This week in Scotland has been designated as self-management week. There is a growing awareness that low back pain (LBP) is a long term condition and that self-management can decrease the burden of this, and many other, conditions. To date, self-management has been described as a model of care where patients use strategies to manage and monitor [read the full story…]
Local anaesthetic use is widespread in dentistry and while lidocaine has been in use for more than 50 years an increasing number of agents are now available. The aim of this study was to analyze adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with local anesthetics (LAs) and to characterize the safety profile of LAs in clinical application. [read the full story…]
There are many tests available to clinicians when performing a physical examination of the shoulder in the attempt to reach an accurate diagnosis. In many instances there is more than one test that can be used to test a structure. The difficulty with physical examination tests recommended for shoulder is that many of these tests [read the full story…]
Although most Musculoskeletal Elves lead very physically active lives there are a small minority of Elves who are office based. Occasionally I hear them complain of episodes of low back pain and they have enquired of me as to what contributed to its onset. Although I felt I had a reasonable idea as to the main [read the full story…]
Chlorhexidine (CHX) has been used as a mouthwash for many years. The aim of this review was to assess, the effectiveness of Chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthrinse against plaque growth, gingival inflammation as well as the degree of staining. Three databases were searched Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), reference lists of [read the full story…]
Dental anxiety is still a relatively common problem. It usually develops in childhood an early adolescence. The aim of this review was to identify and evaluate self-report measures of dental anxiety that have been used to assess children’s dental anxiety since the 1998 review by Newton and Buck. The authors were planning to Provide:- a [read the full story…]
There are three new Cochrane review protocols on the September issue of the Cochrane Library. Chi CC, Wang SH, Peters MC, Kanjirath PP, Delamere FM, Wojnarowska F. Interventions for prevention of herpes simplex labialis (cold sores on the lips). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD010095. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010095. The main aim [read the full story…]
Early diagnosis and effective treatment of dementia will help large numbers of the population remain independent for longer. Cholinesterase inhibitors are one of the anti-dementia drugs that are used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, and they are often used immediately after diagnosis. This new systematic review from the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, looks at [read the full story…]
Pain is not uncommon after dental procedures. This can be linked with an increase in fear of dental procedures and the possible avoidance of treatment. This is of particular importance in children and adolescents and the use of pre-operative analgesics had been suggested as a way of reducing peri-operative pain. The aim of this Cochrane [read the full story…]
On returning home from a recent Pilates class I wondered to myself as to what effect, if any, the exercises had on my movement and posture. I reflected also on the fact that nearly every exercise class that I had been to recently seemed to emphasise the importance of having a good ‘core’. Physiotherapists are [read the full story…]
