Morbus Sudeck (CRPS)

There was an injury. Perhaps a fracture. Perhaps an operation. Perhaps a bruise that in itself was no worse than a thousand others. The wound healed. The bone knit together. The doctor said: Everything is fine. And then something happened that no one could explain. The pain didn't stop.

It grew stronger. It burned. It spread. The hand, the foot, the shoulder swelled, discoloured, reacted to the lightest touch as though it were an open wound. The skin became shiny or mottled. The joints stiffened. And every movement became agony. Morbus Sudeck. Complex regional pain syndrome. CRPS. Three names for the same mystery: a pain that doesn't stop even though the original injury healed long ago.