Irritable bowel, chronic widespread pain, chronic fatigue and related syndromes are prevalent and highly overlapping in the general population. This is the title of a new 2020 study, which just reaffirms what we know here- these issues should not be seen as separate medical conditions but together as part of one condition, which the researchers […]
Research evidence in 9 of 11 studies show that lifting with a flexed (bent over) spine is NOT a risk factor for low back pain. We need more studies but what the current research says falls in line with common sense. The back is designed to flex forward. We need to relax the spine more […]
Great to see more and more awareness coming forth in our PT profession about the understanding of pain, how we think about it, and how we treat it. Recent Feb 2020 article titled: What have Pain Sciences brought to Physiotherapy (PT)? Results: “Scientific research on pain has largely converged in support of three ‘game-changing’ concepts […]
Here’s a recent 2019 study showing that Olympic level volleyball players who are playing with no symptoms have extensive “pathology” in the shoulder. The reason I share these studies is to educate people that many times structural ‘abnormalities’ in and of themselves do not have direct relationships to pain. We need to look at the […]
What better study to show the power of negative thinking (catastrophizing) and how it can contribute to chronic pain than looking at people who have had a whole knee joint replaced but continue to have pain afterwards. If you take out a damaged joint and it’s the cause of pain, the pain should go away. […]
New 2020 research study looked at 220 asymptomatic knees with MRI scans. What they found just adds more evidence to what we already know: structural ‘abnormalities’ do not cause pain in a lot of people. Here’s the conclusion in the author’s words: “Nearly all knees of asymptomatic adults showed abnormalities in at least one knee […]
In addressing chronic pain, we need to address the brain, not just the body. Scientific studies are pointing to that. Here’s a few quotes from this 2019 review research paper. “Several studies have investigated the brain areas associated with emotional aspects of pain. Baliki et al. showed that patients with persistent back pain had greater […]
2019 study looking 1000 people with shoulder pain in the UK found that it is your BELIEF (self-efficacy) that determines if physiotherapy is successful or not. The most important predictor of outcome was the person’s pain and disability at the first appointment. Most of these people still had pain and disability 6 months later. The […]
Dr. Sarno was a pioneer M.D. who found the link between repressed emotions and physical symptoms. I find emotions really interesting as we know so many people have learned to suppress and repress uncomfortable emotions from an early age on. I think this is one of the biggest and least talked about things, and especially […]
Psychosocial factors play a big part in ongoing chronic pain, though you don’t have that many doctors asking patients about these things. Working with people in pain for over 20 years, you hear all sorts of stories and histories. Asking the right questions and looking at the whole person and their life history is so […]
