Usual care physiotherapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain, does anyone still do that? I recently read a single – blinded randomized controlled trial article (Domingues et al., 2019) discussing the effectiveness of combined Manual Therapy with Exercise compared to “usual care” physiotherapy for the treatment of chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP). The first cynical thought that [...]
The lord of the rings has to be one of my all time favourite movies. One of the most interesting characters in the movie is Gollum. People familiar with the movie will know the story of how Gollum came to be. Before the ring of Sauron poisoned his mind he was known as the hobbit [...]
We can use ACT? A psychological therapy?? But that’s stepping outside my professional boundary, I couldn’t possibly… Ok, back up! I can’t speak for Occupational Therapists (OTs) but Physiotherapists (PTs), really?? Are you honestly saying you’re crossing a line? Let’s take a wee trip down my memory lane shall we. On my journey with [...]
'Oh, I've been shaking I love it when you go crazy You take all my inhibitions Creativity, there's nothing holding me back You take me places that tear up my reputation Manipulate my decisions Creativity, there's nothing holding me back There's nothing holding me back There's nothing holding me back' Adapted from Shawn Mendes, [...]
I’m not one for numbers and statistics and I’m not an academic, but I do like a graph that tells us a story. My attention was captured recently on twitter by a recent @tpmpodcast with @thomas_jesson discussing radicular pain, radiculopathy and sciatica (here). In particular was a graph that Tom posted on Twitter demonstrating the [...]
“Heroes are made by the path they choose, not the powers they are graced with.” –Brodi Ashton / Iron Man(Attribution) Superheroes have fueled the imagination and inspired us. We are currently in the cinematic age and renaissance of superheroes. Since 2008, when the first Iron Man movie was released, Marvel have released no less than [...]
I have been a bit of a runner for most of my life. Where I grew up in the Highlands of Scotland there was plenty of cross country running tracks to be explored. Of course that was mixed in with mountain biking, fly fishing, kayaking, sailing, football, hiking, rock-climbing… you get the picture. I have [...]
I saw this video and just had to share it to metaphorically emphasise the power of touch. There are some in the physiotherapy profession that bang on about how pointless manual therapy is, and whilst the evidence base confirms that we are unlikely doing anything mechanically (i.e. resetting joints, correcting leg length discrepancies, increasing tissue [...]
I'm a bit of a runner, always have been. Nothing overly competitive but participated because of the health benefits. So, whilst exercise has physiological effects on the body there is also another side to running that interests me, the philosophy. More specifcally the sense of freedom, the adventure and the opportunity to reflect and consolidate my [...]
Persistent pain is certainly a complex beast and if we are to discuss particular body regions, low back pain would have to be the kraken* of all musculoskeletal disorders. In 2018 it was still the number one cause of disability globally and has dominated the number one spot spanning nearly 3 decades (James et al., [...]
