EN
esCausalgia
Causalgia is defined as a severe, intense burning pain. Sufferers experience sensitivity when they’re touched or when their skin feels the slightest vibration. It most commonly expresses itself in the hands or feet and is brought about by trauma. While this definition accurately describes what it is, it does little to explain what causalgia pain feels like.
What Does Causalgia Pain Feel like?
When your friends or family ask you what your causalgia pain feels like, how do you answer them? Likely your answer depends on how interested they truly are in your answer and how detailed you want to get.Causalgia is ranked on the Mcgill Pain Index as the worst form of chronic pain that exists today. Usually, you won’t explain all of this to your friends, and so you simply tell them that is the worst pain you have ever felt in your life, and it is constant.
Even if you try to protect your friends and family by telling them that your pain is manageable or that it is not affecting you that much, all they need to do is look in your eyes and they can see for themselves how much you are suffering.
One long time sufferer described causalgia pain like this:
“Imagine that your hand was doused in gasoline and set on fire. The fire was burning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You cannot put the fire out, and you have no idea how long the pain will last. Now imagine that on all four limbs and you have an idea of what causalgia pain is like.”
The burning sensation is just one aspect of causalgia. The second aspect is called allodynia. This is where the affected limbs are sensitive to sound, vibration, or touch.
So imagine that the fire has been put out on your burning limbs, but now they are raw and have no skin. Someone comes along and put salt on them and then scrapes them with sandpaper. That’s allodynia.
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How Causalgia Pain Affects Your Life
How has causalgia pain affect your life? If you are like many causalgia sufferers, the pain has affected your relationships. Some friends may shy away from you, and romantic relationships become difficult, if not impossible.
Things that were once enjoyable, such as trying on new clothes, the touch of a loved one, being outside in the rain, taking a shower, going to a loud movie, the sounds of children playing, and even the wind, now bring agony.
To make matters worse, not all medical professionals understand what causalgia is or how it symptoms affect you. Although medical science has clearly shown that causalgia is a physical disease, some medical professionals still will treat you as if much of the pain is in your head.
If your own doctor doesn’t believe the pain you are in, you may feel like there is no one left you can talk to.
What Causes Causalgia?
- Causalgia is the result of an injury to the peripheral nerves. Your peripheral nerves are the ones that go from your central nervous system to your limbs and organs.
- Causalgia is most often caused by brachial plexus injuries, which are injuries to the nerves that go from your neck to your arms.
- Causalgia disrupts the neural signals leading to pain and an increase in the production of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.
What Are the Symptoms of Causalgia?
- Severe burning in the hands or feet shortly after the injury.
- Sensory stimulation of any kind increases the pain.
- Blood flow may increase or decrease because of the dilation or constriction of blood vessels.
- Causalgia can lead to tapering fingers, coarse hair, hair loss, dry skin, scaly skin, or sweating.
What We Do
We have years of experience helping causalgia sufferers. We understand the physical and emotional pain this horrific disease causes. It’s not in your head. The pain you are experiencing is real.
The pain that each individual experiences is different, and the treatment that they need is also unique to them. For this reason, we work hard to create a customized treatment plan that will meet your needs.
Our plan starts with us listening to you. We want to hear how you feel, and we want to understand your experience. From there, we will work with you to create a long-term and short-term pain relief treatment plan.
After the first consultation, you will walk away knowing the concrete steps we will take together to help manage and if possible remove your pain. You do not have to suffer through causalgia alone. Let us use our considerable experience, training, and resources to help you improve your quality of life and reduce your suffering.