Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder characterised by difficulty with spelling and decoding words. The NHS Choices website explains that people with dyslexia typically have trouble with: phonological awareness (the ability to identify the units of sound within words) verbal memory (the ability to remember a sequence of verbal information for a short period of [read the full story…]
Seeing as it is World Mental Health Day today, with its theme “Depression: a Global Crisis”, I thought that it would be appropriate to blog on psychosocial rather than physical interventions; particularly as persistent non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) can result in heightened anxiety, stress and depression. Furthermore, there is an increasing body of evidence that psychosocial risk [read the full story…]
Many of my Musculoskeletal Elf colleagues make their livelihood from building and constructing; therefore, I was quite excited to see that the focus of this year’s National Back Pain week in the UK is on “Builders’ Backs”. According to the statistics in the campaign pack by BackCare (the UK’s National Pack Pain Association) 30,000 UK construction workers [read the full story…]
Assessing an individual patient’s risk of caries is considered to be an important element of contemporary treatment planning, for example the 2004 NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) recall guidance recommended risk-based recall intervals. The aim of this review was to assess the evidence supporting four caries risk assessment (CRA) systems:- Cariogram, Caries [read the full story…]
Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) cover a range of developmental disorders, including Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Rett’s Syndrome. ASD can involve a variety of symptoms, which fall into 3 main categories: Difficulties with social interaction Impaired language and communication Unusual patterns of behaviour and thought Social interactions can be extremely difficult for children with ASD, and [read the full story…]
Today is the final day of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapists (IFOMPT) Conference in Quebec, Canada. The conference includes presentations from international experts on a wide array of issues related to clinical assessment and treatment. In a previous blog I looked at an article on whether or not individuals’ movement patterns can be altered as [read the full story…]
The crowing of teeth disrupts the normal proximal and occlusal contacts and creates area for potential plaque and food accumulation. As a consequence it has been considered a risk factor for dental caries. However, studies looking at a relationship between crowding and caries have been contradictory. The aim of this review was therefore to assess [read the full story…]
All MSK Elves know that shoulder pain is one of the most common complaints referred for assessment and therapeutic intervention both in the acute and primary sectors. The reason for the development of the pain is often blamed on degenerative changes in the rotator cuff. Prescribing the most appropriate form of exercise based on evidence [read the full story…]
The excellent Time to Change initiative is quick to point out that people with mental health problems are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators. However, it remains the case that certain mental health conditions are more frequently associated with antisocial behaviour and violence than others. Personality disorders (PD) are one [read the full story…]
Freys syndrome (gustatory sweating) is frequently noted as complication of surgery to the parotid gland. It is characterized by sweating while eating and facial flushing. It was first reported by Lucie Frey in 1923. The aim of this review was to determine the effect and safety of different types of grafts for the prevention of [read the full story…]
