Erythromelalgia is a uncommon distressing condition which is not easy to manage and primarily impacts your feet and hands. It is characterised through the symptoms of redness, warmth along with burning discomfort. The attacks for this disorder are recurrent and range from a few minutes to a day or two. Attacks will most likely get started with a straightforward scratching, however after that progress to severe pain and the burning discomfort. The feet or hand will become warmer, tender along with bloated in addition to take on a red hue. The episodes are quite debilitating and can have a significant effect on the patient by having an affect on the standard of living and also the ability to execute many of the common activities of daily life.

There are two kinds of erythromelalgia. There is the primary kind which is likely to impact younger people and it is more than likely caused by a inherited genetic mutation that make nerves more excitable. The alternative type usually have an effect on older individuals and it is because of an underlying problem which include diabetes, gout, several blood disorders as well as a side affect to particular medications. There are a number of problems that resemble erythromelalgia and doctors will have to differentiate it from these as part of the analysis. Included in this are conditions such as persistent pain problems, chilblains as well as burning foot disorder.

The management of erythromelalgia is challenging because there is no one treatment that appears to assist every person and also the reaction to therapy is fairly diverse between people. The initial strategy is always to keep clear of conditions which bring about an attack for example a hot bath, environmental triggers or particular foods. Most people with erythromelalgia do find relief from cooling down with the use of air conditioning along with cooling gels. Many do resort to immersion of the feet or hands in cool water however, this will not be recommended as this can cause maceration of the skin and even chilblains plus they may have a secondary bacterial infection.

For the secondary form of erythromelalgia, treatment will likely be aimed at therapy for the underlying medical problem, which is frequently extremely helpful. With the primary type of erythromelalgia the treating of the pain can often be considerably more difficult with the response to various medicines being different among individuals. Often anti-inflammatory drugs are tried, but they are usually unhelpful. Drugs which inhibit the channels within the nerve cells which make the nerve impulses overactive are sometimes tried and these do generally help some people. The anticonvulsant medicines such as gabapentin could help some people. Usually there are some topical ointment medications which quite a few find very helpful for example capsaicin. With the worst type of circumstances sympathetic nerve blocks or a sympathectomy which will involve surgical procedures on the lower back might be performed. Nevertheless, the outcomes of surgery are mixed. When the pain is severe and the disorder is difficult to manage and has such an impact on the daily life of those that have erythromelalgia it's a good idea that all individuals with it have a appointment with a pain treatment expert and clinical psychologists to help them cope with the symptoms and discover the techniques that are good for dealing with the pain.