Have you ever heard of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome? I only knew about it when I was diagnosed with that condition. It started when I broke my foot.

The actual cause of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS is unknown but it is related to the sympathetic nervous system. This system includes the areas along the spinal cord. It also controls the opening and the closing of your blood vessels and sweat glands. CRPS also goes by the following names: Causalgia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome or RDDS, Sudeck’s Atrophy and Shoulder-hand syndrome. As for the last one, it does hit the shoulders and the hands as well as the feet. (more…)