NHS Evidence have published an evidence update on generalised anxiety disorder in adults. Evidence updates are summaries of selected high quality evidence that has appeared since the relevant guideline was published, in this case NICE clinical guideline 113 ‘Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) in adults: management in primary, secondary and community care’ [read the full story…]
Today sees the opening of the Physiotherapy UK Conference, which is the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s new flagship annual event. Unsurprisingly, the programme in the musculoskeletal theme contains several presentations related to back pain. Seeing as this is still back pain week, I thought that I would continue from my previous blog about Yellow Flags and focus [read the full story…]
People with bipolar disorder have high levels of post 16 years education, but it’s estimated that only half of those living in Europe with the condition are in paid employment. This is a real concern because the illness typically affects young and middle-aged people who would normally be active in the workforce. Of course, living [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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
