An Experimental Treatment for Chronic Pain
When you first go to the emergency room after sustaining an acute injury, it is not always easy to tell whether, a year from now, this day will be a funny story you can tell at parties or the dreaded moment that separated the previous times from your painful new normal. The injuries that resolve completely in a short time and the ones that cause chronic pain, defined as pain that bothers you every day for at least three months, look surprisingly similar on diagnostic images. Pain doesn’t look like anything; it is a series of invisible signals exchanged between your brain and the nerves of the affected body part. It is one person’s word against another’s how severe a patient’s pain is; the pain scale is a subjective measure. If doctors can only know how much pain you feel based on what you say, this is just one reason why pain is so hard to treat and why recovering damages for the treatment of chronic pain in a personal injury claim can be so challenging. A new treatment offers promise for people living with chronic pain, but it is still in its experimental stages. If you are experiencing chronic pain from an accidental injury caused by someone else’s negligence, contact a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney.
What Is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a painful condition that develops as a result of an acute injury to the knee, ankle, elbow, or wrist. Its cause could be damage to the nerves in the affected body part or even just the brain’s excessive response to the acute injury. Its symptoms are pain and abnormal sensations in the hand or foot nearest to the acute injury, which could be surgery or a traumatic bone fracture resulting from an accident or assault. In addition to pain, you might feel numbness or hot or cold sensations in the affected body part, and there might be changes in skin color or texture and hair growth. CRPS usually resolves on its own as the nerves heal, but it takes a long time.
How Could a Brain-Stimulating Implant Help?
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have fitted several patients with brain implants that apply deep brain stimulation as a treatment for CRPS and other chronic pain conditions. These brain implants work similarly to those used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and the idea behind them is similar to that behind the spinal cord stimulating implants used by some patients with spinal cord injury. Right now, treating chronic pain is a matter of trial and error; many patients try nerve block injections, narcotic medications, and even surgeries before they find relief.
Set Up a Consultation Today
A personal injury lawyer can help you recover compensation for your medical bills after an accident that continues to cause chronic pain, even though you have tried many different treatments. Contact Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or call 954-566-9919 to explore your potential recovery options today.
Source:
cnn.com/2025/09/07/health/pain-management-brain
