Not all medical conditions are fully understood, and many of them cannot be treated to a point we can consider them to be curable.
When you are faced with conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome (CPRS), managing pain becomes a priority, but there are also life expectancy aspects to consider.
Patients who have lived with CRPS for a while may have been initially diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. CRPS is how this condition has been known over the last few years, and its definition has been expanded to include certain instances of idiopathic chronic pain, which is when you constantly go through excruciating episodes of pain that cannot be explained. A CRPS diagnosis assumes that the neuralgia is not only regional but also stubborn and progressively debilitating.
Along with fibromyalgia and Gulf War Syndrome, CRPS is a condition that needs more clinical research to determine if it can be prevented or fully intervened. As of 2022, some studies suggest that individuals with certain genetic and chromosomal profiles are more prone to suffer from CRPS than others; this appears to be the case with American singer and choreographer Paula Abdul, whose diagnosis was made after physicians could not explain why the pain from a neck injury she suffered years before had not only returned but gotten progressively worse. Abdul’s CRPS was mostly limited to her neck and scapular region in the beginning, but it eventually radiated down her back and brought on chronic swelling. The difference between Abdul and someone else who may have suffered the same neck injury is that she never actually recovered in the neurological sense. Even though Abdul regained full range of motion in the beginning, this was not the case years later when she could barely get out of bed.
What we know for sure about CRPS is that the pain it generates can often make life unbearable. We are talking about pain on the scale of the worst migraine episode or even childbirth. For many patients, their best option is to go through interventional pain management sessions, which are different from the common treatment strategy of prescribing strong painkillers such as opioids.
As with other conditions that feature chronic pain, CRPS can diminish the quality of life considerably, thus making interventional pain management even more crucial as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. Living with chronic pain and edema can contribute to premature organ failure, permanent neurological damage, and even silent hypertension. Needless to say, this can also bring about a lower life expectancy.
If you are a CRPS patient who has not responded well to painkillers, or if you are concerned that taking opioids could result in dependency, please contact our clinic today. Ketamine infusions for pain can make a substantial difference in the lives of patients who suffer from CRPS and other debilitating chronic pain conditions. These infusions will not cure CRPS, but they may help you improve your lifestyle as tools for managing pain.
Contact Vitalitas Denver
To learn more about this and other new avenues to mental health treatment, do not hesitate to schedule a consultation at Vitalitas Denver—a ketamine clinic staffed by a qualified and experienced full suite of dedicated medical professionals.
