Referred Pain

What is it? Referred pain can be confusing and often misunderstood. Patients regularly present to us in clinical practice with referred pain symptoms. But what is it? Where does it come from? and why can it be so different?  Firstly…

Your back is not out!!!

Ok, this is potentially going to upset a few people... Mostly because what we are discussing today will go against some long held beliefs of many practitioners and their patients. The old "structural" model of understanding in relation…

Demonising the tilt: Is pelvic posture misconceived and misinterpreted?

I’ve been told I have back pain because I have an anterior pelvic tilt… Is there really a causal relationship between pelvic tilt and pain? Let’s start this with an example... 2 patients walk into a clinic. The first one…

Running Injuries

It has got to be the simplest, most accessible, yet frustrating sport known to human-kind. Yep, running… You either love it or you hate it. For me, it was a deep passion for almost 20 years and now is something that I have learned to…

Overservicing patients

Are you guilty of this❓ I’m likely to get a few people off side with this article, but it is something that needs to be shared.Overservicing our patients is a problem for so many reasons, and we can fall into this trap in a number…

I have Sciatica…

What does that even mean?! Sciatica is a symptom that may be originating from a plethora of pathophysiological causes. Firstly, we should consider that the layman may understand sciatica as ANY pain that is referred into the leg, and…

Do you take ownership?

Would you agree with this...? Assuming responsibility in any given situation can be a frightening proposition because that responsibility requires you to be accountable to the outcome being sought. What "taking ownership" means? For…

Shoulder pain: The influence of imaging and diagnostic labels

How often does a patient present to you in clinic with an imaging report ordered by a GP, (or other practitioner) But the practitioner has not taken the time to go through the report and educate the patient on what it means using normalising…

Gaining trust

One factor in clinical practice that really isn't given enough emphasis in training is TRUST. We focus heavily on the clinical sciences, critical decision making, treatment planning and delivery, but it can be too easy for the patient to…