Psychological, physical and complementary therapies for the management of neuropathic pain.

Abstract

This chapter aims to explain and evaluate the evidence for psychological, physical and complementary therapies as part of a holistic plan for managing neuropathic pain. Psychological therapies refer to interventions targeting mental health, while physical therapies refer to interventions designed to target movement and functional ability, and complementary therapies are those that attempt to target key mechanisms of change to alter brain and body functioning, or thought processes related to the experience of pain. Each therapeutic modality is discussed to narratively report on the evidence and provide implications for clinicians. Where evidence was unavailable for neuropathic pain populations, evidence from chronic pain populations more broadly was considered. Although promising, there is a lack of high-quality evidence investigating the benefits and safety of psychological, physical and complementary therapies for the management of neuropathic pain. The low certainty evidence and lack of evidence across different neuropathic pain conditions impacts the ability to make recommendations for clinical practice. However, there are several potential areas for future research. Psychological therapies that focus on the underlying mechanisms related to emotion regulation may improve mood and pain, while cognitive and behavioural based approaches may improve psychological comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. Physical therapies involving physical activity and exercise, education, and graded motor imagery may improve functioning and reduce pain. Finally, complementary therapies including electroencephalography neurofeedback, acupuncture, virtual reality, hypnosis and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation may provide promising reductions in pain. There is a clear need for further high-quality trials to evaluate the benefits and safety of psychological, physical and complementary therapies to guide the management of neuropathic pain.