Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain disorder. CRPS usually begins after trauma such as an injury to the tissue, bone or nerves of your limb (arm or leg). Although the symptoms vary greatly from one person to the next, there is one symptom that all people with CRPS have. Everyone has pain that feels much worse than you would expect for the injury and that continues long after the injury should have healed.
CRPS can make every part of your life more difficult – your family, work and social life. However, there are treatments to help you feel better and cope with the changes in your life. Every person with CRPS responds to treatment in a different way. You may have one or a combination of treatments including physical therapy, medication, and cognitive behavioral therapy. While a small number of people with CRPS are eventually cured, most will need treatment for a long time. The long-term outcome is usually better if your CRPS is diagnosed and treated early.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is an illness that causes widespread muscle pain, tender points, poor sleep, and fatigue. It is called a syndrome because it is a collection of symptoms rather than an actual disease. The cause of FMS is not clear, and it can be hard to diagnose and treat. FMS can affect every aspect of your life – your family, work, and social life.
There are many treatment options that can help you cope with FMS pain and have a higher quality of life. You may have to use one or a combination of treatments including exercise, medication, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Also, learning all you can about FMS is an important part of coping with your symptoms. Work together with your health care provider to find the best treatment for you.
Postherpetic Neuralgia
Postherpetic neuralgia is a painful condition that can follow an episode of shingles. The term comes from the words “post,” meaning after, “herpetic,” referring to herpes zoster (shingles), and “neuralgia,” meaning nerve pain.
Shingles is a recurrence of the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a chickenpox infection, the varicella-zoster virus can remain dormant (asleep) in nerve cells. Years later, the virus may become active again. Researchers do not know exactly what triggers reactivation of the virus.
The reactivated virus travels along the nerves, causing pain and producing a rash or blisters on the skin. The shingles rash and pain usually occur in a band on one side of the back, chest or neck, or in a cluster on one side of the head or face.
Shingles typically goes away within a few weeks, with no lasting effects. Sometimes, however, the shingles virus damages nerves, causing pain and other sensations to linger after the shingles rash has healed. This is referred to as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).
PHN symptoms vary from person to person, but may include significant pain, tingling, numbness or unusual skin sensitivity in the area where the shingles rash occurred. PHN symptoms often lessen over time time, but can last for months or even years.
PHN can affect every aspect of your life – your relationships, work and leisure activities. Fortunately, you can take steps to help you feel better and manage your symptoms. You may benefit from one or a combination of treatments, including physical therapy, medication, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Your health care provider can help you design a treatment plan that works for you.
Orofacial Pain
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is also called the jaw joint. It allows you to open and shut your mouth and move your jaw from side-to-side and back and forth. The jaw muscles around the TMJ help you to chew. Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) describes a group of conditions that affect the TMJ and chewing muscles. People with TMD may have symptoms including head and ear aches, pain with chewing, talking and yawning and popping or clicking sounds with jaw movement.
Most people with TMD have symptoms that come and go over time and can be self-managed at home. However, about 5% of people with TMD have more severe symptoms and will need treatment by a medical or dental provider.
Patients in hospices and nursing homes are suffering needlessly because they cannot get pain medicines, medical care professionals say. The issue: A combination of regulatory changes, manufacturing snags and physicians’ reluctance to prescribe the drugs in light of a growing number of abuses of opioid painkillers, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.