Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or RSD (also now referred to as Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, Type 1 [CRPS]) was first described during the Civil War. The primary event that evokes the symptoms of CRPS involves an injury to a nerve or group of nerves. Many cases of CRPS begin after a bone injury, such as an arm or leg fracture. Some cases of CRPS however, follow no specific injury at all.

The symptoms of early CRPS include a burning sensation in a limb, abnormal sweating, or numbness and/or a tingling sensation in the limb. Additional signs of this condition are loss of strength in a limb, or a noticeable decrease in muscle size, loss of hair, skin that appears shiny, a change in skin color, and coolness in the affected area. We also believe that it may be critically important to treat CRPS early, with little delay. Early treatment may be able to stop these symptoms entirely, or at minimum offer significant short and long-term relief. Severe cases of CRPS include symptoms almost anywhere in the body but most frequently in an arm or a leg. Affected limbs are often weak and cold and are burning all the time. This can be quite a disturbing, painful, and disabling disease process.