Physical Therapy

This chapter presents the case of a woman with severe complex regional pain syndrome CRPS for whom physiotherapy should be implemented as part of multimodal management. It may be beneficial for motor deficit or neglect, major sensory deafferentation, physical deconditioning, and fear of pain and movement. Because physical exercises may be initially very painful, strong analgesics may be proposed before each exercise to facilitate rehabilitation. Physiotherapy includes a large variety of interventions, particularly manual therapy, therapeutic exercises including physical reconditioning, electrotherapy (e.g., transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), and sensorimotor rehabilitation strategies including mirror therapy and graded motor imagery. Virtual reality is increasingly investigated for the treatment of acute pain, but there are limited data regarding its efficacy on neuropathic pain.