Neuropathic pain can be complex, as the nerve fibres themselves are damaged, dysfunctional or injured. As a result, they transmit incorrect signals, at times with minimal provocation or, in fact, without stimulus. Treatment of neuropathic pain can be difficult, because developing a care plan first relies on understanding the individual aetiologies of the condition, in order to delineate and address the underlying mechanisms and different symptoms that arise. Perhaps because of these complicating factors, only a minority of people with neuropathic pain experience a clinically relevant benefit from any one intervention. A multidisciplinary approach that combines pharmacological, physical and cognitive interventions, as appropriate, is now advocated.