CRPS- They think,they are not sure let's see how long we can keep her in pai!


Question: CRPS- They think,they are not sure let's see how long we can keep her in pain!.!?
I have been diagnosed with chronic regional pain syndrome by an Orthopedist!.(no cure just constant pain), and if you know what CRPS is then you know how BAD THE PAIN IS associated with this condition!. However a Pain Mgmt!. Spec!. has told me I did not "act" like I have CRPS the day he saw me, without any kind of tests and barely an exam!. My wrist is sinking in, black and blue, sometimes I can't even touch my skin!. It burns and I'm dropping things!. All of this happened after wrist surgery this year!. I am only 35 yo!. I have seen 3 different Dr's no one agrees and the Orthopedist is the only one that did an exam, took x-rays and gave me a definite diagnosis!. My PCP is starting to act like I am a drug seeker but I have been with her for several years and she knows my opinion about 'me personally' taking heavy narcotics!. My question is, am I supposed to remain in pain until I get passed from Specialist to Specialist and someone agrees!? Now they want me to go to Occ!. Therapy but if someone touches my wrist (on my arm I use by the way ), hand or lower arm, I will probably hit them with my other fist!. What can I do that has not been done!?Www@Answer-Health@Com


Answers:
Hi!. As the first person said, you really do need to find yourself a good pain management team!. Your GP is the place to start, because you will need a referral!. Also think about finding a CRPS/RSD forum and looking for recommendations for doctors in your region!. If you truly have CRPS, you need to commence treatment ASAP - it has been shown time and time again that early diagnosis and intervention gives the highest chance of remission!.

Re occupational or physiotherapy - it hurts like hell, but it is an absolute MUST! The more you avoid it, the more sensitive your hand and arm will become, and the worse the condition will become!. This is part of the reason that you really need a good pain management team - they can bring in treatments such as antidepressant or anticonvulsant medications, which are useful for nerve-related pain, and sympathetic nerve (stellate ganglion) blocks!. These should help to reduce your pain and make it possible for you to do the physio!. Heavy narcotics are usually a last resort for CRPS, because typically neuropathic pain doesn't respond as well to opioids as other types of pain anyway!.

There are a few things that you can do yourself at home!. Most importantly, TRY to keep moving and (wherever possible) using your hand as normally as you possibly can!. It's very easy to develop guarding behaviours with CRPS, which just perpetuate the condition!. As you are obviously very sensitive to touch, you need to work on desensitisation!. Start out by gently brushing your arm with soft materials (e!.g!. a cotton ball, tissue) and gradually increase pressure and coarseness of the material as you can tolerate it!. Warm and cool (not cold) water baths can help with this as well!.

Also look into mirror imagery and graded motor imagery!. I'll give a couple of links - please email me if you want more information on them, or how to use them!. The current theory is that CRPS actually causes 'rewiring' of certain pathways in the brain, and both MI and GMI can help to correct that!.

There are a lot of other treatments (e!.g!. Ketamine, spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug administration), should you find down the track that you need to consider them!. The main thing is finding the treatment that is effective for you!.

If you want to talk, please feel free to email!. I've had CRPS for nearly 10 years now - I have it very severely in both legs and recently have started developing it in my hands and arms!. I've been through pretty much every treatment under the sun, so if you want any information or advice I can probably offer it!.


Take care :-)Www@Answer-Health@Com

The folks you really need to see are Chronic Pain Management Specialists!. A web search should reveal a pain management center somewhere close to you, and that's the best place to start!. They may not be able to actually nail a cause for you, but they will help find ways to alleviate it for you!. Try not to be too discouraged with the doctors you see!. Chronic pain management isn't something that most doctors are trained to deal with, and the whole subject of pain management gets you into odd territory!. Plus, the DEA has really thrown a wrench in things by cracking down on doctors they feel over-prescribe heavy duty pain medications!. It's got the doctors rather nervous about prescribing sometimes even when they do think it's needed!. Pain itself is a tough subject, since there is no one place in the brain you can pinpoint as being in charge of it!. Anyway, seek out a pain management center, where you will find the specialists you really do need to see, and professionals trained to deal with the problem!. Orthopedists are great for bones and joints, GP's are good for general aches and ills- but pain is not the specialty of either one!.Www@Answer-Health@Com





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