A chronic injury to your hand can be overwhelming. The immediate pain and disability with the acute injury can be explained, but what if it is ongoing. This is a difficult problem to treat, and even harder to live with.
Chronic pain, complex regional pain syndrome, CRPS, RSI, reflex sympathetic dystrophy are all different names for the same problem. There are multiple causes and risk factors for developing chronic pain, and we are becoming better at identifying these early. The adage “prevention is better than a cure” rings very true in this situation. All our evidence and research supports the prevention of CRPS and early identification of risk factors. Largely this is because the treatment does not have a high success rate, or reproducibility between patients.
The psychological impact of an injury cannot be underestimated, and this can have a huge bearing on the development of chronic pain syndromes. Having the motivation to improve and regain some normal function is so important. Even seeing small steps in the right direction can be enough to turn the corner away from chronic pain, towards a pain free return to function.
For more information on chronic pain or complex regional pain syndrome, please visit these links :