Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) (Mosely, 2004), is an umbrella term for a variety of clinical presentations characterized by chronic persistent pain that is disproportionate to any preceding injury and that is not restricted anatomically to the distribution of a specific peripheral nerve. CRPS can be sub classified into two diagnostic subtypes: type I, in which no peripheral nerve injury can be identified, and type II, where symptoms are associated with a definable nerve lesion, although this distinction is not always easily made. Both subtypes of CRPS are characterized by severe pain that is disproportionate to the inciting event; most commonly affecting the hand or foot but which can spread to other body regions (O’Connell et al. 2013).
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It aims to give flexibility and creativity back to the brain via graded exposure”. GMI is a 3-stage treatment that aims to gradually engage cortical motor networks without triggering the protective response of pain. The first stage involves left/right judgments of photographs that depict the affected area. For limb pain, this involves viewing an image of a limb and judging whether that image depicts a left or a right limb. The second stage, motor imagery, requires imagined movement of the area. These imagined movements have been demonstrated to activate motor cortical areas similar to those activated in the actual execution of that movement. The final stage, mirror therapy, patients place their affected limb inside a mirror box and watch movement of their unaffected limb in the mirror, giving the illusion of a moving, but pain-free affected limb. This task activates the motor cortex and also provides a strong visual input to the cortex that the movements are occurring normally and without impairment (Bowering et al.
It aims to give flexibility and creativity back to the brain via graded exposure”. GMI is a 3-stage treatment that aims to gradually engage cortical motor networks without triggering the protective response of pain. The first stage involves left/right judgments of photographs that depict the affected area. For limb pain, this involves viewing an image of a limb and judging whether that image depicts a left or a right limb. The second stage, motor imagery, requires imagined movement of the area. These imagined movements have been demonstrated to activate motor cortical areas similar to those activated in the actual execution of that movement. The final stage, mirror therapy, patients place their affected limb inside a mirror box and watch movement of their unaffected limb in the mirror, giving the illusion of a moving, but pain-free affected limb. This task activates the motor cortex and also provides a strong visual input to the cortex that the movements are occurring normally and without impairment (Bowering et al.