Pain Management Specialists & Private Medical Practice in San Diego, La Mesa and Chula Vista, California
The majority of painful conditions a person might experience can be traced to a specific disease, ailment or traumatic, allowing for a definitive treatment plan. Unfortunately that is not the case for those who suffer from complex regional pain syndrome. This neurological syndrome causes not only painful symptoms that occur without reason, but also causes physical and sensory changes to the skin, most often in the extremities and especially the hand. The best way to find relief is to seek medical care as soon as possible. The California Pain Consultants team in the Escondido, El Centro, La Mesa, San Diego, and Chula Vista areas utilize the most state-of-the-art and technologically advanced treatments to provide patients with answers and relief.
What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
As the name suggests, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a condition that causes painful and debilitating sensory and physical changes to one specific area of the body. Experts believe that CRPS occurs as a result of dysfunction in your central or peripheral nervous systems that results in an overreaction to pain signals that the nervous system can’t shut off.
Complex regional pain syndrome can occur without nerve damage, usually after an injury or illness. Or, it can occur after an instance of nerve damage. Most often, it is a result of a traumatic event that damages the arm or leg. Most common traumatic events include car accidents, deep wounds, surgery, infection and bone fractures.
It is also known as Sudeck’s atrophy, causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RDS), shoulder-hand syndrome, post-traumatic dystrophy, and reflex neurovascular dystrophy. The condition, caused by incorrect pain signals from being sent and recognized by the brain, ranks as one of the most common chronic pain conditions, above amputation and childbirth.
What are the Symptoms of CRPS?
The symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome vary from person to person, but the one commonality is pain. The pain could be constant or intermittent, and could feel like a burning, stinging or tearing sensation, which feels like it’s coming from deep inside the affected limb. Sensory changes include increased sensitivity (hyperalgesia), feelings of pain from touch that would otherwise not cause pain (allodynia), and numbness.
Other symptoms can include:
While all these symptoms might not be present, most individuals report feeling the majority of the aforementioned symptoms.
Women experience complex regional pain syndrome more often than men, and emotional distress has been shown to increase the severity of the symptoms. It’s important to seek medical help as soon as the symptoms appear as it’s easier for providers to diagnose and treat in the early stages. If left untreated, some of the symptoms can be irreversible.
How is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Treated?
The goal of treatment is to decrease pain and associated symptoms, restore function to the affected limb, and maintain the patient’s quality of life. It’s important to begin treatment methods as soon as possible because the affected limb will only become more stiff and treatment more painful. The most common treatment methods include:
What Can I Expect with CRPS?
Each person’s experience with complex regional pain syndrome and, thankfully, most experience pain relief with treatment and a complete reduction of symptoms if treatment was effective and began early enough. However, for patients with severe cases or those who don’t seek treatment as soon as possible, there are instances where CRPS has gotten worse and moved into another area of the body. Adding in any intense psychological distress can also worsen the syndrome.
The most important goal for the pain management specialist is to provide treatment that relieves pain and restores mobility and function to the affected limb so that the patient can enjoy both a heightened quality of life and reduce the symptoms associated with the syndrome.
If you believe you are dealing with symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome, or think you might be experiencing the onset of symptoms, it’s important to schedule an appointment with a trained pain management specialist who can accurately diagnose and expertly treat both your symptoms and the syndrome itself. The California Pain Consultants team in the Escondido, El Centro, La Mesa, San Diego, and Chula Vista areas is dedicated to helping their patients beat the damaging symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome and enjoy a pain-free life.
Your comprehensive treatment plan will help you eliminate CRPS and get you back into a healthy life.
Imagine if CRPS wasn’t holding you back every day. We believe you should be treated the way we would treat our own mom or dad which is how we have treated our patients for the past 15 years.
Just follow this simple plan:
Request your
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Consult with your personal expert mental health team and develop a plan.
Find the relief and dignity you have been searching for.
You can defeat chronic pain.
We can help.
It’s wrong to miss out on the best parts of life because of chronic pain. You don’t have to put up with feeling older than you are. We can help you regain your vibrant life again.
At California Pain Consultants, we know that you want to get back to living a pain-free life. To do that you need a pain management team you can trust. The problem is there are so many pain clinics that do not listen to you and treat you like a statistic which makes you feel frustrated.
We understand your pain and suffering. We believe you should be treated the way we would treat our own mom or dad which is how we have treated our patients for the past 15 years.
So, request an appointment today. And in the meantime, watch this patient success story. So, you can stop struggling with pain and instead get back to living your life again.
If you suffer from chronic pain, contact us today. We can help you get back on your feet with your personal comprehensive treatment plan.