Understanding CRPS: Treatment Options Beyond Medication

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is relatively rare, affecting about 200,000 people in the United States. While it impacts both men and women alike, it tends to be most prevalent in women between 60 and 70 years of age.

Kevin Elaahi, MD, Benjamin Kim, MD, and our dynamic team treat patients with acute and chronic pain issues, including CRPS, through a full scope of pain management solutions at Interventional Pain Consultants in Parsippany, Montclair, and Landing, New Jersey.

Understanding CRPS

CRPS mainly causes localized nerve pain problems in the arms, hands, legs, or feet. It usually emerges following surgery, injury, heart attack, or stroke. Symptoms include:

• Ongoing unexplained pain
• Hypersensitivity to touch
• Fluctuations in skin temperature
• Localized swelling and redness
• Joint stiffness; muscle spasms

Left untreated, the hypersensitive “pain area” may turn pale and cold, or spread to other areas. You might also experience recurrent muscle spasms. 

While CRPS may go into remission on its own, our team recommends getting diagnosed as soon as possible before it becomes chronic and more difficult to control.

Diagnosing CRPS

While there’s no specific test for CRPS, our team may use imaging and/or laboratory tests to rule out other conditions. Once we identify CRPS, we review your symptoms to determine which type you have. 

The vast majority of CRPS patients experience type 1, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). It often occurs after an illness or injury, and doesn’t involve nerve damage. Type 2 develops following a traumatic nerve injury. 

The four stages of CRPS

While CRPS may resolve on its own, the sooner you recognize and manage symptoms, the better your chances of alleviating pain over the long run. The condition generally advances as follows:

Stage 1

This occurs within the first three months as you experience more pain than expected from a recent surgery, health issue, or injury. 

Your skin may look blotchy or change color as blood vessels constrict. You might also experience excessive sweating and unusual hair and nail growth. Alerting your doctor at this stage offers the best chance of attaining long-lasting relief.

Stage 2

Sometime between the second and fourth month, hypersensitivity to touch and increased pain, swelling, and burning become the norm. Less oxygen in your blood leaves your skin drier. You may also experience some degree of bone loss (osteopenia).

Stage 3

Within six months to a year of its onset, you might notice cracks in your skin, brittle hair and nails, and cooler skin temperatures as CRPS progresses.

Stage 4

Damage to the affected area is essentially irreparable, and issues, such as osteoporosis, may become more obvious.

Treating CRPS without medication

We offer a path to a better quality of life whichever stage you face.

While pain medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anticonvulsants, may be used, our team possesses an arsenal of non-pharmacological treatments to manage your discomfort. You may benefit from:

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS)

SCS thwarts pain signals from reaching your brain, so you no longer feel them. Your surgeon implants a generator beneath your skin and threads electrodes between your spinal cord and vertebrae. You then use a remote, as needed, to transmit electrical impulses through these electrodes to dampen your pain sensations.

Nerve blocks

Guided by a fluoroscope (live X-ray), ultrasound, or CT scan, a nerve block treatment involves injecting anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medications to dampen your pain.

Epidural steroid injections

An epidural steroid injection delivers an anti-inflammatory steroid along with an anesthetic into the space around your spinal cord to reduce your discomfort.

Trigger point injections

Trigger point injections target tight knots in your myofascial tissue (over your muscles) to relax the area and help relieve your pain.

Stem cells

Regenerative therapies, such as stem cells, show promise in the relief of pain and inflammation. They help improve blood flow, heal damaged nerves, and lessen inflammation in targeted areas.

Other therapies 

Other therapies, such as acupuncture or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), which uses electrical currents to ease pain, may also help. Our team may also refer you to a physical therapist to help rebuild strength and mobility in the areas affected by CPRS.

It takes a team to manage CRPS

You don’t have to face your chronic pain alone: From non-surgical therapies to top-of-the-line regenerative treatments, Dr. Elahi, Dr. Kim, and our compassionate team seek to resolve your pain — without medication whenever possible.

Ready to find out how we can help you? Call or click online to schedule a visit at your nearest Interventional Pain Consultants office in Parsippany, Montclair, or Landing, New Jersey, today.