Breaking Free from Chronic Pain
Imagine excruciating pain every single day. Imagine the sensation that your limbs are on fire, your bones are being crushed, and a feeling of being stabbed and electrocuted constantly. And we are not talking about medieval torture – these are the results of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a condition that has crippled some 200,000 Americans, especially teens.
This was the case with Cole, who was diagnosed with this rare neurological disorder at the age of 8. Pain is unbearable for anyone, but Cole’s pain levels were off the charts.
Similarly, Moana was diagnosed with CRPS in 2013 when she was just 11 years old, following a seemingly innocent ankle injury. Her condition worsened to the degree that she experienced blackouts and non-epileptic seizures.
On Christmas Day 2016, Christina, 21 years old, unexpectedly developed extreme pain in her left hand. Within a few days, the pain quickly radiated into her arm and shoulder. One year later, the pain extended into her right knee and foot, and ended up bedridden, not being able to move her arm and leg.
For Cole, Moana, and Christina, there was no hope – no chance for a real life. Until they, and hundreds of other chronic pain patients, found their way to the Arkansas-based Spero Clinic.
What is Chronic Pain
To understand the difference in approach between Spero’s treatments and conventional medicine, one needs to first understand what chronic pain actually is and what it signifies.
Chronic pain differs from acute pain, such as cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Acute pain doesn’t last long and disappears after the body heals from whatever caused the pain. In contrast, chronic pain continues long after someone recovers from an injury or illness. Sometimes it even happens for no obvious reason.
Over 56 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and more than 17.2 million are in severe pain. Information from the National Institutes of Health suggests that chronic pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined.
According to Spero’s treatment philosophy, pain is the body’s alarm system, indicating that something is wrong. Traditional treatments aim at suppressing those alarm systems. While the need for pain medication is obvious, they do not offer long-term solutions, and prolonged use of pain medications is far more dangerous than the condition they seek to resolve.
According to Spero’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Katinka van der Merwe, “Not even the bravest patient can typically survive the sky-high pain levels that characterize, for example, CRPS without some kind of intervention or help from the outside. CRPS taught me that sometimes, pain relief is not a luxury or a choice, but a necessity for simple survival.”
She continues, “That being said, I have been humbled by the bravery I have encountered in many CRPS patients, who will refuse to reach for pain medication unless they are backed against a monstrous wall of pain. Because most CRPS patients have access to vast amounts of pain medications, this truly takes self-control.”
The Spero Approach
The treatment approach designed by Dr. Katinka van der Merwe is deeply rooted in basic chiropractic philosophy, which stems from the belief that the body is a self-healing organism, capable of surviving and healing even catastrophic injuries.
Unlike most treatments, the Spero Clinic does not aim to disrupt or numb the pain signals but seeks to uncover abnormalities in the Central Nervous System and restore balance to the body’s nervous system. In other words, the healing occurs from the inside out.
It’s this approach – looking for and treating the causes of the pain- that has earned the Spero Clinic an unprecedented 84% success rate in treating their patients and has given patients such as Cole, Moana, and Christine a new chance on life.
Says Dr. Katinka, “My patients have been to many, many different doctors. They have navigated a maze of hospitals, clinics, and specialists that most people cannot even begin to imagine the sheer volume of. They have been prodded, poked, stabbed, and misdiagnosed many times. The average CRPS patient will go misdiagnosed or undiagnosed for years before they are lucky enough to find out what is wrong with them.”
The Spero Clinic wants to change that situation as the only facility in the world offering its unique treatment program.
“I set out on a journey ten years ago that made treating the nervous systems of those suffering from CRPS not only a part of my life as a chiropractic physician but my passion and my mission,” says Dr. Katinka. “I’ve created the clinic that I’ve always dreamt about, and we have been changing lives, one at a time. To us, every patient counts, every person matters.”
To learn more about The Spero Clinic, Dr. Katinka, and her staff, visit TheSperoClinic.com.
