I am a 43 yr old female. I had surgery for my cuboid bone that was not healing from a stress fracture and it got worst. Surgery 6-24-2015. I am a little over 2 months post op. No pins or screws just smoothed out bone and removed bone fragments broken off from bone. I have been going to ortho for post op every 2-3 weeks. Right after surgery for a while I suffered with a burning sensation if anything touched my foot. That is not as bad. I still can not walk long distances without crutches. Ortho sent me to pain dr on Friday. He diagnosed me CRPS. All he did was look and touch my foot (ouch) and my symptoms are. Numbness especially along outside of right foot, pins and needles when touched or when standing or walking. Swell throughout day and bad at night. Very stiff and sensitive to touch ( not severe like pain when sheets touch). Foot feels cold at times but no discoloration. He is doing a nerve block next week and put me on morphine and Lyrica. Does this all sound like a correct diagnosis of CRPS. To me from what I have read it doesn't. All information is welcomed!!!

Hi Julie,

I am so sorry you had to come and find us but you will find good support here. I hope that the meds and nerve block give you some relief. Foot surgery is a challenge to recover from even without CRPS. Whether that is what you have or not I can't say. It does sound suspicious but then again, foot surgery is a bear itself and often takes longer than the docs think it will. You aren't that far out from surgery. If it is CRPS there is hope, the majority of people, 80% according to Cleveland Clinic, recover over time. It takes time and dedication to your rehab and determination to keep trying things until you find what works for you. Compounded topicals or lidocaine may help with the cutaneous pain. Keeping your foot elevated since it's post-op is still important at 8 weeks out. Watch for swelling at the end of the day and maybe look at epsom salt soaks in cool water for that. It's great the burning pain is reducing and you at able to walk some without crutches.

Many of us benefit from the pool. After 3 foot surgeries, the last started the CRPS, I pretty much lived in there and it is where I began to walk again. Going 2+ miles on land now! Keep that foot moving with gentle range of motion and swishing around in the pool even on days you can't do anything else. You WILL make improvements. Ignore the doomsday info on the internet. It is not accurate and wont help your recovery.

I always recommend Dr. Pradeep Chopra's video "CRPS Diagnosis and Management". at 2 hours long it has loads of practical tips on therapies, treatment and supplements. He is highly regarded and a reliable source of info.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3LKhOZ8mAM

Be kind to yourself and come when you have questions, to share, vent or get a virtual hug.
Sending healing love,

Thanks so much for the information. I appreciate it

The signs and symptoms you have described don't meet the criteria for a diagnosis of CRPS. Its a difficult condition to correctly diagnose and it should have taken a lot longer with a far more detailed history taken and more detailed examination done to make such a positive CRPS diagnosis, especially since none of your signs and symptoms are particularly remarkable and you are barely over the surgery itself.

You are only 2 months out from your surgery. That is nothing at all. Pain at this stage wouldn't technically even be diagnosed as chronic pain. All or virtually all of the things you are experiencing could be entirely explained by the normal post-operative healing process or even by a delayed post-operative healing process. Even a delayed healing process doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong - some people are naturally slower to heal and fully recover than others. Sometimes the body will take longer than expected to settle down after the disruption from surgery. In those circumstances, a diagnosis of CRPS is not correct as there must be no other possible reason which could account for the signs and symptoms you have. One issue with CRPS is that all of the individual signs and symptoms it produces are also generated by many other conditions or processes in the body. One of the issues with all of the awareness raising that has gone on even in the time I have had the condition (8 years) is that whilst genuine cases are still being missed, there seems to be an increase in incorrect diagnoses being made.

A cynic might ask whether the diagnosing doctor realises that he can perform additional procedures on you and rake in easy extra cash. If he has diagnosed a post-operative chronic 'condition' with a name this gives him an insurance code to allocate costs to whilst generating himself some nice easy profits. It will be virtually impossible for anyone to ever challenge him because the signs and symptoms of CRPS typically change over time.

You may well want to take the medication as there is no point in suffering neuropathic type pain unnecessarily and it is thought that poor post-operative pain control can contributes to the existence of chronic pain. Do your research on the block and consider the risks v rewards of the block - if nothing goes wrong you will be fine in a few days but there are always risks, however small, with these procedures. The very best thing you can do is to be as normally active as possible - subject to your physio's instructions of course but the worst thing you can do is not to use a limb or to guard it because it is painful. Crack on and do the physio and then get straight back to plenty of normal activity to minimise the risks of future problems.

