Sometimes specific pain could feel unusual because the reason for their occurrence is unusual too. We might not notice it initially, but slowly and steadily, it might turn into something severe. Pain could be distracting and a significant concern for our bone and muscle health.
Erythromelalgia is one of those extreme pain conditions, specifically on an individual’s feet, which feels more like a burning sensation. Although the disease occurs very rarely, it could be a matter of concern for people as it might affect one side or both sides of the body.
According to an article published in Medical News Today, Erythromelalgia’s occurrence is more of a rare prevalence and how often it could happen is still unknown. Experts have claimed that the condition would instead occur in 2 people out of 1,00,000 individuals in a population.
The National Organization for Rare Disease (NORD) has reported the disease affecting females more than males. They say that this disease tends to begin affecting an individual when he is just ten years old. But it ultimately shows its sign and could only be diagnosed not until a person has reached the age of 40 years.
What Causes Erythromelalgia?
Foot pain or swelling feet might not always be a sign of Erythromelalgia. There are specific reasons which make the disease occur in particular individuals. Here’s what one needs to know about some number of causes of the occurrence of this disorder.
According to the doctor’s research and analysis, there are two main types of Erythromelalgia, which becomes the prime reason for the disease’s happening.
Primary Erythromelalgia
Primary Erythromelalgia is distinguished into two sub-categories; Inherited Erythromelalgia and Idiopathic Erythromelalgia. Inherited Erythromelalgia prevails in a person not because he has some disease or health condition, which makes those pain trigger an effect on your feet. But the reason for primary erythromelalgia is as simple as genetically based down by a blood relative.
It happens due to a mutation gene known by the name SCN9A, which affects the nerves’ ability to send pain signals to our brain. The other category is known by the name Idiopathic Erythromelalgia. Idiopathic EM doesn’t have any known identifiable reason for its cause, as experts understand with their research and observation.
Secondary Erythromelalgia
Secondary Erythromelalgia takes place due to another prevailing health condition in an individual. Some common causes lead to secondary erythromelalgia due to the already prevalent disease.
- Injuries causing nerve disorders
- Autoimmune Diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Blood disorders which could involve low platelet Count or Blood cancer.
- Certain medications such as anti-depressants could cause Secondary Erythromelalgia, but as soon as one stops taking those medications, things begin to go back to normal.
The Possible Signs & Symptoms
- The most evident one is Erythema, which is the appearance of redness over a specific area on the skin. It is not visible in people with darker skin tones. A particular area becomes red due to excessive blood flow over that part of the body.
- There could be a heat-like sensation in that particular area due to excessive blood flowing there.
- The flow of blood causes pain, which might vary from person to person. It could feel like a burning sensation, pins and needles, and more like a sting.
- The feet or any other area might swell in appearance, causing extreme pain afterward.
- More sweating than usual in the affected parts.
- Discoloration, usually the color purple when there is no episode of pain or burning sensation.
The chances are that these symptoms occur on both sides of the body; if the affected area is the feet, both feet are more likely to suffer. But there are times when certain habits could trigger the erythromelalgia. Those activities include-
- exercising
- Drinking Alcohol
- Eating too spicy food
- Entering a location which is warm, especially a room
- Wearing tight shoes or warm socks.
What Could be the Potential Treatment?
The treatment could be tricky and based on trial and error method because there is no two patience whose case is similar concerning Erythromelalgia. Doctors generally try to treat the primary condition, which has caused the disease to occur so that it disappears on its own. But there are fewer chances that it works. Erythromelalgia asks for a different treatment to cure the disease.
But a person suffering from Erythromelalgia could try keeping his/her affected area cool so that anything warm doesn’t trigger another episode. Experts have said that applying ice over the site would be a bad idea because it would worsen the disease.
Some specific medications and creams could help numb the pain and make it easier to bear the whole episode.
