Outside the Box Ideas

Are common treatments for low back pain - more MRIs, strong pain medication, injection therapy and surgery working? And if they are, why has the number of LBP sufferers remained stagnant? Is it because LBP care is becoming progressively discordant with clinical guidelines? Is there more to LBP than meets the eye? 

This course will critically reassess LBP and consider other factors that could be influencing your patients’ LBP – and give you tools to approach LBP differently.

The theory of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) caused by trigger points (TrPs) has long been accepted by many practitioners who work hard to treat this condition. 

However, the authors of this article maintain that there is no scientific basis for this diagnosis. So what now? What if patients present with the clinical phenomena associated with MPS and TrPs? 

This paper looks at all the evidence relating to the subject and offers plausible explanations and considerations for the treatment of MPS patients.

Manual and physical therapists often use a postural–structural–biomechanical (PSB) model to ascertain the causes of various musculoskeletal conditions. It is believed that postural deviations, body asymmetries and pathomechanics are the predisposing/maintaining factors for many musculoskeletal conditions. The PSB model also plays an important role in clinical assessment and management, including the choice of manual techniques and the exercise prescribed.

However, this model has been eroded by research in the last two decades, introducing profound challenges to the practice of manual and physical therapy. This on-line course will examine how the sciences are challenging the PSB model, using lower back pain as an example.