Pain Turned Up to 11

An introduction to the nasty Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), and how to treat it.  

HEALTH WATCH : Robin Bousquet 

Brady was a local goalie on her club soccer team. After an ankle sprain, she noticed that the pain in her foot and lower leg was not resolving, but getting worse. She self-described the pain as, “burning, stabbing, and unbearable”. She rated it as an 11 on a pain scale in which 10 is the most painful and said, “there are thousands of knives digging into my leg and twisting while it is on fire.”

She no longer could walk, touch, or use her leg. 

In 1864, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) was first noted in adults in the medical literature, but the first mention of children with the disorder was not until 1971.  

There are 2 types of CRPS:

Type 1: Usually in girls 8-16 years old (70-90 percent) and mostly in the lower extremity (5:1 ratio) without a definable nerve injury involvement.

Type 2: Can be equal in boys and girls and occurs in cases where an identifiable nerve injury is present. 

Both Types have similar symptoms:

>> Pain that is out-of-proportion to the initial injury present.

Check out the rest of the article in our digital edition of SportStars Magazine: Pain Turned Up to 11