Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) isn’t common but can be devastating for those with it. If you develop CRPS symptoms, contact board-certified pain expert Asher C. Goldstein, MD, and his highly experienced team at Zephyr Medical in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. They offer advanced treatments like dorsal root ganglion injections and stimulation to reduce the pain CRPS causes. Call Zephyr Medical today or schedule a consultation online to discover how the team’s exceptional care can help you successfully manage CRPS.

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What is CRPS?

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an unusual pain disorder. The main symptom is burning pain, usually in one arm or leg. The pain can be severe, even disabling. Other CRPS symptoms include:

  • Swollen, stiff joints
  • Changes in skin color or texture
  • Reduced function in the affected limb
  • Changes in skin temperature
  • Muscle spasms
  • Changes in hair and nail growth
  • Muscle weakness
  • Temperature sensitivity

CRPS patients sometimes go through three stages where the condition gets worse, with pain and other symptoms spreading further throughout your body. The disease also becomes increasingly hard to treat as it gets worse. But not everyone with CRPS goes through all three stages.

Patients with CRPS who don’t get treatment can suffer irreversible damage. CRPS isn’t curable, but the Zephyr Medical team offers effective treatments that prevent your symptoms from getting worse, reduce your pain, and improve your function.

What causes CRPS?

CRPS causes aren’t fully understood. But research suggests that patients with CRPS have abnormalities in their sympathetic nervous system. This system regulates blood flow, body temperature, and other functions you don’t consciously control. CRPS-induced changes in the sympathetic nervous system affect blood flow and nerve activity.

Type 1 CRPS is the most common kind, developing when there’s no apparent nerve damage. The trigger is usually an injury to the affected arm or leg or an illness like a stroke.

Type 2 CRPS develops after a nerve injury but affects far fewer patients (around 10%).

How is CRPS treated?

Medication sometimes helps patients manage their CRPS by reducing inflammation and pain. The Zephyr Medical team might prescribe:

  • Anti-inflammatory medicine
  • Low-dose antidepressants
  • Anticonvulsants
  • Steroids like cortisone

Many CRPS patients require additional treatments. The Zephyr Medical team uses sympathetic nerve block and stellate ganglion block injections to relieve CRPS pain. These use a local anesthetic that your doctor injects into nerve clusters (like the stellate ganglion) where the CRPS pain originates.

Injections can last for several hours until the anesthetic wears off. In addition, some patients benefit from more than just the temporary relief injections offer because interrupting continual pain can prevent it from returning at the same intensity.

If these treatments aren’t reducing your CRPS symptoms, Zephyr Medical offers state-of-the-art neuromodulation treatment. This involves having an implant under your skin deliver electrical signals to specific nerves, stopping them from getting pain messages to your brain. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation is particularly effective for CRPS.

Call Zephyr Medical today or book an appointment online for expert, caring CRPS diagnosis and treatment.