The title of this post is somewhat misleading, I’ll admit. There’s not really anything ‘new’ in neuropathic pain. What is new, though, is a just-published medical journal article.
It first caught my eye because this article is presented as a “Disease Primer” for physicians and others. The disease being… wait for it… “Neuropathic Pain”.
Because I live with a neuropathic pain condition, I was very interested to see that the article specifically mentions this disease; Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Not only once, but several times.
I know that many of you, reading this blog, don’t have access to medical journals, so I’ll provide some highlights. First off, the article provides a quick description of CRPS:
Also known as causalgia and reflex sympathetic dystrophy, complex regional pain syndromes are conditions that are characterized by the presence of chronic, intense pain (often in one arm, leg, hand or foot) that worsens over time and spreads in the affected area.”(1)
This is one of the things that differentiates CRPS from many other chronic pain conditions; the fact that it gets worse – not better- over time.
The authors explain that CRPS is one of several “Painful focal peripheral disorders” which are generally “caused by pathological processes that involve one or more peripheral nerves or nerve roots”.(1)
Next, this article provides some general comments on all types of neuropathic pain conditions combined; for instance that:
The burden of chronic neuropathic pain seems to be related to the complexity of neuropathic symptoms, poor outcomes and difficult treatment decisions.”(1)
In plain English, they’ve found that the patients who are most affected by chronic pain are those with:
- The most complex symptoms;
- The worst outcomes, including not only pain severity but also how much the pain condition affects their mental health, relationships, work, and overall quality of life; and
- Very few effective treatment options
This resonates with me, from a a purely common sense approach. It makes sense that a patient with more symptoms, worse treatment options (if any), and more severe symptoms and life impacts of a disease will be more affected by their disease than another patient who is doing better on all fronts!
Chronic neuropathic diseases and disorders are very difficult to treat, and leave patients often still suffering, often despite having tried many different treatments:
Importantly, quality of life is impaired in patients with neuropathic pain owing to increased drug prescriptions and visits to health care providers, as well as… the pain itself.”(1)
And the overall impact of these conditions is more severe than for other types of pain:
quality of life is more impaired in patients with chronic neuropathic pain than in those with chronic non-neuropathic pain that does not come from damaged or irritated nerves”.(1)
In summary – according to this medical journal article – patients with chronic neuropathic pain diseases, including CRPS:
typically experience a distinct set of symptoms, such as burning and electrical-like sensations, and pain resulting from non-painful stimulations (such as light touching); the symptoms persist and have a tendency to become chronic and respond less to pain medications.”(1)
Again, a distinguishing feature of chronic neuropathic pain disorders is that tend to get worse over time, while most other types of pain conditions are expected to improve as time goes on.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by the blog. I hope you found this post helpful, and that you have a happy day ‘-)
Reference
(1) Luana Colloca, Taylor Ludman, Didier Bouhassira, Ralf Baron, Anthony H. Dickenson, David Yarnitsky, Roy Freeman, Andrea Truini, Nadine Attal, Nanna B. Finnerup, Christopher Eccleston, Eija Kalso, David L. Bennett, Robert H. Dworkin, and Srinivasa N. Raja. Neuropathic pain. Nature Review Disease Primers (3: 17002). 16 Feb 2017. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2017.2. Web:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5371025/#__ffn_sectitle