Could It Be CRPS? 4 Symptoms Beyond Chronic Pain

You get hurt. You heal. Your pain gradually goes away.

That’s how it works, isn’t it?

Not with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) – and that’s what makes it so frustrating.

On top of chronic pain, CRPS can generate a whole host of surprising symptoms that affect the skin, your circulation, and your movement.

What is CRPS?

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is a neurological condition that affects a single limb following an injury and drives severe pain, swelling, and skin changes.

While CRPS often appears after a sustained injury, it doesn’t necessarily follow a serious one. In only 10% of cases does CRPS result from a nerve injury, and the syndrome is known to be of much greater severity than the original damage.

It is often triggered by a fracture or sprain, but can also follow a surgery, stroke, or heart attack. Many experts explain CRPS as a nervous system malfunction that manifests as an inflammatory and pain response.

Simply put, CRPS often looks like a routine injury that spirals into unusual and surprising symptoms.

Unexpected symptoms

CRPS is notorious for producing symptoms not typically associated with pain.

Changes in skin temperature

One minute you’re boiling, the next minute you’re freezing. Or your entire body is warm – except for one specific part. These are classic examples of a CRPS response.

The autonomic nervous system regulates your body temperature, but when afflicted with CRPS, the ANS can send funky signals to the affected region, disrupting blood flow and producing wild and frequent temperature changes in just one area of the body.

You may notice one hand feels warmer than the other, one foot feels unusually cold, or your overall body temperature fluctuates throughout the day. These are all, unfortunately, typical of CRPS.

Changes in skin color

We just explained how your autonomic nervous system, when afflicted with CRPS, can send faulty signals to a certain area of the body that change its temperature. The same process can happen as it relates to skin color.

Many CRPS patients report the affected limb turning blue, purple, red, or pale white.

Your blood flow determines the color. Heavy flow can bring on red or pink, while low circulation leads to blue or purple.

The good news is these changes in color are usually the result of signaling rather than blockage. Still, it’s a good clue that there’s more going on than the previous injury – the nervous system is involved too.

Changes in sweating

The same way CRPS invades the nervous system to bring about irrational-seeming skin changes, the sweat glands in the injured area can begin to behave strangely.

In what can feel like a completely unpredictable pattern, patients can begin to sweat excessively or not at all – and they can fluctuate between the two states.

This all happens because that same automatic nervous system contains nerve fibers that control the sweat glands.

Changes in hair, nails, and skin

Your tissue health and appearance are certainly not immune from the random, intermittent changes and fluctuations brought about by CRPS. And people can expect both extremes.

You can experience hair loss and excessive hair growth. In the affected area, hair might grow thicker and faster, or make a slower return after shaving.

Your nails can begin to grow rapidly or not at all – and this can apply to only one hand or just a few fingers. The nails can become brittle, uneven, or misshaped.

Your skin can become shiny, thin, dry, or sensitive in one problem spot. You’ll notice when it stands out from the rest of your skin.

Why it all matters

So Complex Regional Pain Syndrome delivers some funky features, but they’re not all that serious, right?

Not yet.

Your CRPS symptoms are important red flags that should be quickly caught and treated. While they may not feel all that serious at first, ignoring them can lead to permanent disability.

Your CRPS are telling you something – they’re broadcasting physiological changes that can eventually lead to more serious outcomes like thinning bones (decreased bone density), contractures (reduced movement locking limbs into a fixed position), and atrophy (due to underuse or total avoidance). The symptoms can also spread to other parts of the body.

If you can catch it early, get it treated early.

When to seek evaluation

Like most conditions, CRPS is easier to treat when caught early.

Here are some triggers to watch for: Persistent pain following an injury or surgery Pain disproportionate to the original injury Temperature changes Color changes Swelling Unusual skin or nail changes

The bottom line is this: If your injury appeared to have healed but your symptoms are lingering and evolving in unexpected ways, there may be more to your condition. For severe, persistent cases, advanced options like dorsal root ganglion stimulation can target the nerves driving CRPS pain.

How Hudson Pain and Spine can help

Folks in the Englewood, New Jersey area that are experiencing symptoms resembling our description of complex regional pain syndrome should contact Hudson Pain and Spine. Dr. Saurabh Dang, a double board-certified pain management specialist and an expert in CRPS. He can help determine the best care plan for you.

If your pain lasts more than two weeks, includes radiating pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness, and limits your ability to work, sleep, or do normal activities, contact Hudson Pain and Spine to schedule a consultation.

Hudson Pain and Spine 25 Rockwood Place, Suite 335, Englewood, NJ 07631 Phone: (201) 605-9000