Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Specialist

What is complex regional pain syndrome?

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic (long-term) pain condition. The main symptom of CRPS is burning pain that usually comes from one arm or leg. The pain is often severe and disabling. Other symptoms of CRPS include:

• Stiff, swollen joints
• Changes in skin texture or color
• Reduced function in an arm or leg
• Changes in skin temperature
• Muscle spasms
• Temperature sensitivity
• Changes in hair and nail growth
• Muscle weakness

CRPS symptoms sometimes go through a three-stage process where the effects get worse and are increasingly difficult to treat. But not everyone with CRPS advances through these stages.

If you have CRPS and don’t get treatment, you could suffer permanent damage. A prompt visit to the CRPS experts at Cleaver Medical Group Interventional Pain is wise if you have symptoms. While CRPS isn’t curable, they provide effective treatments that reduce pain, improve function, and stop your condition from getting worse.

What causes CRPS?

It’s unclear precisely what causes CRPS. Research indicates that it involves the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates functions like blood flow and digestion that you don’t consciously control. Changes happen in the sympathetic nervous system when you have CRPS, which affects blood flow and nerve activity.

The two forms of CRPS are:

Type 1 CRPS

Type 1 CRPS is the most common. It develops after an injury or illness affecting an arm or leg with no identifiable nerve damage.

Type 2 CRPS

Type 2 CRPS (previously called causalgia) affects far fewer CRPS patients — around 10%. It develops after a nerve injury.

How is CRPS treated?

Medication sometimes helps people with CRPS. Your doctor might prescribe anti-inflammatories, low-dose antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or steroids to reduce inflammation and pain.

Most people require more specialized treatment for CRPS. The Cleaver Medical Group Interventional Pain team uses sympathetic nerve blocks and stellate ganglion blocks to relieve pain. These are local anesthetic injections into the nerve clusters causing CRPS symptoms.

Injection effects can last several hours before the anesthetic wears off. But some patients find that interrupting the constant pain reduces its severity for far longer. If these treatments don’t help, neuromodulation might.

How does neuromodulation for CRPS work?

Neuromodulation involves having a small device implanted under your skin that you control with a hand-held remote. Spinal cord stimulation and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation use these implanted devices to change the messages from your nerves to your brain.

Instead of pain, you might sense tingling or no sensation at all. A medication delivery pump can also help by regularly or continually delivering pain medication to the nerves.

Call Cleaver Medical Group Interventional Pain today or book an appointment online to learn more about your CRPS treatment options.