CRPS Awareness - Personal
November is Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Awareness Month. On the first Monday in November it is Colour the world Orange day to help raise awareness. This is where people are encouraged to wear the colour Orange to show your support and to get people talking.
CRPS has been known by different names firstly Reflect Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and Causalgia. It is also known as the suicide disease. This due to the debilitating effects the disease has not only physically but also mentally, being in pain 24 hours a day, not knowing where to turn and in some cases trapping them - going from healthy active people to someone who struggles with the most basic task.
CPRS is a chronic pain condition, one that lasts more than 6 months, that most often one limb usually after an injury has occurred. CPRS is thought to be caused by damage or an injury to the peripheral and/or central nervous systems. In layman's terms it is the over stimulus of the sympathetic nerve, which is used to send and receive signals from the brain to the rest of the body. The sympathetic nerve will send signals to an injured area of the body i.e. a sprained ankle. The injury will then become swollen, the body's natural response to an injury. The trouble is these signals don’t get 'switched off'. The affected area as well as swelling also changes colour, temperature and also becomes sensitive to even breeze going across your skin.
CRPS is divided into two types: CRPS-I and CRPS-II. Individuals without a confirmed nerve injury are classified as having CRPS-I (RSD). CRPS-II (causalgia) is when there is an associated, confirmed nerve injury. As some research has identified evidence of nerve injury in CRPS-I, it is unclear if this disorder will always be divided into two types. Nonetheless, the treatment is similar.
It is estimated that CRPS affects 1 in 3,800 people in the UK alone. This accounts for around about 15,000 new cases every year. It also doesn’t take into account any undiagnosed or misdiagnosed cases
CRPS symptoms vary in severity and duration, although some cases are mild and eventually go away. In more severe cases, individuals may not recover and may have long-term disability.
With currently there being no known cure for CPRS, treatment is more around the relieving of pain. Therapies used include psychotherapy, physical therapy, and drug treatment, such as topical analgesics, narcotics, corticosteroids, antidepressants and anti-seizure drugs.
With pain being 'unseen' it is often hard for people to understand what someone with CPRS is going through. With everyone having their own levels of pain that they can endure and some who don’t like to talk about how they are feeling or what they are going through. To try and give this a bit of a visual for people to get an understanding of the levels pain that people go through, on the McGill pain scale RSD has been classified as at least 42 out of 50.
Now it is time to spread the word, increase awareness and not be happy with just helping to relieve pain. A. cure must be found! Now people who have this condition go through a lot physically and mentally. I would like to put myself through a series of events to help push myself to what would be of fraction of what these extraordinary people go through with CPRS. No one should have to live in pain, it's time something is about it #timetofindacure #timetoputoutthefire #rememberwhyyoustarted #CRPSawareness #CRPSOrangeDay
Here are some links to help you find out more about Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_regional_pain_syndrome
https://rsds.org/definition-of-crps/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/complex-regional-pain-syndrome/
https://painuk.org/members/charities/burning-nights-crps-support/