Scottsdale Ketamine Clinic
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Ahwatukee Ketamine Clinic and Drip Lounge
Located in Phoenix, AZ
CRPS, which affects thousands of people in the US, is known as one of the most painful diseases. Those who have the disease have to live with intense chronic pain that is not responsive to painkillers and can be difficult to treat.
Ketamine, while not a new medication, has gained a new use as a tool to help with the chronic pain associated with complex regional pain syndrome. At Ahwatukee Ketamine Clinic and Drip Lounge, we offer ketamine infusion therapy for patients who are suffering from CRPS disease.
CRPS disease is a rare pain disease that can occur to anyone at any time, generally after a surgery or an injury. It is most commonly found in the arm or leg that has been injured, but it can spread to other parts of the body. For individuals who have a more advanced form of the disease, it can spread to internal organs as well as other limbs.
The pain from CRPS disease persists long after the injury heals, and is much more severe than the pain from the original injury. Individuals with this disease describe the pain as feeling like their limb is being dipped in hot oil or being set on fire.
While not everything is understood about complex regional pain syndrome, it is thought to be caused by a combination of nerves that are firing pain signals continuously without cause as well as inflammation in the nerve cells. When CRPS is triggered by an injury, the injury heals but the inflammation and pain signals don’t resolve and the body will register even a light touch as causing severe pain.
While intense, burning pain is the main symptom of complex regional pain syndrome, other symptoms can also be present. Many individuals with this disease experience the following:
While more knowledge is being gained about CRPS, treatment has focused on pain management. If you have CRPS, you may have already tried common treatments such as opioids or other pain medication, physical therapy, nerve blockers, and neuromodulation. While these treatments can help, there are many people who still do not respond to these treatments. Ketamine may be a good solution for those who have not found relief from their CRPS.
Ketamine is a medication that has been around for half a century. It has traditionally been used as a general anesthetic during operations. However, because of its receptor-blocking properties, it has more recently been used off-label as a CRPS treatment and a solution for other types of chronic pain.
When used in carefully controlled dosages administered by a physician and an anesthesiologist, a Ketamine infusion can block the NMDA receptors which play a role in certain types of chronic pain. One of the roles of ketamine for CRPS is to give your body a break from the firing of these neurotransmitters so that your body can reset and your brain can start to form new neural pathways.
Another important role of Ketamine for CRPS is helping you work through the significant mental burden that you can have from suffering from CRPS. Living with excruciating pain 24/7 can lead to psychological symptoms such as depression, stress, and PTSD. An increase in depression and stress can often cause physical symptoms to become worse. This difficult cycle is something that ketamine infusion therapy can help with.
A ketamine infusion can increase glutamate production in your brain. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that can play a role in depression and other mood disorders. Ketamine treatments can work quickly to help relieve symptoms of depression, stress, and PTSD from your CRPS.
If you and your doctor decide that you are a good candidate for ketamine CRPS treatments, we will begin to work with you to prepare you for your treatment. We will meet with you to discuss your symptoms and your goals for the treatment. We will discuss family history, possible results, and what you should expect from the treatment.
Before the treatment, you’ll need to refrain from eating for 4 hours and drinking for 2 hours. This will help the medicine to work more effectively. You will lie back in a comfortable chair and listen to music or watch a television program while the infusion begins.
The dose of ketamine that we use will induce a dissociative state. You will still be conscious but you may have a feeling of your brain is being disconnected from your body. These feelings are normal and temporary.
Treatment results are different for everyone. Some individuals feel better after one treatment, but we generally recommend several more treatments if you respond well to the first treatment. This can help your brain to form more healthy neural pathways and give your body and mind a chance to heal.
While CRPS currently has no known cure, there is hope for patients who are suffering from this disease. At Ahwatukee Ketamine Clinic and Drip Lounge, we have been able to successfully use ketamine infusion therapy as a CRPS treatment and as a way to help many other forms of chronic and neuropathic pain. If you are suffering from complex regional pain syndrome, we would love to meet with you in our clinic in Phoenix, AZ to see if you are a candidate for ketamine treatments. Contact us by phone or online today for a consultation.