CRPS, TYPE I AND TYPE II, RSDS – WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT TODAY?
There has been some confusion surrounding the two different name for our disease; CRPS and RSDS, so we thought we should try to clear it up.
– Is there a difference between CRPS and RSDS? What are the differences between CRPS and RSDS?
– Between CRPS Type 1 and Type 2?
One Doctor tells me “You have RSD” while another says, “No, it is CRPS.”, and a third tells me “They are the same thing.” Now I am totally confused. Which is the right term? Why is a there a CRPS Type I and CRPS Type II, and what is the difference between those two?
It actually is quite simple and it should have all changed a number of years ago but there are still some physicians out there who cling to the old terminology and they are making it difficult for everyone to simply move on.
COMPLEX REGIONAL PAIN SYNDROME
CRPS, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, was introduced to the lexicon in 1994 by the IASP.
CRPS TYPE I (one), until recently, is what has always been known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, RSDS or classic RSD. It involves soft tissue injuries such as burns, sprains, strains, tears, and most of the medical issues that end in “itis” (bursitis, arthritis, and tendonitis to name a few). It can involve minor nerve injury. On this website, and most places on the internet and in the medical community it is now referred to as CRPS.
note – New research done in 2006 by Dr Anne Louise Oaklander’s team at Massachusetts General Hospital may have revealed the presence of small-fiber nerve damage in nearly all the CRPS Type I cases they studied. For more on this see question number 14 here
CRPS TYPE II (two) involves damage to a major nerve. It used to be called Causalgia. CRPS Type II also involves a clearly defined nerve injury. This is not always true of Type I where the source of the injury is not always known.
So gradually everyone, Doctors, the medical community and patients, switched over to the new terminology, CRPS Types I and II.
READ ALSO – RSD OR CRPS? I STILL WANT TO CALL IT REFLEX SYMPATHETIC DYSTROPHY!!!
A Blog Post By Keith Orsini – (scroll down to the post on March 16, 2014 )
Here are some excerpts;
“Some people are still clinging to the old designation “RSD” with the last few ounces of strength in their body and refuse to make the change. Well, guess what? You just don’t have a choice.
It’s kind of like when you work with children in the school system and it is time to read. They will invariably tell you, “But I don’t want to read.”
“Well guess what? You don’t have a choice here kiddo ;-)”.
and
“But It’s what I am used to and I prefer that name to CRPS! “
I can understand wanting to stick to the old name. We all got used to saying “RSD”, we started to get some traction with the public with that name, it also sounded a lot better than CRPS sounds. That sounds like, “Hey I have craps!” Who wants to say they have craps? Yuck!
But because any of us, you, me, anyone who deals with CRPS patients, must help them, we must use the correct and current terminology.”
Check out the rest of the article on Keith’s Blog – “Pain is a Four Letter Word”