Why sickle cell is painful

Swelling in the hands and feet usually is the first symptom of SCD. This swelling, often along with a fever, is caused by the sickle cells getting stuck in the blood vessels and blocking the flow of blood in and out of the hands and feet. The most common treatments for swelling in the hands and the feet are pain medicine and an increase in fluids, such as water. Nurses: Download and print a reference table to help care for SCD patients.

Pain is the most common complication of SCD, and the number 1 reason that people with SCD go to the emergency room or hospital. When sickle cells travel through small blood vessels, they can get stuck and clog the blood flow.

This causes pain that can start suddenly, be mild to severe, and can last for any length of time. There are simple steps that people with SCD can take to help prevent and reduce the number of pain crises, including the following:. Most pain related to SCD can be treated with over the counter pain medications such as ibuprofen and aspirin.

Some people who have severe pain are given opioid i. Some people may be admitted to the hospital for intense treatment. Taking iron supplements will not help people with sickle cell disease. In fact, taking iron supplements could harm a person with sickle cell disease because the extra iron builds up in the body and can cause damage to the organs. Anemia is a very common complication of SCD. With SCD, the red blood cells die early.

This means there are not enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. When this happens, a person might have:. Blood transfusions are used to treat severe anemia. A sudden worsening of anemia resulting from infection or enlargement of the spleen is a common reason for a transfusion. Multiple blood transfusions, however, might cause health problems because of the iron content of blood.

Iron overload, called hemosiderosis, can damage liver, heart, pancreas and other organs, leading to diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Iron chelation therapy should be started in patients with SCD receiving regular blood transfusions to reduce excess iron levels.

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Page last reviewed: 16 April Next review due: 16 April Sickle cell disease can cause a wide range of symptoms. The main symptoms are: painful episodes getting infections often anaemia Painful episodes Episodes of pain known as sickle cell crises are one of the most common and distressing symptoms of sickle cell disease. They happen when blood vessels to part of the body become blocked.

The pain can be severe and lasts for up to 7 days on average. Sometimes a pain crisis happens for reasons you can't control, like when you're sick. But to lower your chances of having a crisis, you can:. Reviewed by: Larissa Hirsch, MD. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is a Sickle Cell Crisis? What Causes a Pain Crisis? If you have a pain crisis, tell an adult what's going on. To help ease the pain, you can: Try relaxation techniques and distraction.