Austin CRPS Lawyer

Our office has seen a real rise in clients diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) following auto accidents and other trauma. It’s a relatively obscure condition, and understanding and treatment options remain limited — but the medical uncertainty that surrounds it doesn’t make your pain any less real. If you suspect you have CRPS after an accident, seek medical attention promptly; early diagnosis and intervention can meaningfully improve outcomes.

What Is CRPS?

CRPS, also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), is a life-altering condition marked by chronic, severe pain, often with swelling and skin changes. It’s usually triggered by trauma that may seem minor compared to what follows, and there’s no known cure, though treatments continue to evolve. Its history traces back to 1864, when Drs. Silas Weir Mitchell, George Morehouse, and William Keen documented persistent, severe burning pain in Civil War soldiers with nerve injuries, coining the term “causalgia” to describe it. The condition was later termed Sudeck’s Atrophy, then Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, before the International Association for the Study of Pain settled on “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome” in 1994.

The exact cause is still unknown, but it’s believed to involve the sympathetic nervous system: trauma triggers hyperactive nerve fibers that produce spontaneous pain, heightened sensitivity, and pain from stimuli (like light touch or a breeze) that shouldn’t hurt at all. Common triggers include surgery, fractures, sprains and strains, and crush injuries — auto accidents can trigger it too, particularly through a fracture, sprain, or crush injury sustained in the crash. Diagnosis is frequently delayed, in part because the condition is uncommon and its symptoms can be mistaken for something else.

Stages and Symptoms

• Stage One (Acute): begins within 1–3 months of injury — burning pain, sensitivity to touch, swelling, warmth, and red or flushed skin
• Stage Two (Dystrophic): pain and swelling become constant, skin may turn bluish and cold, muscles stiffen, hair growth slows, and mobility becomes limited
• Stage Three (Atrophic): pain can spread, muscles visibly waste away, skin becomes thin and shiny, joints stiffen severely, and spasms may occur

CRPS can affect any part of the body, though it most commonly impacts the extremities, and it affects every level of tissue — skin, subcutaneous tissue, fascia, muscle, synovium, and bone. It’s classified as Type I (no observable nerve injury) or Type II (an identifiable nerve lesion), a distinction that matters for diagnosis and treatment. No single test confirms CRPS; diagnosis relies on clinical evaluation, bone scans, thermal imaging, and sympathetic blocks together, and a handful of other conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, herpes, gout) can be mistaken for it.

How Painful Is CRPS?

CRPS is widely described by pain specialists and patient advocacy groups as among the most painful chronic conditions a person can experience. Patients commonly describe the pain as burning, aching, throbbing, and electric-shock-like, and for most patients it’s constant rather than intermittent — not a symptom that comes and goes, but a near-continuous presence that reshapes daily life.

Treatment

CRPS is usually a permanent condition with periods of remission, which is why early diagnosis matters so much. Treatment options range from analgesics, cool water immersion, elevation, splinting, and range-of-motion exercises to corticosteroids, nerve blocks, and nerve stimulators. In severe cases that don’t respond to standard therapy, doctors may turn to implantable pain pumps that deliver medication directly to the spinal cord area, or, as a rare last resort, surgical sympathectomy — cutting or destroying nerves to disrupt pain signals, which carries real risk of worsened pain or permanent nerve damage and is only considered in the most severe cases.

The Toll CRPS Takes

Beyond the physical pain, CRPS often brings serious psychological strain, and it’s not unusual for a patient’s pain to be dismissed as “psychological” when a proper diagnosis is missed — which only compounds the frustration. A 2024 patient-experience study of CRPS found that 54% of respondents specifically pointed to CRPS as the reason they had to change job roles, with only about 19% able to stay in the same role after diagnosis. CRPS regularly disrupts sleep, work, household responsibilities, and relationships, and patients consistently report it as one of the most disruptive conditions they’ve ever experienced.

Who Can Be Held Liable

When CRPS develops after a personal injury, the party responsible for the original harm may be held accountable for the condition it caused. In a car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, that means the at-fault driver and their insurer. In a slip-and-fall case, it may mean a property owner who failed to maintain a safe environment. Because CRPS so often follows an injury that looked minor at the time, insurers frequently try to argue there’s no real connection between the accident and the diagnosis — which is exactly why strong medical evidence and expert testimony matter so much in these cases.

Why The Traub Law Office?

Living with CRPS can feel like living in a constant state of fire — unseen, misunderstood, and unrelenting. We understand that your pain is real and your condition is life-altering, and we don’t think proving that should be another uphill battle on top of everything else. We work directly with your doctors to document how CRPS has affected your life, build the medical case connecting it to your accident, and pursue compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. We take these cases on contingency: no fee unless we recover money for you.

If you’ve been diagnosed with CRPS after an accident, or suspect you may have it, call the Traub Law Office at (512) 246-9191 for a free consultation.