September Is National Pain Awareness Month

September is National Pain Awareness Month. So why do we need a Pain Awareness Month?  Most people think of pan as a symptom and not as a disease in it's own right.

When we are injured, we have acute pain.  But not all pain is acute pain.  There are many syndromes that cause chronic pain and are diagnoses themselves.

CRPS/RSD = when the nervous system goes haywire and the nerves send messages to the brain saying that the injury isn't healed.  The nervous system is sending independent nerve signals.  It is usually  preceded by an injury.

Fibromyalgia = it is a more generalized pain that is accompanied by fatigue

EDS =

What is Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?

Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are a group of disorders which share common features including easy bruising, joint hypermobility (loose joints), skin that stretches easily (skin hyperelasticity or laxity), and weakness of tissues.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are inherited in the genes that are passed from parents to offspring. They are categorized according to the form of genetic transmission into different types with many features differing between patients in any given type. The fragile skin and loose joints is often a result of abnormal genes that produce abnormal proteins that confer an inherited frailty of collagen (the normal protein "glue" of our tissues).

In 2001, researchers discovered a new form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that is caused by an inherited abnormality in a protein other than collagen that also normally plays a role in binding together the cells of our tissues (including the skin, tendons, muscle, and blood vessels). Abnormalities in this protein, called tenascin, also lead to a form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Researchers suspect that tenascin could play a role in regulating the normal distribution of collagen in the connective tissues of the body.

Arthritis =  joint pain and inflammation

I could go on and one but you get the picture.  We need to educate the public that pain is not simply a symptom by a syndrome of that is ongoing and requires specialized treatment.