Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is persistent, often burning pain — usually in a hand or foot — that is stronger and lasts longer than the original injury would explain. It most often follows a fracture, surgery, or sprain, and can bring swelling, temperature and color changes, and skin so sensitive that light touch hurts.
CRPS Care in Bozeman — Graded, Coordinated, One-on-One
Complex regional pain syndrome responds to a specific kind of rehabilitation: graded, patient, and pitched below the level that flares you. At Root Therapy and Wellness in Bozeman, CRPS care pairs physical and occupational therapy in full one-on-one sessions — retraining the nervous system’s protective response while steadily returning the hand or foot to real use, in coordination with your physician.
Our team includes a board-certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist (PT) whose clinical focus includes CRPS, and an occupational therapist with more than 10 years of hand and upper-extremity experience — relevant because CRPS so often follows a wrist fracture or hand surgery.
Why Does CRPS Need a Different Approach?
Most rehab rewards effort: push a stiff knee and it loosens. CRPS punishes that instinct. The condition is driven by a protective nervous-system response stuck in the on position, so forcing a flared limb through pain tends to turn the alarm up, while total rest lets sensitivity and stiffness deepen. The way through is between those extremes — activity graded carefully enough that the nervous system learns the limb is safe to use again.
That’s why CRPS treatment starts, when needed, with steps that don’t involve moving the painful limb at all: recognizing left-right images of it, imagining movement, mirror work. Each step recruits the brain’s map of the limb a little further without setting off the alarm — and real movement, loading, and daily function are built on top.
What Does CRPS Treatment at Root Look Like?
- Graded motor imagery and mirror therapy — the staged brain-retraining sequence described above, matched to what your limb tolerates today.
- Desensitization — planned, progressive exposure to textures, touch, and temperature so skin contact, clothing, and weight-bearing become wearable again.
- Graded movement and loading — restoring motion, strength, and use in small steps, always below the flare threshold.
- Occupational therapy for daily function — dressing, writing, gripping, working: the tasks CRPS takes away, retrained directly. See our Occupational Therapy page.
- Gentle swelling management — elevation, movement, and gentle manual techniques for the swollen limb.
- Nervous-system regulation — pacing, breath work, and body-centered care, including Somatic Experiencing, for the stress-pain loop that CRPS feeds on.
What to Expect at Your First Visit
- Comprehensive evaluation (60 minutes) — your injury history, a careful side-to-side comparison of sensitivity, swelling, temperature, motion, and strength, and an honest conversation about what flares you.
- A graded plan — where your limb is on the ladder, and what the next rung looks like.
- Gentle treatment that same visit — starting at whatever level your nervous system tolerates, even if that’s imagery rather than movement.
- A home program in small doses — short, frequent practice works better for CRPS than occasional long sessions.
- Re-assessment as you progress — sensitivity, swelling, and function tracked limb against limb, and the plan adjusted rather than pushed.
When Should You Start?
As soon as CRPS is suspected. Early, graded rehabilitation is consistently favored in published CRPS guidance, and the cycle of protection, disuse, and deepening sensitivity is easier to interrupt before it settles in. Montana is a direct-access state, so you don’t need a referral to be seen — here’s how that works — though with CRPS we’ll be coordinating with your physician from the start.
Take the First Step
A limb that hurts this much, this long, deserves care that takes it seriously. Request an appointment today — most patients are seen within the same week.
Our Treatment Approach
- Graded Motor Imagery — A staged brain-retraining sequence — limb recognition, imagined movement, then mirror work — that calms pain before real movement begins.
- Mirror Therapy — Moving the unaffected limb in front of a mirror to help the painful side reactivate without flaring.
- Desensitization — Progressive, tolerable exposure to textures, touch, and temperature that makes skin contact wearable again.
- Graded Movement & Loading — Movement and weight-bearing progressed in small steps, always pitched below the flare threshold.
- Gentle Swelling Management — Elevation, movement, and gentle manual techniques to ease swelling in the affected limb.
- Nervous-System Regulation — Pacing, breath work, and body-centered strategies — including Somatic Experiencing — for the stress-pain loop.