Simple things matter! How reassurance and pain management strategies can improve outcomes in physiotherapy: a case report.

Psychological barriers to rehabilitation are generally viewed as pre-existing patient traits that clinicians are asked to evaluate and modify. In the present case report, we provide evidence that these barriers can also be involuntarily created or perpetuated by the clinician himself when too much attention is placed on physical abnormalities. Without discarding the need to treat the presumed biological source of pain, these observations remind rehabilitation professionals about the importance of showing a confident and reassuring attitude toward pain patients to reduce anxiety, promote physical activity, and reinforce self-management strategies.