there is even more increased sensitivity at the site of the injury causing extreme pain even with a light touch. This is called “allodynia”. Symptoms indicative of CRPS aside from pain are more subtle and typically due to abnormal microcirculation within the limb. These irregular functions of the nerves which control of blood flow and temperature may result in the following features:
-Affected limb is warmer or cooler than the other
-Skin on affected limb might change to blotchy, blue, red, pale, or purple
-Skin on affected limb may appear to change in texture, look shinier, or look thinner
-Abnormal sweating in or around the affected area
-Stiffness in joints
-Limited mobility of the joint, difficulty with coordination of muscle movement
-A fixed position of the limb,tremors or jerking
How is CRPS
Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(1):124–125. Puchenkova, S. G. (1996). "
"Chronic pain persists despite the fact that the fact the injury has healed. Pain signals remain active in the nervous system for the prolonged or infinite amount of time. Physical effects include tense muscles, limited mobility, lack of energy, and changes in the appetite. Emotional effects include depression, anger, anxiety, and fear of re-injury"(Cleveland Clinic 2013). Chronic pain can develop from multiple common conditions. These can include; instance migraines, diabetes, IBS, fibroids, and endometri...
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a nerve disorder that causes long-lasting (chronic) pain, usually in a hand, arm, leg, or foot. CRPS usually follows an injury or trauma, such as a fracture or sprain.
What causes JRA is not well understood to the medical world. Though most experts now believe that it is a combination of number of factors such as: an overactive immune system that inappropriately attacks joint tissues as if they were a foreign substance; viral or bacterial infections are suspected to trigger the autoimmune process; and then there are the gen...
A hypothesis that can be made from the patient’s report is that she is suffering from cervical radiculopathy, or a nerve root lesion. Symptoms that describe cervical radiculopathy include: arm pain in a dermatome distribution, pain increased by extension, rotation, and/or side flexion, possible relief of pain from arm positioned overhead, affected sensation, altered hand function, no spasticity, and no change to gait or bowel and bladder function (Magee, 2008, p. 142). These symptoms correlate to what the patient reported as a result of her injury. She stated that her pain is in the posterolateral upper and lower arm with aching and paresthesia in the thumb and index finger, which is in the dermatome pattern of cervical root 5 and 6 (C5, C6) (Magee, 2008, p. 25). She also reports lancinating pain with extension or rotation to the right of her head.
I am Madyson Cuba. The one and only. I live with my Mom and my Grandmother. My mom has CRPS, which is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. It could affect anywhere in the body. It affects her in her heart, shoulder blades, lower back, hips, legs/knees and her ankles. With this condition your body swells anywhere. On my mom, her ankles swell up to 2x her actually ankle size. Not many people have it. There are fewer than 200,000 US cases per year. She first got hit by her car door slamming into her knee in 1997. Then she got injured in 2008 when I started kindergarden by getting hit in the back of her knee cap with a metal chair by her RSD (CRPS) patient. Also my grandmother has recently got Lyme’s Disease and is now badly sick. My dad lives in Florida with my Stepmom and my three half brothers.
Patients whose lesion is in the Cerebrum & Cerebellum will experience loss of balance and coordination, difficulty speaking, and frequent limb trembles. Speech difficulties vary from slurred words, long pause between words, and swallowing problems. Patients whose lesion is in the Motor nerve tracts will experience weakened and stiffened muscles, blurred vision or vision impaired, and urinary problems. Weakened and stiffened muscles causes walking disabilities and painful feeling of muscle spasms in 6 to 10 people. Patients whose lesion is in the Sensory nerve tract will experience sensory alternations, fatigue, cognitive and emotional dysfunction, and loss of sexual interest. Difference sensations experienced are numbness, itching, burning, stabbing, or tearing pains.
CMT affects the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves). There are several types of CMT, depending on the type of gene mutation you have. Symptoms of CMT can range from mild to severe.
Peripheral and central mechanisms involving nerve lesions and their input are substantial when perceiving phantom pain. Due to the impairment of peripheral nerves in the process of amputation, regenerative sprouting of damaged axons occurs and the activity rate of inflamed C-fibres and demyelinated A-fibres spontaneously increases (Flor, 2002). As a consequence of this nerve injury, a neuroma, which is a mass of pruned and tangled axons, may form in the residual limb producing abnormal (ectopic) activity (Katz, 1992). Flor, Nikolajsen and Jenson (2006) proposed that ectopic discharge from a neuroma in the stump illustrates abnormal afferent input to the spinal cord, which is a possible mechanism for unpro...
The most common type is Peripheral Neuropathy. It is also referred to as distal symmetric neuropathy or sensorimotor neuropathy. In this type, the legs, feet, toes, arms, and hands experience pain and loss of sensation. Typically, the lower extremities are involved before the upper extremities and a loss of reflexes is common. It is with this type of neuropathy that ulcers, wounds, infections, and in severe cases, amputation is most common (Dyck, Feldmen, & Vinick).
Together it provides stability, protection, and shape to the body. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) cover a wide range of injuries or disorders that affect the human body’s movement or musculoskeletal system. “The most common musculoskeletal disorders include: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendonitis, muscle and tendon strain, Tension Neck Syndrome, Rotator Cuff Tendonitis, and Radial Tunnel Syndrome, among many others.” (Middlesworth) These disorders can involve any form of damage to tendons, tendon sheaths, joints, muscles, blood vessels, and peripheral nerves. Symptoms of MSDs usually occur in the upper limbs and torso. Pain is the most common symptom it can occur either localized or general, usually in the neck, shoulders, and arms. Numbness usually occurs in the hands, wrists, and elbows. Weakness in the arms and swelling mostly in the wrist and hand are also symptoms. In severe cases, when the disorder becomes advanced loss of function can also occur. Most sonographers suffer a combination of symptoms and they are often related to high task repetition, forceful exertions, and repetitive and awkward positions that sonographers adopt during their
The Chronic Pain Coping Inventory (CPCI) is a well-respected and commonly used test in assessing pain. People with chronic pain, like my sister Eri who has Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), should have taken this test. Pain is a common symptom for people which range from a sore throat to CRPS, it is the persistent and chronic pain that requires additional attention for coping with pain. For those who suffer from long term pain, taking medication can have long term effects so coping skills are necessary for long term management. Although my sister has taken the test, I have wondered as to the validity and reliability of these tests.
An estimated 20 million people in the US have some form of peripheral neuropathy, and more than 100 types of peripheral neuropathies have been identified. (NINDS, 2014) Peripheral neuropathy is damage to peripheral nerves that can cause lack of coordination, weakness, numbness, tingling and pain usually in the hands and feet. Peripheral nerves send sensory information from your central nervous system to the rest of your body, which also helps generate movement. Peripheral neuropathy can be a mild or sever disease leading to disability. Most cases of peripheral neuropathy are caused by a treatable underlying condition. It is rare for peripheral neuropathy to be fatal but it can be extremely painful.
The “Disease” usually manifests itself with the onset of pain, either in the back (generally the lower part of the back) or in the neck. That pain can, over time, become excruciating.