Vitamin C Helps Prevent Fracture Pain

A recent study confirms that 500 mg of Vitamin C daily in fracture patients greatly reduces the chances of developing a painful sometimes debilitating condition call Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
CPRS is a mysterious condition whose cause is unclear. It consists of unexplained pain, difference in skin color and temperature compared to other limb, swelling and loss of range of motion not explained by the injury.
It used to be believed that psychological issues were a large factor in these syndromes. This belief however has largely fallen out of favor, and other factors such as micro trauma, abnormal central nervous system response, abnormal inflammatory response.
It is believed to be rare but recent studies suggest it may occur in as many as one in ten patients and be severe and debilitating in as many as 2% of all fractures.
Anyone suffering from CPRS can attest that is can be totally life altering with severe pain, and loss of limb function. There is no effective treatment for this syndrome and it is made more difficult to deal with by the fact that it is often misdiagnosed, undiagnosed or patients are sometimes told they are exaggerating or frankly faking the condition.
The condition often starts out with cast complaints and it is now believed that as many as 50% of cast complaints can be mild forms of CPRS.
The good news is that several recent studies indicate that 500 mg of vitamin C started at time of fracture treatment can greatly reduce the incidence of CPRS.
Its cheap, it has basically no side effects and can decrease the incidence fivefold from 10% to 2% and helps greatly decrease the severe lifestyle altering forms of this syndrome.
The study of wrist fractures out of Netherlands followed 416 fractures for a year. Using established criteria for diagnosis 10% of the placebo group was diagnosed with CRPS, but only 4%, 2%, and 2% in the 200mg, 500mg, and 1500mg.
The take home is this CPRS is not as rare as we thought it was and it can be greatly reduced with just 500mg of Vit C a day for 7 weeks.
I believe this can be extended to ALL fractures.
It is cheap, and easy with nearly zero side effects.
So if you or a loved one sustains a fracture it would be wise to treat with 500mg of Vitamin C daily for 7 weeks.
And tell your doctor about this information, have them do a search on the study. It is an inexpensive and effective preventative tool.