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…]
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the primary stabilising structure within the knee, limiting anterior translation of tibia on the femur as well as tibial internal rotation. Injuries are more common in high demand sports and usually follow non- contact trauma such as landing incorrectly from a jump, pivoting or decelerating suddenly, but can occur [read the full story…]
What to do Musculoskeletal Elves do on a cold Sunday morning in December? As you know we have been having a physical activity theme to our blogs recently. Well Elves like to keep active and so this Sunday I changed out of my Elf outfit and into the outfit I borrowed from Santa, complete with [read the full story…]
We are continuing our theme this week of exercise and physical activity as the 5×50 worldwide exercise flash-mob challenge starts on Friday 23rd November (see earlier post) Do you know anyone who is waiting for a knee or hip joint replacement? They typically experience pain, reduced muscle strength and function. So how can they prepare [read the full story…]
As you’ve probably gathered by now, we Musculoskeletal Elves are pretty keen to promote psychosocial interventions in the management of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In a previous post I looked at behavioural change interventions, such as, motivational interviewing (MI) with individuals with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. But how effective is MI, as ‘‘a directive, client-centred counselling style for eliciting behaviour change by [read the full story…]
With our 5×50 worldwide exercise flash-mob challenge about to start on Friday 23rd November (see earlier post) we thought we would have a look at evidence related to physical activity and exercise for people with musculoskeletal conditions. The majority of research on people with RA has focused on the effect of exercise training with benefits [read the full story…]
Have you ever had a painful shoulder? Did it get better on its own? I have a friend, not another Elf, who had bilateral frozen shoulders. It was a most functionally limiting and painful problem. Fortunately intra-articular steroid injections saved the day and made a huge difference to both pain and function. If you have [read the full story…]
Saturday 20 October is World Osteoporosis day raising awareness about osteoporosis and fragile bones. In a previous blog The Musculoskeletal Elf discussed Best risk assessment advice for people with fragility fractures. However, despite the availability of effective treatments it appears that the majority of people presenting with a minimal trauma fracture (also known as ‘osteoporotic’, [read the full story…]
