Myth-busting in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome​

Overview

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) remains one of the most misunderstood and challenging chronic pain conditions in clinical practice. In this Embodia course, Myth Busting in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Marc Aureli Piqué Batalla delivers a comprehensive, evidence-informed exploration of CRPS that challenges long-standing misconceptions and reframes how clinicians approach diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

Drawing from clinical expertise and current research, this course dismantles common myths - including the belief that pain always equals tissue damage, that CRPS is purely localized to one limb, or that the condition is inevitably progressive and hopeless. Instead, it promotes a modern biopsychosocial understanding of CRPS, recognizing the complex interaction between nervous, vascular, autonomic, psychological, and social systems.

Clinicians will gain clarity around diagnostic challenges (including the use of the Budapest criteria), interdisciplinary treatment planning, and the pivotal role of patient education in reshaping beliefs, reducing fear, and improving outcomes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the biological, psychological, and social contributors to CRPS.

2. Identify common myths surrounding CRPS and explain why they are inaccurate or incomplete.

3. Apply the Budapest criteria appropriately in the absence of objective biomarkers.

4. Recognize how patients’ beliefs about pain influence coping strategies and functional outcomes.

5. Integrate education, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration into CRPS management.

6. Differentiate between adaptive and counterproductive coping strategies (e.g., “push through” vs. parasympathetic activation approaches).

7. Communicate prognosis in a realistic yet hopeful manner to support engagement in rehabilitation.

Audience

This course is designed for:

• Physiotherapists

• Occupational therapists

• Chiropractors

• Osteopaths

• Physicians and pain specialists

• Psychologists and mental health professionals

• Interdisciplinary pain teams

• Any healthcare professional working with persistent or complex pain conditions

Why This Course Matters

CRPS carries significant personal, societal, and economic burden. Misdiagnosis, misinformation, and fear-based narratives can intensify disability, psychological distress, and healthcare utilization.

This course matters because it:

• Clarifies diagnostic uncertainty in a condition without objective biomarkers.

• Replaces fear-based narratives with evidence-informed, patient-centered education.

• Supports early, interdisciplinary intervention to reduce long-term disability.

• Emphasizes communication skills that rebuild trust when patients feel unheard or invalidated.

• Provides clinicians with practical frameworks to reshape unhelpful pain beliefs.

Approximately 30% of individuals with CRPS experience persistent long-term symptoms. The way clinicians frame pain, prognosis, and treatment can significantly influence coping, engagement, and functional outcomes.

By shifting from a purely biomedical model to a biopsychosocial framework, healthcare providers can help reduce stigma, self-blame, and avoidance behaviors while fostering active rehabilitation and resilience.