Live Life Team
Complex regional pain syndrome is a condition which is rare and can be defined as a pain which is there for a very long time in either the lower limbs or hands. The pain is burning in character and is usually caused by nerve injury.
Complex regional pain syndrome was also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy when the cause of the Complex regional pain syndrome was thought just to be nerve stimulation but the name was changed once research began revealing whole new findings.
Types of complex regional pain syndrome
Type I: This is believed to be caused by very small injury without nerve damage or destruction; examples of such injuries are sprained ankle, fractured ankle.
Type II: This is caused by very serious injury usually a broken bone or severe infection which damages the anatomical integrity of the surrounding nerve. The damage might also occur from procedures surgical exploration.
Causes
Even though multiple researches have yielded a lot of result the exact cause of Complex regional pain syndrome is unknown. However there are multiple theories which try to explain some of the aspects of this condition.
Psychological cause
A lot of doctors believe that most of the time Complex regional pain syndrome is due to a primary psychological condition where the people might feel that they are really experiencing pain. However the research results discredit this belief as it has shown the people with Complex regional pain syndrome undergo lot of changes in the peripheral nervous system for them to experience the pain.
Sympathetic system malfunction
The theory of a malfunction of the sympathetic theory was mostly regarded as the correct causes of the Complex regional pain syndrome; however recent research has shown people with type II syndrome have other cause too. Sympathetic system is a part of the nervous system which when activated prepare the body to a condition commonly known as Fight or Flight, this is primary defence system of the body, this is achieved by release of catecholamine from the nerve ending, the theory states that due to some abnormality in this system this catecholamine send the information to the brain where it is interpreted as pain.
Immune system
This is a recent theory, according to which conditions like type II syndrome is usually causes by malfunction of the immune system, usually when there is an injury the body reacts this is known as inflammation, if the inflammation persists longer, then many chemicals released in that area will continue to stimulate the pain nerve ending resulting in the person experiencing a chronic pain.
Symptoms
The Complex regional pain syndrome symptoms are classified into three different stages, however one symptom is common –Pain, which the patient suffers through all the stages.
Stage I
This stage begins after the person is prone to any injury or other causes which trigger the nervous system and usually lasts for about 1-3 months. The stage is dominated by an intense burning pain experienced at the area affected due to injury, muscle spasms might also occur in such patients.
Stage II
This lasts for 3- 6 months characterised by intensification of the pain. Patient might experience certain somatic changes and there will be changes in the circulatory system supplying the region of pain.
Stage III
This is irreversible stage where due to chronic pain the patient might not be able to use the limbs.
With prompt treatment and physiotherapy the Complex regional pain syndrome can be stopped.
