Complex Regional Pain Syndrome- What To Do About It

By Dr. David Brady This blog was initially titled Complex Regional Pain Syndrome- What Is It And What To Do About It. It was featured on Fibrofix. To learn more about Dr. Brady, you can click here. Here, Dr. Brady writes about what Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is and how to approach it. Chronic pain affects more individuals than diabetes, cancer, and heart disease combined and yet its origins can be so elusive that an accurate diagnosis of a chronic pain syndrome can be difficult. Determining precisely what you are experiencing and identifying the cause of those specific symptoms is undoubtedly important to unweave the complexity of chronic pain syndromes and find the treatment approach that best addresses your specific…
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Quotes and Mantras To Help People With CRPS

 By Samantha Anderson Everyone has bad days. They are inevitable. Bad days are what make good days feel amazing. It can feel incredibly difficult to get through some bad days, particularly if pain is high on those days. We all need something to pull us through and remind us that things get better and that we are strong than we believe. Take a look through some of the quotes that we found helpful for bad days with CRPS. Consider printing out this list or taking your favorite one and writing it out to hang up on your mirror so you see it every morning. Quotes: For the moments when things just are not going right: “Keep your face to the…
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Combating a CRPS Winter With Music

By Samantha Anderson Getting through cold, dark winters can be difficult for anyone. With CRPS, we understand that there can be more complications. As someone with CRPS, I've fought through some of the darkness of winter with music. Get on board with me and see what my recommendations are to get you through to Spring! Winter can be incredibly difficult for people with CRPS. All through the United States, we’ve been facing some crazy weather. There has been snow in places that it doesn’t snow, temperatures lower than Alaska in the Northeast, and overall low temperatures all over the country. This weather can make us feel less than stellar. With snow and ice, it can be hard to get around,…
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Top 5 Clothing Brands for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

By Samantha Anderson Fashion and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome don't always walk hand in hand. Trying to find clothing that is comfortable can be a task. This article features primarily women's clothing brands (although some fit both), but stay tuned for a men's clothing article! Finding comfortable clothing can be a hassle for every day people. Adding Complex Regional Pain Syndrome into the equation can complicate matters even more. Every person with CRPS is so different. Some people need clothing that does not move around very much and stays close to the skin, as the movement of the fabric causes pain. Others cannot wear tight clothing and need things that are more flowy so they are not restricted and there…
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When It Gets Cold- Activities To Do With CRPS

By Samantha Anderson Winter has arrived and is hitting many areas of this country hard. Temperatures are low, snow is coming, and many people with CRPS are trying to figure out how they can stay entertained without further aggravating their CRPS. For many people with CRPS, winter is not a friend of theirs. Cold air and storms can make pain levels go up and can really put a damper on someone’s day. It can be a quite unfortunate occurrence, especially for anyone that loved to play in the snow pre-CRPS. Snowy weather and storms do not have to mean that the fun ends. There are indoor activities that you can do to keep yourself entertained this winter (and during any…
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A New Year With CRPS, A New Start

By Samantha Anderson 2018 is coming up quickly. With a new year, everyone is thinking of restarting and having a better year. For those of us with CRPS, we're looking for hope while also looking to improve our lives through a new years resolution. Let's talk about the changes we can make. There are typically two types of people in this world. There are those that boast “New Year, new me” at the strike of midnight on January 1, and then there are those that roll their eyes and say that a new year is only a change of numbers. I, for one, am in between those people. I’m not an optimist and I’m not a pessimist. I like think…
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Using Somatosensory Rehabilitation to Treat Allodynia

By Guest Blogger Tara Packham, Ph.D., OTReg (Ont). @TaraLPackham Postdoctoral fellow, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Reearch and Care. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada Allodynia is formally defined as a painful response to a stimulus that does not normally produce pain.  This includes painful feelings in response to 1) light touch such as a caress, or the stroke of a cotton ball; 2) temperatures that would normally be comfortable (like cool water from the tap, or the warmth from a mug of coffee); or 3) gentle pressure, like wearing a sock or a bra.  In the Budapest criteria for complex regional pain syndrome, allodynia is considered both a sign (something that can be measured) and a symptom (something the…
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15 Tips For Healthcare Providers Treating CRPS/RSD

By Guest Blogger Melissa Wardlaw As a patient with CRPS/RSD, I am lucky to have a pain-management physician I have been partnered with since 2004 whom I trust, who trusts me and who understands my complex medical issues. As I have visited many physicians and other specialists on my medical journey before and after partnering with him, clearly this hasn’t always been the case! Recently I spoke to an audience of healthcare professionals at a healthcare conference, and left them with this takeaway of some helpful treatment tips I have comprised in all my years as a CRPS/RSD, chronic illness & pain patient. 1. Patients with CRPS/RSD are on individual journeys and every patient is different! Even though most patients…
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Bonus Blog- The Young Chronicle: Ophelia

By Ashley Epping Ophelia is a 19-year-old who developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome at only nine years old, is from Ontario Canada and uses the pronouns they/them/their. They were originally told by a doctor that they were only experiencing growing pains. They reflected on the experience saying “I always knew it was not growing pains because growing pains do not put you in a wheelchair”. Ophelia’s pain started in both knees and has now spread to their entire body. In 2013 they went into remission after a stay at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in their chronic pain program; but the pain returned a year later and it came back full force.   Currently Ophelia spends a lot of time…
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CRPS Awareness Day 30: Awareness Must Become Our 365 Day Activity

By Jim Broatch, MSW, Executive Vice President, Director RSDSA Executive Vice President and Director of RSDSA, Jim Broatch, details why it is crucial that we continue our CRPS awareness efforts beyond November. Awareness is a 365-day effort that we must push forward with in order to make positive change in the world of chronic pain. First, a standing ovation for all who participated in the fourth Annual Color the World Orange (please visit their page by clicking here). It was an outstanding success and is growing exponentially each year. Billboards in Times Square, New York were just one of more than 100 locations in six countries that turned orange for Color The World Orange. Other locations included Niagara Falls and…
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