You probably haven't heard of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD, sometimes RSDS) or even Causalgia.
These are all names for an illness that really hasn't penetrated the public consciousness, more for lack of knowledge and definition about the illness than actual penetration of the illness itself in the body attached to that consciousness.
Here's a short blurb from the American RSDHope website's main page:
CRPS pain is characterized as constant, extremely intense, and out of proportion to the original injury. CRPS pain is typically accompanied by swelling, skin changes, spasms, extreme sensitivity, and can often be debilitating. It usually affects one or more of the four limbs but can occur in any part of the body and CRPS spreads in over 70% of its victims to additional areas
So if you ever have an injury that is distinctly more painful than it should be, and that pain lasts longer than it should, have your doctor look into CRPS/RSD, especially since the available treatment options' usefulness drops off cataclysmically after only a few months.
I'm just trying to raise awareness - this disease is sometimes called the 'suicide disease' as it is not intrinsically fatal - but years of unending pain that rates well over childbirth or amputation of a digit on the McGill Pain Index - and is ALWAYS ON, ALWAYS CHANGING, ALWAYS SPREADING, WITH NO END EVER IN SIGHT...
Rick, for my wife Claudia, who fights the fight against this terrible nightmare every minute of every day. I love her unconditionally, and don't know how she does it.
Rick and Claudia
Central California Coast