10/28/2023 0 Comments Invisible disabilities hysteriaHannah Epstein, 17, also had RSD a few years ago. Such people are less likely to get support and proper treatment according to research. While the number of girls with an invisible disability is difficult to measure, Invisible Illness Week found that “96 percent of people who live with an illness have an illness that is invisible.” This statistic was interpreted by IIW from 1997 research from the U.S. Unlike some chronic disabilities such as paraplegia, which are visible, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, like heart defects, asthma and roster of other conditions, can’t be seen. But the constant doubt from doctors is what hurt the most. Some felt they weren’t taken seriously because of their gender and a few were told they had hysteria. She found that many of the other female teens in her RSD therapy program had similar negative experiences. After several months of inpatient therapy, Kleppe was pain-free but the scars of being called a liar by medical professionals stay with her. It can cause paralysis and in some people it is chronic, for others it is temporary. Kleppe, now 18, was eventually diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), also called chronic regional pain syndrome, a neurological condition that causes nerves to misfire and send constant messages of severe pain to the brain. “Another time was when I went to go see my pediatrician, who I had been going to for years, she told me I was faking my pain to get out of school.” “After my first visit the woman told me that she knew I was lying about my pain and that it was all in my head,” Kleppe said in an email interview. Most had no clue what was happening some told Kleppe she was making it up. Over the next few months, she saw more than 25 doctors. Just touching her foot was unbearably painful. It got so bad, she couldn’t stand up without screaming. (WOMENSENEWS)-After a May 2010 soccer injury, New Jersey middle schooler Sarah Kleppe developed intense chronic pain in her foot.
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