Dear friends

As its almost the end of the year the Musculoskeletal Elf will be having a short break from today over the festive season and will return in the New Year for more views on interesting and reliable research and guidance relevant for musculoskeletal conditions.

We thought that we would have a look at our highlights since our very first blog on 1st August 2012, which also saw the start of our facebook page and twitter posts @MSK_Elf. Since then we have posted 55 blogs, have 283 likes on facebook and 833 followers on twitter and have sent 664 tweets.

WOW not bad at all. A special BIG THANKS to all our followers, keep up the comments, likes, tweets and re-tweets and spread the word. Other notable highlights include:

• Two of our Elves, Dr Heather Gray and Dr Lesley Dawson graduating with Professional Doctorates from Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.
• The investiture of three new Elves, Jane Green, Chris Seenan and Shiv Shanmugam who you will hear more from next year.

We have also supported and participated in several physical activity campaigns

• Worldwide Exercise Flash-Mob 23rd – 29th November 2012 and Worldwide Exercise Flash-Mob starts today 23rd November 2012
• MSK Elf joins Glasgow Santa Dash
• Support World Physiotherapy Day and get ‘Fit for Life’
• Launch of new free ‘musculoskeletal help’ app

Our first few blogs discussed topics of relevance to the London 2012 summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Well done Team GB and Paralympic team GB.

• Running related Injuries
• Neuromuscular warm up strategies
• Patella taping for PFPS
• Knee and ankle osteoarthritis in former elite soccer players
• British Journal of Radiology Olympic special feature.
• How to create a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games?

Low back pain

• Physiotherapy functional restoration
• Risk of school teachers developing musculoskeletal disorders
• Modifying patterns of movement
• Risk Factors for the Onset of Nonspecific Low Back Pain in Office Workers
• Effectiveness of self-management
• Clinical screening tests for assessing movement control
• Global prevalence
  
• Targeted interventions for Yellow Flags in persistent low back pain
• The effectiveness of graded activity
  
• Recovery expectations predict absence from work due to chronic low back pain
• Telephone coaching 
• The prognosis of acute and persistent low-back pain
• Defining Pilates exercise

Hip and Knee

• Knee and/or ankle osteoarthritis in former elite soccer players
• Osteoarthritis of the hip or knee and work participation: a systematic review
• Cryotherapy following total knee replacement surgery
• Risk Factors for Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
• A Hierarchy of Patient-Reported Outcomes for Meta-Analysis of Knee Osteoarthritis Trials
• Does exercise reduce pain and improve physical function before hip or knee replacement surgery?
• Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation
• Management of the greater trochanteric pain syndrome
• Is Work Load a Risk Factor for Osteoarthritis of the Hip?

 Shoulder

• 

  Which physical examination tests provide clinicians with the most value when examining the shoulder?

• Exercise for rotator cuff tendinopathy
• The Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Exercises in Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

Physical activity and exercise

• How to create a physical activity legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games?
• Physical Activity Levels in Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Exercise for life: Physical activity in health and disease
• UK’s Chartered Society of Physiotherapy guidelines on falls prevention

Well more from us next year….watch this space…