If you've rolled an ankle, you know what comes next: sickening, nauseating pain. And then a big bag of frozen peas. Ice, plus a compression sock, rest and sticking your leg on a stack of pillows, is the standard treatment for strains, sprains and bruises, [...]
Low back pain is the single biggest cause of years lived with disability worldwide, and a major challenge to international health systems. In 2018, the Lancet Low Back Pain Series Working Group identified a global problem of mismanagement of low back pain. The group documented the [...]
Profs Rachelle Buchbinder and Chris Maher share their thoughts on how big pharma creates markets and influences organisations and government - profit-driven healthcare in the age of too much medicine.
1 in 4 Australians experiences low back pain on any given day. But research shows active recovery can help you find relief.
One in four patients who presented to primary care with LBP received imaging as did one in three who presented to the emergency department. The rate of complex imaging appears to have increased over 21 years despite guideline advice and education campaigns.
Subacromial pain syndrome is common and debilitating, often affecting sleep. Keyhole surgery that shaves away bone in the shoulder is a popular treatment choice — but it doesn’t perform any better than placebo and should be stopped, according to a new paper in the BMJ.
Do adults with atraumatic shoulder pain for more than 3 months diagnosed as subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS), also labelled as rotator cuff disease, benefit from subacromial decompression surgery? This guideline builds on to two recent high quality trials of shoulder surgery. The panel concluded that [...]
Back pain has almost reached epidemic levels in this country with a quarter of us suffering through it and spending millions of dollars trying to manage it. Now, there are some bold new ideas.
Low back pain (affecting the back between the bottom of the ribs and the top of the legs) is a common condition. Over the years research has improved our understanding of how to treat it. We now know that a lot of advice given in [...]
Millions of patients with back pain are being given pointless drugs, surgery and injections, with a third prescribed dangerous opioids, experts say. Doctors prefer to offer useless and often harmful treatments rather than tell patients there is nothing to be done except stay active, an [...]