A mystery condition that causes extreme pain among sufferers has baffled doctors and researchers, who can find neither its cause nor its cure.
Sufferers of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) wake up one morning to debilitating pain that does not go away.
The condition usually affects the arms, legs, hands or feet and sometimes occurs after an injury as minor as a bruise, but often appears without any identified trauma.
Chronic pain: People with CRPS experience constant or intermittent changes in temperature, skin color, and swelling of the affected limb
Vicious cycle: CRPS is caused by nerves sending the brain constant pain signals
Alexandra Annaloro, 21, was struck by the condition in her right leg. It has left her so debilitated that she can't walk for longer than 10 minutes.
Sometimes, the pain is so bad that her leg shakes uncontrollably.
'There’s days that I cry a lot. It’s hard,' she told CBS.
With no clear cause, it's difficult to diagnose, but doctors do know that CRPS is a condition of the nervous system. It causes nerves to begin sending constant pain signals to the brain.
Daily battle: Alexandra Annaloro (left) and Daphne Cuebas (right) both suffer from CRPS
The illness is difficult to manage and often does not respond to any kind of treatment plan. It generally worsens over time and can spread to other areas of the body.
Excruciating: According to the McGill Pain Index Chart, CRPS causes pain worse that childbirth
On the McGill Pain Index, a chart that doctors use to measure their patients' pain levels, the condition ranks extremely highly, receiving a score of 42 out of 50, higher than both childbirth and amputation.
The mystery illness can strike anyone, anywhere at any time. Children as young as two have been diagnosed with the condition, and women are four times more likely to suffer from it than men.
Dealing with so much pain makes life difficult for suffers, and for some, it all becomes too much.
'I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t function,' suffer Daphne Cuebas told CBS.
'I actually thought of ending my life. It came to that extreme.'
There are many different treatments currently being used with varying levels of success, including intramuscular botox injections, spinal cord stimulators and various forms of psychotherapy and hypnosis.
For Cuebas, a device surgically implanted into her side delivers morphine directly to her knee and has given her relief for the first time since she developed the condition 14 years ago.
Researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are studying new approaches to treating the illness, but the consensus is that early treatment - within three months of developing symptoms - is the most effective.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509102/Mystery-syndrome-causes-pain-worse-childbirth-AND-amputation-thats-baffling-docs.html#ixzz2l0v4omiY
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