How effective is physiotherapy for complex regional pain syndrome?

CRPS may involve pain that is out of proportion to an injury, along with stiffness, swelling, altered skin temperature or colour, and unusual sensitivity to touch. Forcing movement can increase symptoms, so treatment often starts with tolerable, small movements and desensitisation. A therapist may use graded exposure to touch or textures, joint mobility, mirror or visual feedback, balance work, and task practice. The programme is adjusted around your response and coordinated with medical pain management. The goal is to keep the affected limb useful while the nervous system becomes less reactive.

Describe symptom changes after each session and agree on a safe baseline before increasing activity. Practise short, frequent sessions if that is easier than one demanding workout. Protect the limb from avoidable injury while continuing approved use, and avoid testing progress by pushing through severe pain. Hand, foot or limb function, sleep, dressing and walking can all be meaningful measures of progress.

Tell your clinician about rapidly increasing swelling, new colour or temperature changes, spreading pain, skin injury, weakness, or a sudden loss of movement. Seek urgent help for severe pain with a pale or cold limb, breathing difficulty, chest pain, or signs of infection such as fever and spreading redness.

Ask how activity should be paced, which desensitisation methods are appropriate, how pain medicines fit around therapy, and which changes mean the programme needs review.