Hi I am Tracey Howe. I am a Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK and Deputy Chair of Glasgow City of Science. I am also an editor for the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group and a convenor for the Cochrane Health Care of Older People Field. I am a Trustee of the Picker Institute Europe.
I started my career as a physiotherapist in the National Health Service in England. I have extensive experience of assessing the quality of research in Universities in the UK and internationally. I enjoy strategic visioning, creative problem-solving, and creating vibrant, multi-disciplinary environments, through collaboration, partnerships, and relationships, that empower others to succeed.
This systematic review examines the effectiveness of manual therapy and exercise on adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) a common cause of shoulder pain and stiffness.
How effective is Tai Chi on quality of life for people with musculoskeletal conditions? This mind-body exercise is often used by people with musculoskeletal conditions as part of a self-management strategy.
This Cochrane review authored by the MSK Elf examines the effectiveness of exercise interventions in preventing bone loss and fractures in postmenopausal women.
This blog is a review of the global and regional prevalence, disability and overall burden and costs for common musculoskeletal disorders including low back and neck pain, hip and knee osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and other conditions.
Hello to our faithful followers and a warm welcome to anyone reading these blogs for the first time. The Musculoskeletal Elf is emerging from hibernation ready for more regular blogs starting in the New Year.
A friend of mine is currently training to be a Yoga instructor. This got me thinking about Yoga and musculoskeletal conditions. The different Yoga poses focus on increasing the flexibility of the joints and improving postural stability through improvements in muscle strength. Yoga also aims to release the tension on muscles with the aim of [read the full story…]
I was watching the Liverpool v Manchester United football match yesterday and was interested in the pre-match warm up the players were doing. There was lots of stretching of the hamstrings going on. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes and frequently result in long delays in return to sport. So what is the comparative effectiveness [read the full story…]
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 [read the full story…]
Chronic pain is a major health concern, which increases in prevalence and impact with age. This is important as chronic pain can result in a significant decrease in function and quality of life along with an increase in use of health and social care. Self-management is a potentially inexpensive form of pain management and it [read the full story…]