Musculoskeletal System

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of treatment of the cervical spine in patients with persistent post-concussion symptoms: A retrospective analysis

Musculoskeletal Science & Practice June 2017 Volume 29, Pages 91–98 Ewan Kennedy Highlights The cervical spine may contribute to persistent post-concussion symptoms. Physical examination is important to identify those with a cervicogenic component. Pain on manual segmental testing appears a key feature of a cervicogenic component. Neck treatment appears to benefit neck-related persistent post-concussion symptoms. […]

Mechanical effects of traction on lumbar intervertebral discs: A magnetic resonance imaging study

Musculoskeletal Science & Practice June 2017 Volume 29, Pages 78–83 Daniel H.K. Chow, PhD Highlights Mechanical effects of traction on lumbar discs was evaluated using MRI. Horizontal traction using 42% of body weight was associated with an increased disc height of lower lumbar discs. Horizontal traction also resulted in reduced lordosis and change in tilt angle. The […]

Adverse events in a chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy single-blinded, placebo, randomized controlled trial for migraineurs – Fulll Text Article

Musculoskeletal Science & Practice June 2017  Volume 29, Pages 66–71 Aleksander Chaibi, PhD (student) Highlights Manual-therapy RCTs do not always report adverse events (AEs) in contrast to pharmacological RCTs. This is the first prospective manual-therapy 3-armed single-blinded placebo RCT reporting all AEs for migraineurs. Local tenderness, tiredness and neck pain were the most common AEs. […]

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Effective for Treating Low-Back Pain in the Short-Term

May 04, 2017 Annals of Internal Medicine TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors of this meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for the treatment of low-back pain. There was an association between MBSR and improved pain and physical functioning in the short-term, but this was not sustained. There was no impact on disability, mental […]

Young athletes with previous knee injury had higher risk of OA

May 2, 2017 LAS VEGAS — Young athletes who previously sustained an intra-articular knee injury had a higher risk of structural changes associated with future osteoarthritis, according to results presented at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International World Congress. “Young adults around the age of 22 [years] who sustained an intra-articular knee injury when they were […]

Fibromyalgia Is Not All In Your Head, New Research Confirms

Researchers discover a rational biological source of pain in the skin of patients with fibromyalgia[June 14, 2013, Rensselaer, NY] – Fibromyalgia, a painful condition affecting approximately 10 million people in the U.S., is not imaginary after all, as some doctors have believed. A discovery, published this month in PAIN MEDICINE (the journal of the American […]

Osteoarthritis: Knee joint degeneration slowed with weight loss, study confirms

Written by Honor Whiteman Published: Tuesday 2 May 2017 Obesity is a known risk factor for osteoarthritis, one of the leading causes of disability in the United States. A new study provides evidence that losing weight can slow the development of osteoarthritis of the knee by reducing the degeneration of knee cartilage. Researchers found that […]

The relationships between low back pain and lumbar lordosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Spine J. 2017 May 2. pii: S1529-9430(17)30191-2. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2017.04.034. [Epub ahead of print] Chun SW Abstract BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Clinicians regard lumbar lordotic curvature (LLC) with respect to low back pain (LBP) in a contradictory fashion. The time-honored point of view is that LLC itself, or its increment, causes LBP. On the other hand, recently, the […]

Cold Application Decreases Fibromyalgia Pain

This article shows that a 10-minute cold application on the trapezius muscle tied to significant decrease in pain score. MONDAY, May 1, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Local cold applications on the trapezius muscles significantly decreases the pain of patients with fibromyalgia, according to a study published online April 17 in the International Journal of Rheumatic […]

Researchers: Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain Comparable to NSAIDs

APRIL 27, 2017 Spinal manipulation therapy was shown to have modest improvements on pain and function at up to six weeks in patients with acute low back pain (LBP), according to a study published in JAMA (2017;317:1451-1460). Moreover, the therapy was associated with only “temporary minor musculoskeletal harms,” according to the researchers. Paul G. Shekelle, […]

US Army phasing out sit-ups due to spine injuries

DECEMBER 23, 2015 BY SOCIALMEDIA UPDATE:  FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Maryland — The Marine Corps has announced today that revisions have been made to its physical fitness program, to include the Physical Fitness Test (PFT), Combat Fitness Test (CFT) and the Body Composition Program (BCP).  Changes to BCP will take effect immediately, while PFT and […]

The Role of Spinal Manipulation in the Treatment of Low Back Pain – Full Text JAMA Article by R. Deyo

The Role of Spinal Manipulation in the Treatment of Low Back Pain R. Deyo JAMA. 2017;317(14):1418-1419. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.3085 Download Full Text Article

Magnesium may prevent bone fractures

Written by Ana Sandoiu Published: Thursday 13 April 2017 New research – conducted by scientists from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio – suggests that low levels of magnesium may increase the risk of bone fractures and that, conversely, high levels may ward off this […]

Association of Mild Leg Length Discrepancy and Degenerative Changes in the Hip Joint and Lumbar Spine

J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2017 Apr 17. pii: S0161-4754(17)30065-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2017.03.001. [Epub ahead of print] Murray KJ1, Molyneux T1, Le Grande MR2, Castro Mendez A3, Fuss FK4, Azari MF5. Author information Abstract OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between mild leg length discrepancy (LLD) and degenerative joint disease (DJD) or […]

FDA Approves Hand Held Vagus Nerve Stimulation Device for Cluster Headache

Deborah Brauser April 18, 2017 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation device for the treatment of pain from episodic cluster headache in adults, the manufacturer announced. The thumbs-up decision for the gammaCore (electroCore LLC) marks the agency’s first release of a hand-held, neck-applied device for this indication. The portable […]

Leaning Forward During Smartphone Use May Cause ‘Text Neck’

By Carolyn Crist April 18, 2017 (Reuters Health) – Spine surgeons are noticing an increase in patients with neck and upper back pain, likely related to poor posture during prolonged smartphone use, according to a recent report. Some patients, particularly young patients who shouldn’t yet have back and neck issues, are reporting disk hernias and […]

DASH Diet Can Reduce Serum Uric Acid Within 30 Days

April 13, 2017 Clinical Rheumatology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Participants adhering to either the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or a control diet underwent repeated serum uric acid (SUA) measurement to evaluate the time required for the DASH diet to affect SUA levels. The participants following the DASH diet had a reduction in SUA of […]

The Effectiveness and Harms of Spinal Manipulative Therapy for the Treatment of Acute Neck and Lower Back Pain: A Systematic Review

Back pain and neck pain are among the most common symptoms prompting patients to seek care. Many treatments are used for back pain. Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a treatment option available in VA. In order to better understand the potential role of SMT in treating acute back or neck pain, VA requested an up-to-date […]

Cervical traction therapy with and without neck support: A finite element analysis

Musculoskeletal Science & Practice April 2017 Volume 28, Pages 1–9 Kuan Wang Highlights •This study analyzed the biomechanics of two cervical traction therapies. •Tension was uniformly distributed from C4-C6 with neck support. •Tension was uniformly distributed at the C6-C7 levels without neck support. •The intradiscal pressure decreased during both traction therapies. Abstract Background Cervical traction is commonly […]

Dietary protein and bone health: A systematic review and meta-analysis from the National Osteoporosis Foundation

APRIL 13, 2017 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ShamsWhite MM, et al. – Researchers assessing the impacts of dietary protein consumption alone and with calcium with or without vitamin D (Ca±D) on bone health measures in adults. Current evidence shows no adverse impacts of higher protein consumptions. Although there were positive trends on bone mineral […]