Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) can cause significant pain and disability long after the triggering condition or injury has healed. The physicians at Pain Specialists of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, can solve CRPS and its impact on your physical and emotional well-being. The advanced treatment options include minimally invasive therapies designed to help you rediscover life without pain. Schedule your evaluation today by calling the office or using the online scheduling tool to request an appointment.
CRPS is a chronic pain condition that usually affects an arm or leg and develops following surgery, stroke, heart attack, or injury.
It can be a frustrating condition to understand or diagnose since the pain is often more severe than what the original injury caused. Even a mild ankle sprain can trigger CRPS, the symptoms of which continue long after the sprain has healed.
Researchers aren’t sure what causes CRPS, but it’s possibly due to faulty communication between your peripheral and central nervous system. However, other symptoms associated with CRPS indicate it may be linked to an exaggerated inflammatory response to injury.
The symptoms of CRPS can vary from one individual to another and may include:
Complications related to untreated CRPS can include muscle loss and atrophy that may eventually interfere with your ability to move the affected limb. You may also develop painful muscle tightening and contractures of the foot and toes or hand and fingers.
To relieve your pain and help restore mobility, your provider may recommend:
During a sympathetic nerve block, your provider injects anesthesia or numbing agent into a network of nerves called a ganglion. Depending on where your pain is located, your doctor may recommend an injection in the lower back region for leg pain or in the cervical (neck) area for arm pain.
A spinal cord stimulator (SCS) uses mild electrical signals to disrupt pain signals traveling from nerves near the spinal cord to the brain. After a trial period to ensure it offers benefit, the small device can be surgically implanted near your spine and adjusted as necessary to provide optimal relief.
Functioning much like a spinal cord stimulator, a PNS is placed over or very near the site of your pain rather than at the spinal cord.
Your provider may also recommend oral steroid medication to reduce inflammation related to CRPS and a course of physical therapy to help improve your strength and flexibility.
For more information about CRPS treatments, schedule a visit at Pain Specialists of Oregon today. Give the office a call or request an appointment online.