By: Erica D’Arcangelo

Imagine excruciating pain every single day. Imagine the sensation that your limbs are on fire, your bones are being crushed, and the feeling of being stabbed and electrocuted constantly. This isn’t medieval torture—it describes the symptoms of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a debilitating condition that affects approximately 200,000 Americans, including many teens.

CRPS can develop suddenly, often triggered by minor injuries or seemingly spontaneous events, and can escalate to severe, chronic pain affecting multiple parts of the body. In some cases, it can lead to blackouts, non-epileptic seizures, and even periods of immobility.

For many chronic pain patients, CRPS presents overwhelming challenges, leaving them without hope of a normal life. However, countless individuals have found renewed hope and treatment options through specialized care like those at The Spero Clinic.

What is Chronic Pain?

To understand the difference in approach between Spero’s treatments and conventional medicine, one must first understand what chronic pain 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 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and more than 17 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.

Traditional Treatments

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 may not offer long-term solutions. Moreover, prolonged use of pain medications can potentially be more dangerous than the condition they seek to resolve.

“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,” says Spero’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Katinka van der Merwe. “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.”

Understanding the Spero Approach

The Spero Clinic integrates chiropractic philosophy as part of a holistic approach, though its efficacy may depend on individual patient conditions. This 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. Instead, it 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 impressive success rate in treating their patients.

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 offers a unique treatment program that has helped many patients improve their quality of life.

“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.

Published by: Khy Talara