What You Should Know about Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Injuries after a motor vehicle accident or slip-and-fall may be obvious immediately after the accident. However, some conditions caused by an accident take longer to appear, and may take years to resolve. One condition that can arise after or even as the result of treatment of an injury is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Read on for more information about this disease, and contact a California personal injury lawyer if you’ve been diagnosed with this condition.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome–also known as CRPS—is a condition that is sometimes diagnosed among victims of traumatic injuries. Victims experience chronic pain, often constantly, in a single extremity or limb. The pain is often caused by damage to individual nerves or the nervous system.
There are two forms of CRPS:
CRPS-I: This condition used to be known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, or RSD. Patients will receive this diagnosis when they appear to suffer from CRPS but have no known nerve damage.
CRPS-II: Formerly known as Causalgia, this illness is diagnosed where the patient has received a diagnosis of nerve damage in the area neighboring the site of the pain.
CRPS Symptoms
The primary symptom of CRPS is the severe pain suffered by the patient, often described as a squeezing, burning, or pins-and-needles sensation by the victim. Pain often spreads from the site of the injury to the nearby area, for example expanding to the whole hand from a single finger. Doctors can identify and diagnose cases of CRPS as being different from other chronic pain condition when assorted other symptoms are present, such as:
The skin at the site of the pain is stretched thin and is shiny
The hair or nail growth at the site of the injury is abnormal
Patients experience extreme pain at even the slightest skin contact at the injury site, a condition known as allodynia
The pain travels to the opposite extremity or limb
The affected area is a different color or temperature than the surrounding area, or the area is swollen, due to nerve damage that has affected temperature regulation and blood flow to the area
When CRPS arose out of an injury accident for which another person or company is responsible, accident victims may have a right to damages for both the original injury and the costs of treating CRPS. Contact an attorney to find out if you’re a good candidate to file a lawsuit for your injuries.
If you’ve been hurt in a personal injury accident in Southern California, contact the seasoned, knowledgeable, and effective Los Angeles personal injury lawyers at Magaña, Cathcart & McCarthy for a consultation, at 310-553-6630.
