After one or two treatment programs have not helped, there is nothing that can be done. The patient should be told to go home and learn to live with the pain. Treatment may include medication, sympathetic nerve blocks, physical therapy, psychological support and, possibly, sympathectomy, or dorsal column stimulator. The physician directing the care of the patient should have a treatment plan. In severe or long term cases, a Pain Clinic with a coordinated plan may be helpful.
Patients continue to complain because of secondary gains.
They are looking for sympathy and are gaining satisfaction from this experience. The most devastating aspect of the illness is that physicians, other health care professionals, employers and especially friends and family members do not understand how much the patient is suffering. They are not looking for sympathy, only understanding. FACT - It may subside for years and then recur with a new injury. The reoccurrence should be treated immediately.