According to the Budapest Criteria you need 3 of the 4 main Symptoms for a diagnosis of CRPS

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If you don't make progress in the coming weeks, be sure they do adequate work up to rule out any surgical mishaps. I wonder about the numbness you describe. Could that be CRPS, nerves pressed on by post op swelling or a nerve that got nicked or smooshed by scar tissue etc.? it is important to find and address any pain contributors so you can heal whether this is CRPS or ticked off foot. Morphine at 8 weeks out sounds heavy to me for any remotely typical healing spectrum. Obviously your foot hurts like hell for whatever reason.

Hello everyone. I am new to all of this and I am so confused about so much and worried about a lot too. I had surgery on June 24 so I'm 3 months post op. I started right after surgery with nerve pain. My ortho and 2 pm Drs have diagnosed me. My symptoms are burning pain in foot with discoloration and temperature different from opposite foot. I also have pain when walking so I use a knee scooter for walking long distances. The burning pain is not constant but it does happen a lot. This past week I started feeling the pins and needles going up my leg to my calf. I'm hoping it's not spreading. I do swell a lot especially when I'm moving a lot or on my feet.
I am working now 3 days a week in a light duty position but eventually I have to be able to stand 8 hours a day. I'm worried about getting to this goal. I will see my Drs this week and discuss nerve blocks. I'm already in physical therapy and I am planning on to continue it.
My meds that I'm on for CRPS is gabapantin 300mg 3xs day, morphine sulphate er 2xs a day. Morphine sulfate 15mg ir as needed. I am also on other meds too due to having major depressive disorder and severe anxiety. I also have insomnia. So I take a number of meds every day. I was on Lyrica but after 3 weeks I started to get sores in my mouth so I went to gabapantin which makes me sleepy.
Here are my questions
Do you think I will be able to stand for long periods of time as to return to work?
I have a lot of short term memory is that meds or CRPS? I couldn't remember talking to a friend on the phone. I also had forgotten what my left and right was while driving.
What is the recovery time of the nerve block and any other info on it?
I'm sure I have many more questions but I thank yall in advance.

Hi Julie,

I think your post might get lost in here with pictures and am thinking you meant for it to go out generally. I let a moderator know that it may need to be moved so you get enough exposure for meaningful answers.

It is very hard not having a timeline of when you will get better, when you will be able to stand, when you will have less pain. My best advice is to take it day by day. You will make progress but it may not be at the rate your doctors or therapists think it should be and certainly won't be at the rate you want it. Which was yesterday right?

Progress does come, sometimes in tiny baby steps. Keep things gentle on your system. If you swell a lot then having a dependent limb that you stand on 8 hours is Not realistic until things get further along and more settled. Definitely Get in the pool if you can, ask for aquatherapy. It is great for reducing swelling and improving circulation.

I am glad to hear you are in PT, that's a great start. Do all you can without flaring overly and keep up the good work! I can't answer the nerve block question directly but from what I know relief is pretty quick from the anesthetic and then another boost sometimes a bit later as the steroid kicks in. I don't know how long recovery is. Short term memory issues are common, especially in the beginning and are part of your brain being overloaded with nervous system activity. Meds can contribute too. Go easy on yourself and try to note if it is worse after any meds in particular.

hang in there Julie, we're rooting for you and hope you find relief soon,

Memory loss is part of this disease, and being on the type of meds that most of us are on does not help either. Since having memory loss like we have is part of the disease and is not normally a part of who we are, it does take some getting used to it. I hate that it is a part of my life, and still struggle to accept it. Standing is tough for CRPS patients, especially if our CRPS is in the lower limbs. Also, this disease zaps energy and endurance. I know, I tire easily. But hopefully your Physical Therapist can help you with your ability to stand. Please let them know of your concern in that area. So hang in there. All of us are in this thing together. That is why this group is so helpful. We all understand our struggles with this disease and provide one another with a safe place to land.

Julie,

Standing for long periods on my job worsened my symptoms to the point I could barely walk, although at that time I was not diagnosed nor treated for CRPS. Long periods of toughing it out are not beneficial.

What has helped me gain strength to be able to stand for short periods of time is PT and pool walking in a warm pool. The "warm" part is important to success. I found out I freeze up in more than one way if the water is less than 84 degrees. I lost most of yesterday, because I tried to deal with colder water in the morning.

I also know CRPS has made me 10x as anxious as I was before. Even when I am resting/relaxing I am a tight ball of nerves. I swear I can feel myself vibrating.