Weak evidence shows small effect of splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome: a new Cochrane Review

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Did you know that the prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in developed countries is about 50 -160 cases per 1000? It affects women more than men and typically develops between 50 to 54 and 75 to 84 years. It is also common during pregnancy  affecting up to 50% of pregnant women, the good news for [read the full story…]

Systematic review of patient-specific instruments measuring physical function

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While talking to a fellow Elf recently at the World Congress of Active Ageing in Glasgow this week about the core set of outcome measures that have been introduced across Scotland as part of its re-designed musculoskeletal pathways (NHS Scotland, 2012) she asked me an interesting question: “do you think that a patient-specific functional scale [read the full story…]

8th World Congress on Active Ageing, Glasgow, Scotland 13-17th August 2012

The 8th World Congress on Active Ageing will be taking place in 13-17th August 2012 in the City of Glasgow, Scotland. Held every 4 years, this showcase event will take place over 5 days in the prestigious Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre adjacent to the historic River Clyde. It presents a unique opportunity to bring [read the full story…]

British Journal of Radiology Olympic special feature

xray skeleton freestyle jump

Continuing with our London 2012 Olympic theme the British Institute of Radiology have produced an Olympic special feature looking at the impact and uses of imaging and radiology in sports medicine. The Olympic medical teams at London 2012 are involved in caring for elite athletes as they prepare for their chance at gold.  The Musculoskeletal [read the full story…]

Knee and/or ankle osteoarthritis in former elite soccer players

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In this series of blogs with a London 2012 Olympic flavour we have discussed the evidence on the main running related injuries, neuromuscular warm up strategies and tape for patellofemoral pain syndrome.  I’m going to London to watch the women’s Olympic football semi finals at Wembley Stadium this week. I hope that I will be [read the full story…]

Patellar taping for treating patellofemoral pain syndrome

fragile tape

Have you noticed on the fantastic TV coverage of the London Olympics 2012 that many of the athletes have medical tape applied directly to their skin. The Dutch women beach volleyball players even had designer tape and the water-polo team must have had waterproof tape. When I was a young Elf in the mid 80s [read the full story…]

Neuromuscular warm-up strategies can reduce lower extremity injury incidence

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Today’s blog continues our London 2012 Olympic theme and some of the comments in response to our blog on running related musculoskeletal injuries on 1st August. The old adage that ‘prevention is better than cure’ appears to be true according to the results of a systematic review, published in BMC Medicine. The review evaluated the [read the full story…]

Running-related musculoskeletal injuries

athletic track with 2012 and Union flag

Welcome to the Musculoskeletal Elf! This is the first of many regular articles that we plan to publish on this website; highlighting reliable musculoskeletal research and guidance for health and social care professionals. Our first few blogs will have relevance to the London 2012 summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games taking place just now. Well done [read the full story…]