How a simple bump led to a Wigan schoolgirl developing a condition which causes severe pain

Bethany Mitchell thought nothing of it when she knocked her knee on the oven at her home in Hindley Green in February 2019.

But that small accident at the age of 13 led to her developing a painful condition which would leave her unable to walk.

Her mum Hannah Mitchell said: “She had a very minor knock on her right knee by banging it on the side of the cooker six years ago. There was no damage to anything, but that sent off a trigger to her nervous system so her brain then started to send pain signals to that side of her body, to the point that over an 18-month period, until we got a diagnosis, she couldn’t walk and was bedridden.”

Initially Bethany’s knee became swollen and sore and she developed a slight limp. She took paracetamol and did not think it was anything serious.

An X-ray was carried out at a walk-in centre and it did not show anything of concern.

But over the next six months, the pain spread to her ankle and foot and she was no longer able to weight bear.

Hannah said it was “horrendous” trying to get a diagnosis for her daughter during the pandemic, when strict rules were in place for those going to medical settings.

But eventually, in August 2020, Bethany was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a rare condition which causes persistent severe and debilitating pain.

It usually only affects one limb, but can spread to other parts of the body.

Hannah explained it is ranked on a pain scale as the equivalent of giving birth without medication and is known as the “suicide disease” because so many sufferers choose to end their own life.

While Bethany was a “normal teenager” before the accident, the pain she faced led to her missing time at school and becoming “isolated”, her mum said.

She has had many hospital appointments over the past six years, but she found medication did not help and she was not making progress with physiotherapy.

With the problem persisting, Hannah decided to take her daughter to Germany in November 2023 to try scrambler therapy, a treatment not available in the UK.

She said: “It’s a machine that was designed in Italy by Italian doctors and it has probes that you place on the skin, but you don’t put them where the pain is, it’s where the patient can tolerate the touch. It’s about the size of an ECG machine. It sends electrical signals to the brain, to the nervous system, to reprogram it. It basically says that part of the body is fine and it doesn’t have to send these signals anymore.”

Bethany had 10 sessions of the treatment over two weeks and found it made a big difference.

At that point she had not been able to bend her right leg for four years, but she could bend it just four days after starting treatment. It also led to her bearing weight again and walking better than she had.

But in November, Bethany had a driving lesson in her adapted vehicle, which has hand controls, and afterwards her hand seized up, leaving her unable to open it.

Hannah said: “It was frozen in position, so we went to Germany in January for treatment, thinking she would only need a top-up for a week, but it didn’t work so we went back for two weeks in March, which we have had to pay for ourselves. This seemed to work – it’s brought the use of her hand back and she can use her fingers now, but it’s a long process to be able to write and use it independently.”

Bethany, now 19, said: “I am better now. I’m not in as much pain as I was. I just have take it easy, because I don’t want to overdo it and go back to where I was.

"When I went to Germany, I couldn’t open my hand or bend it or anything, but when I came back, I could bend it and make a fist.”

Bethany is now looking to the future, including returning to her studies at Runshaw College in Leyland in September, after taking a break due to her health problems.

She hopes to one day become a paediatric physiotherapist, so she can help children suffering with chronic pain.

Hannah said: “She is also wanting to create her own CIC. There are a couple of charities for CRPS that are very adult-focused, but there is not really anything for children, so she wants to create CRPS Kids CIC to hopefully go around the country to different hospitals or areas where there are clusters of children and offer support.”

Hannah also wants to help others with CRPS by making scrambler therapy available in the UK for the first time.

She has already created a limited company, registered a website and has contacted the manufacturer regarding UK rights.

She now has to secure funding to buy two machines – a single device would not suffice in case a fault developed – but is seeking help to complete information required by a UK governing body.

Hannah, who has the support of Hindley Green councillor James Palmer, hopes to offer the treatment locally so people do not have to travel to Germany or America, especially given the health issues they already face.

She said: “Selfishly I want it here for Bethany because I know it works, but also I want Wigan to be the first place to offer it.”

To support Hannah and find out more, go to www.gofundme.com/f/lets-bring-scrambler-therapy-to-the-uk.