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Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) affects millions of people worldwide. The disease causes patients to suffer from constant chronic pain after minor trauma or surgery. The purpose of this book is to share the stories of how CRPS impacts the lives of patients. We hope that these stories will enlighten how CRPS disrupts the patient's life on many levels, from having family issues, social issues, financial distress, and how the medical community treats these patients. It is our hope this book will help educate the public, the medical community, and promote more awareness about CRPS.

Imagine if the mere breeze of an air conditioner were to send you into excruciating pain. For those suffering from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), historically called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), this crippling neuropathic pain is an unrelenting reality. With symptoms such as swelling, hypersensitivity, stiffness, burning pain, and temperature abnormalities, CRPS can develop at any time and quickly leaves its victims disabled and isolated. This book explains CRPS in an accessible style, featuring modern self-help techniques, complementary therapies, and holistic strategies for maximizing the potential for healing. Readers with CRPS will find a wealth of tips on life modifications to help better manage their condition, along with a list of "dynamite distractions" to refresh the pain-wracked mind and help them rediscover their imagination and humor. Patient testimonies on techniques for transforming the pain and discomfort of CRPS provide hope, and interviews with practitioners, including pain specialist Edward Carden and occupational therapist/neurological acupuncturist Sheri Barnes, offer insights every patient should know. There's even a chapter addressed to loved ones with advice for their difficult roles as encouragers and caregivers. CRPS remains a mysterious, poorly understood condition. This book provides the information and positive options everyone affected by CRPS needs.

Combining theoretical and practical aspects of pain, from basic scientific concepts to specific strategies of therapeutic management, this book serves as a guide to current concepts of pain and should appeal to both clinicians and researchers.

The most misunderstood and complex subject in medicine is the hyperpathic pain of sympathetic dystrophy. More common than previously thought, it comprises between 10 and 20 percent of chronic pain patients. Understanding this self-perpetuating pain -- which ""never stops"" -- requires unbiased knowledge of physiology and pathology. Chronic Pain: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Prevention, and Management is devoted to the subject of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). The book classifies the different stages of RSD and describes the qualitative and quantitative differences between natural endorphins and synthetic narcotics. Included are long-term follow-ups on sympathectomy patients. This important reference explains why sympathectomy fails, but nerve block and physiotherapy is successful in the treatment of RSD. In addition, the mechanism of development of RSD is clarified through an extensive collection of drawings and anatomical pictures as well. Other topics include thermographic methods for the diagnosis of RSD, the role of ACTH in the management of chronic pain, and comparisons between the effects of ACTH and those of corticosteroids. Features Classifies the different stages of RSD Features the most comprehensive coverage of the literature on RSD and its related aspects Describes qualitative and quantitative differences between natural endorphins and systemic narcotics Examines the role of ACTH in the management of chronic pain Clarifies the mechanism of development of RSD through an extensive collection of drawings and anatomical pictures Explains why sympathectomy fails, but nerve block and physiotherapy is successful in the treatment of RSD

This book provides an up-to date, extensive, and focused review of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). It reflects the current scientific understanding of the disorder, describes appropriate treatment recommendations, and explores future directions of diagnosis and treatment. Divided into three sections, the first section covers the etiology and pathology of CRPS. The following section offers treatments and emerging advances in evaluation and/or treatment. The book then closes with an exploration of varying patient populations. Each chapter is authored by specialists experienced with CRPS research and treatment. Additionally, the review and recommendations provided reflect careful consideration of evidence-based medicine and medical consensus guidelines. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome targets a range of healthcare specialties including pain management, rheumatology, neurology, internal medicine, and family practice.

Complex regional pain syndrome is a medically and economically significant condition that is disproportionate to the inciting event. Until now, it has been difficult to make the diagnosis, but this volume presents validated diagnostic criteria for the condition. Treatment for the condition has been hampered by the lack of good clinical evidence. This volume summarizes all reported treatments and evaluates the scientific evidence for each. A treatment algorithm is presented. This is a text that will be invaluable for the clinician, and for all those who address the issues of CRPS in the medical, rehabilitation, public health, or medicolegal fields.

As many as eight million people worldwide suffer from reflex sympathetic pain syndrome/chronic regional pain syndrome (RSD/CRPS). Many have not been diagnosed, even though the pain they experience can be severe, debilitating, and life-changing. As Dr. Katinka van der Merwe, DC, QNP, reveals in Putting Out the Fire, RSD/CRPS was first documented during the Civil War. It took physicians many decades to understand the subtleties of the disease, and research is still moving forward. Dr. Van der Merwe is at the forefront of new treatments to relieve pain. Van der Merwe helps readers understand the myriad symptoms associated with RSD/CRPS and explains how the syndrome stems from a malfunction in the central nervous system. In addition to providing background and research on RSD/CRPS, Van der Merwe includes her revolutionary Four-Punch System treatment technique. She uses her expertise in Vagus Nerve awakening, Quantum Neurology nerve rehabilitation, frequency-specific microcurrent, and the VECTTOR Therapy System to compressively treat pain at its source. Not only must RSD/CRPS sufferers deal with the chronic, constant pain, but they often have anxiety, depression, and frustration about their condition. Van der Merwe understands this and gives readers hope for a brighter future.

Cher developed RSD / CRPS and is NOW PAIN - FREE!RSD, A CURE for ME tells the story of Cher's personal injury and how she healed herself, when others couldn't!She DISCOVERED HER OWN WAY OUT OF THE PAIN . . . AFTER 6 YEARS OF DAILY SUFFERING!(For those who don't know: )The pain of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) / Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)ranks 42 out of a possible 50 on the world-wide-pain-determining-evaluator: The McGill Pain Index.Doctor, after doctor, recommended Cher "Learn to live with the pain." But, this patient searched almost every day of those six years and DISCOVERED HOW TO HEAL HERSELF!Take a look and see her journey into wellness, in spite of all odds.Explore for yourself, her explanations about "HOW" and "WHY" she and other people develop RSD/CRPS.She also shares the struggles and stories of a child and other women and men who contracted this dis-ease. Read about all their trials using various medications, procedures, and aids. Far too many patients are improperly diagnosed, and others are given the wrong medications to help them! Cher addresses another big problem of RSD/CRPS patients: How To Stay an ACTIVE MEMBER OF LIFE, while trying to heal. She tells about her hits and misses and ways she overcame her despair and depression.She fought every day to WIN HER BATTLE AGAINST RSD/CRPS -- and SHE DID!

This manual captures and summarizes the key elements in management of groin pain, including relevant anatomy, etiologies, diagnostic evaluation tools, imaging, detailed pharmacologic options, interventional modalities and options for operative remediation. The manual separately addresses the management of intrinsic groin pain due to primary disease processes and secondary groin pain due to a prior operation. Current practices, trends in the field, treatment approaches and controversies are addressed. While the primary audience of this book will be general surgeons performing hernia operations and pain management specialists to whom they refer, the SAGES Manual of Groin Pain will serve as a stand alone state-of-the-art resource for all providers who deal with this diagnosis, including primary care providers, sports medicine specialists, gynecologists, urologists, orthopedists, neurologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, radiologists, physical therapists, industry personnel and importantly, patients who suffer from groin pain who have copious access to health information, but without the filtering, expertise and context provided by the contributors to this manual. This volume also uniquely provides its audience with narrative first-person accounts of some of the most common and challenging causes of pain, so that others can learn from their presentation, pitfalls, successes and failures. The expertise compiled in this manual will give the readership a pragmatic foundation to optimize the diagnosis and management of our patients with this challenging problem.