Colossal pain. Mammoth swelling. Hypersensitivity. Drastic changes in body temperature. Imagine being in that kind of pain all the time. Frankly, it sounds a little like a nightmare.
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Well, for numerous people, including Laura Phillips, that pain is no nightmare—it’s reality.
CRPS, or complex regional pain syndrome, is a progressive disease that impacts fight or flight nerve fibers, which causes pain. Like, immense amounts of pain.
Normally, people rate pain on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst or most severe. However, with CRPS, people begin ranking pain at 11 and it can span up to 50. Can you even imagine what pain ranking at 50 must feel like!?
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Phillips can relate. Over time, pain has spread throughout her body; her hand stays cold 100-percent of the time, she experiences swelling and describes it as if she’s experiencing fire and ice at the same time.
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Unfortunately, there are no FDA-approved medications to help manage symptoms. The only way to treat CRPS is to simply manage the pain with remedies like heat therapy or pain meds—none of which are permanent fixes. For Phillips, who has been in constant pain for years, additional treatment options could make a world of difference. In fact, she’s hopeful that new medications could one day make their way to the market. And maybe, just maybe, she’s in luck.
Clinical studies are being conducted in Seattle for NERIXIA ® (neridronate), a medicine that could be the first to effectively reduce the debilitating pain associated with CRPS. It currently awaits FDA approval, but has recently been approved in Italy. Cross your fingers, folks; this medication could be the key.
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To learn more about Laura Phillips, click here.
CRPS Resources:
- National (United States) Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Fact Sheet
- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA)
- International Research Consortium for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
