Chronic Pain Syndrome Symptoms

Chronic Pain Syndrome, or CPS, is a common problem that presents a major challenge to healthcare providers because of its complex natural ... Most physicians will consider pain that is ongoing and lasting longer than six months as meeting the diagnostic criteria for chronic pain syndrome, while others use three months as the minimum criterion for a diagnosis.

Chronic Pain Syndrome symptoms are varied and include
Part of the reason it can be difficult to pinpoint Chronic Pain Syndrome symptoms is because a person may have two or more co-existing chronic pain conditions. Such conditions can include chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, and fibromyalgia, among others.

The most obvious chronic pain syndrome symptom is pain that is unrelenting. Chronic means that the pain persists over a long period of time and pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, and sometimes, even years. There may have been an initial injury or infection, but that is not always the case. Chronic pain syndrome symptoms include pain that can be described as shooting, burning, aching, or electrical and can include discomfort, soreness, tightness, or stiffness.

One of the symptoms that often appear with chronic pain syndrome include difficulty sleeping. It becomes problematic because the person cannot sleep during the night and the next day, he or she is exhausted, which can lead to irritability, depression, and pain. Researchers have called the problem the "terrible triad" of suffering, sleeplessness, and sadness and can become chronic pain syndrome symptoms.

There are some conditions that can be confused with chronic pain syndrome, especially Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type I, or CRSD. CRSD is a chronic neurological syndrome that is similar to chronic pain syndrome. These symptoms, however, are characterized by severe burning pain, changes in bone and skin, excessive sweating; tissue swelling, and extreme sensitivity to light touch.