Airing Pain 94: Complex Regional Pain Syndrome 1 of 2

Experts and sufferers discuss the causes and potential management of CRPS and if it can help us better understand how our bodies react to stimuli

This programme was funded by grants from the RS MacDonald Charitable Trust and The Hospital Saturday Fund.

The first of two programmes on complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS, which can be described as continuous and sometimes debilitating pain that can be confined to one limb, but has been known to spread to other parts of the body. CRPS is poorly understood, and no direct cause has been identified.[1]

In this edition of Airing Pain, Paul Evans speaks to Sunny Boshoff, author of CRPS Awareness: Moving Against Pain, who has had her own experiences with the syndrome, describing the agonising sensations she felt while living with CRPS.

Professor Frank Birklein, head of the Peripheral Nerve Disorders and Pain Research and Treatment at the Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Mainz in Germany is one of the world’s leading authorities on CRPS. He explains the meaning behind the syndrome’s name, what can cause it, and how understanding of the disease has progressed.

Clinical lead for the complex regional pain syndrome service at the Royal United Hospitals in Bath, Professor Candy McCabe, speaks about her experiences of treating people suffering from the disease, how it effects their emotional wellbeing, and the psychological therapies used to help people manage their pain.

Issues covered in this programme include: CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome, chronic primary pain, inflammation, mirror therapy, visual feedback, misconceptions, numbness, nutrition, occupational therapy, the Perfetti technique, post-surgical pain, psychology, relaxation, Rheumatic Disease, swelling and visualisation.

Contributors:

• Sunny Boshoff, author of CRPS Awareness: Moving Against Pain
• Dr Frank Birklein, Head of Peripheral Nerve Disorders and Pain Research and Treatment at the Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Mainz
• Professor Candy McCabe, Clinical Lead for the CRPS service at the Royal Hospitals in Bath and the Florence Nightingale Foundation Chair in Clinical Nursing Practise Research at the University of West England Bristol.

More information:

• NHS Choices CRPS nhs.uk/Conditions/Complex-Regional-Pain-Syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx
• CRPS UK, a patient led organisation for people with CRPS crps-uk.org/
• Burning Nights, increasing awareness of CRPS in the UK and worldwide: burningnightscrps.org/.

[1] From CRPS UK crps-uk.org/what-is-crps/.