Written by Blog Posts
Harrison Vaughan, PT, DPT at In Touch PT delves into some current evidence and clinical reasoning related to mechanical traction for patients presenting with neck pain (“What is Your Clinical Reasoning Behind Using Cervical Traction?“). As he states, the current CPR is unvalidated and likely leaves out many patients who could potentially benefit from this intervention.
Once again, Mike Reinold, PT, DPT, SCS, ATC, CSCS has provided several great posts over the past few months. One post of particular note titled, “Are We Putting Our Kids at Risk for Youth Baseball Injuries?“, discusses the importance of understanding what young overhead athletes can and cannot tolerate. Additionally, a guest post written by Peter Nelson lays out the recent research and principles related to groin injuries in ice hockey players.
The Manual Therapist has again provided great content, one great post was a guest article written by Andrew M. Ball, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, CMTPT titled, “DPT vs Experience“. Which is most important? Well, neither is and the sooner our profession realizes this, the better. An entry-level graduate will not have the tools or clinical reasoning skills that an experienced clinician has, regardless of educational level. However, I believe current DPT graduates are starting at and performing at a higher level than their predecessors. Both aspects are important in becoming an ‘expert clinician’ and in my opinion, you cannot have one without the other.
Over at The Sports Physio, several informative articles have been published over the past few months. The first two of note have to do with the assessment and treatment of sacroilliac joint disorders (“What is the best way to reliably assess the Sacroiliac Joint?” and “What is the best way to treat a painful Sacroiliac Joint?“). While I cannot say I 100% agree with his conclusions, I do agree that palpating for ‘rotations’ or ‘fixations’ in this region should be phased out of clinicians’ clinical reasoning schemes. While we likely do not fix ‘malalignments’, manual treatments in this region often provide pain relief based on a more neurophysiological course of action than anything in the neighborhood of biomechanical. Next up, a great review of everything postrolateral corner was written by Richard Norris (“The Postero-Lateral Corner, the “Dark side of the Knee”“). Definitely worth a read.
Finally, over at the AAOMPT Student SIG’s Blog, Scot Morrison posted a fantastic review of the current state of pain science and the importance of implementing this information in our assessment/treatment of patients (“Pain Series: A look at the role of movement in relation to pain“). This article provides a great resource for those that need a better understanding of modern pain science and, more specifically, the neuromatrix theory initially proposed by Ronald Melzach back in 1989. Obviously, much has changed since then with regards to the neuromatrix theory and pain science in general and this is where this article provides great information for any reader.
Research
Ardern CL, et al. Psychological Responses Matter in Returning to Preinjury Level of Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2013;41(7):1549–1558.
Bialosky JE, et al. Patient Expectations of Benefit from Interventions for Neck Pain and Resulting Influence on Outcomes. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(7):457–465.
Cleland JA, et al. Manual Physical Therapy and Exercise Versus Supervised Home Exercise in the Management of Patients Status Post Inversion Ankle Sprain: A Multi-Center Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(7):443–456.
Cynn HS, et al. Musculoskeletal Predictors of Movement Quality for the Forward Step Down Test in Asymptomatic Women. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(7):504–510.
de Oliveira RF, et al. Immediate Effects of Region-Specific and Non-Region-Specific Spinal Manipulative Therapy in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Physical Therapy. 2013;93(6):748–756.
Donaldson M, et al. The Role of Patients’ Expectation of Appropriate Initial Manual Therapy Treatment in Outcomes for Patients with Low Back Pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2013;36(5):276–283.
Ha SM, et al. Selective Activation of the Infraspinatus Muscle. Journal of Athletic Training. 2013;48(3):346–352.
Kelley MJ, et al. Shoulder Pain and Mobility Deficits: Adhesive Capsulitis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(5):A1–A31.
Masaracchio M, et al. Short-term Combined Effects of Thoracic Spine Thrust Manipulation and Cervical Spine Non-thrust Manipulation in Individuals With Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(3):118–128.
Pappas E, et al. Asymmetries in Functional Hop Tests, Lower Extremity Kinematics and Isokinetic Strength Persist 6-9 Months Following ACL Reconstruction. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(3):154–162.
Pierce CM, et al. Ice Hockey Goaltender Rehabilitation, Including On-Ice Progression, After Arthroscopic Hip Surgery for Femoroacetabular Impingement. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2013;43(3):129–141.
Yim JH, et al. A Comparative Study of Meniscectomy and Nonoperative Treatment for Degenerative Horizontal Tears of the Medial Meniscus. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2013;41(7):1565–1570.
John Snyder, DPT 