Should you use or prescribe rubefacients (creams and lotions that irritate the skin) to relieve musculoskeletal pain? We report on a new Cochrane systematic review that focuses on salicylate-containing rubefacients for acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain.
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Does exercise training improve strength in knee osteoarthritis in the short, medium and long term and what about function? This systematic review gives us an insight.
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In her first blog Lynne Rowley, team leader for Orthotics at NHS Forth Valley in Scotland, discusses a new systematic review and meta-analysis examining the biomechanical effects of valgus knee braces in patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis.
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Are you standing comfortably? It’s time for Tracey Howe to tell us about the efficacy of different electrical stimulation therapies on pain relief of patients with knee osteoarthritis.
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Lesley Dawson highlights a recent study that analysed how failures are defined in cartilage surgery and how survival rates may change according to different definitions.
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Do GPs tell people that osteoarthritis or ‘wear and tear’ is a normal part of ageing and nothing can be done? This recent narrative review sought to find out.
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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.
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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.
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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…]
Have you ever tried to compare the results of different clinical trials only to find that different outcome measures have been used in each and often in each study more than one outcome measure is reported. This is a common problem for systematic reviewers. When faced with more than one outcome measure which should be [read the full story…]
