How to treat an intense pain condition? This Web chat Wednesday can offer some help

Complex regional pain syndrome doesn’t turn up on most people’s radar unless they or someone they know has the condition. Even so, CRPS, as its called, can lead to continuous, intense pain with no specific cause. A pain expert can explain further and offer some advice on treatment.

Dr. Paul Christo, a pain medication specialist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, will be the guest on a live Web chat Wednesday (noon EST, 11 a.m. CST, 9 a.m. PST) to discuss the condition often characterized by intense or burning pain, usually in the arms, hands, legs or feet. Christo will discuss the nature of the condition and the latest thoughts on treatment.

The National Institutes of Health describes the symptoms of CRPS this way:

“The key symptom of CRPS is continuous, intense pain out of proportion to the severity of the injury (if an injury has occurred), which gets worse rather than better over time. CRPS most often affects one of the extremities (arms, legs, hands, or feet) and is also often accompanied by:

-”burning” pain;
-increased skin sensitivity;
-changes in skin temperature: warmer or cooler compared with the opposite extremity;
-changes in skin color: often blotchy, purple, pale, or red;
-changes in skin texture: shiny and thin, and sometimes excessively sweaty;
-changes in nail and hair growth patterns;
-swelling and stiffness in affected joints; and -motor disability, with decreased ability to move the affected body part.”

The condition clearly can be debilitating. Join the online discussion to better understand CRPS and ask a question or two.