Review Archives - TrackActive Pro

Penny, a 40 year old graphic designer had been seeing her physiotherapist on and off for low back pain for 3 years. Things were still pretty up and down. She’d been consistent with her strengthening and mobility exercises making sure she put aside 15 minutes every day to get that done. She had also made sure her workstation was set up well and she took frequent breaks to walk around and move. But she could never fully shift the pain in her back and she’d started to accept that maybe it would never go.

If you work in a clinic in a big city, then neck pain is probably one of the most common condition you manage. In office workers, neck problems are quite likely due to a poor workplace and postural habits, stress and long hours, combined with physical deconditioning due to inactivity. Addressing these issues is key to getting these patients better and below we highlight some key points in successfully managing neck pain.

As clinicians we often see patients with degenerative joints. Part of our advice is to keep active and keep those joints moving. However sometimes we don’t always fully understand the rationale for the advice we give. This blog is all about articular cartilage and why we should continue to encourage patients to ‘keep on moving’.

For many practitioners, neural tissue gliding exercises form a large part of managing nerve-related pain. Whilst these techniques are commonly practiced, our own literature review has only been able to uncover a paucity of evidence supporting its use. Published systematic reviews have also indicated this (Ellis et al 2008). This is not to say that these techniques are ineffective, but rather there appears to be far more research required to demonstrate their benefits. In this review, we will look at the quality research there is, which may help to guide your selection of these techniques.

Remaining competitive is at the forefront of any business owner’s mind. This requires insight into what your practice should look like in the future and responding to this. A commissioned research report by the Australian Physiotherapy Association in 2013 takes a lot of the guess work out of this, and if you are a practice owner, or an aspiring one, it is a highly recommended read. We’ve summarised some key points from this document below to describe what your practice should look like in 2025.

According to Dean et al (2005), only 37% of patients with low back pain actually do their exercises as prescribed by their health practitioner. This figure is astonishingly low, and obviously will contribute to poor patient outcomes, and low job satisfaction for the practitioner who has a vested interest in patient well-being. A practitioner who is able to get their patients exercising correctly will get better outcomes, have happier patients, and over time this will lead to a greater number of referrals. So why are patients not doing their exercises? Here are a few thoughts…