This paper, with results that many find very surprising, has started a bit of a buzz in the PT world. What do we make of the results? Can we trust the results? What does this mean in clinical practice? We were able to discuss these topics and more with the researchers themselves as Adrian Traeger and James McAuley were kind enough to share their time and help us navigate these new findings. Don't miss this episode! Effect of Intensive Patient Education vs Placebo Patient Education on Outcomes in Patients With Acute Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Traeger AC, Lee H, Hübscher M, Skin ..read more

Research on chronic pain tends to aim at identifying factors that are in deficit, or are the so called "risk factors" for those who develops chronic pain. In this episode, we discuss a paper that takes a different angle in looking at what factors do those people who are successfully living well with chronic pain share. The primary author is friend of the show, Bronnie Thompson, who has made guest appearances in previous episodes. Living well with chronic pain: a classical grounded theory. Lennox Thompson B, Gage J, Kirk R. Disabil Rehabil. 2019 Jan 11:1-12. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1517195 ..read more

Sandy and Cory discuss a recent paper that did not find an effect of providing education with therapeutic alliance in a chronic low back pain population. Does that settle the question of whether establishing a therapeutic alliance is worthwhile, or is there more to it? Of course there's more to it. Listen in on the conversation and see if you agree with our take. Education With Therapeutic Alliance Did Not Improve Symptoms in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain and Low Risk of Poor Prognosis Compared to Education Without Therapeutic Alliance: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Miyamoto GC, Fagunde ..read more

In this episode, Sandy and Cory take a look at this popular publication from 2019 proposing an "Enactive Approach" to pain. There's a lot to cover in this paper as it takes us through a history of pain science up to the Biopsychosocial model at which point it proceeds to point out some flaws in the model. GASP! Take a listen as the discussion unfolds. An enactive approach to pain: beyond the biopsychosocial model. Peter Stilwell & Katherine Harman. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 18, pages637–665(2019). doi: 10.1007/s11097-019-09624-7. Music by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.co ..read more

The gang is all here (except Greg) for another festive dump of holiday cheer! Happy Holidays everyone ..read more

Pain flare-ups are one of the most frustrating things for patients and clinicians alike. Are they normal? Who gets them? Why is it important to know their prevalence? What are Sandy and Cory's thoughts on dealing with them?  All this and more in episode 50! Prevalence, Severity, and Correlates of Pain Flares in Response to a Repeated Sit-to-Stand Activity: A Cross-sectional Study of 14 902 Patients With Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis in Primary Care. Søren T Skou, Dorte T Grønne, Ewa M Roos. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2020 Jun;50(6):309-318. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2019.9125. Epub 2019 Sep 6 ..read more

We are joined in this episode by Professor Lorimer Moseley AO for a casual chat about pain. Lorimer gave us his thoughts on recent and future clinical research and the translation of the evidence into the clinic.  Is there an expiration date for recovery from persistent pain? How can we enhance learning the things that matter? Was it a mistake to think that we could/should explain pain? Does Sandy work pelvic health examples into this conversation? Music by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com: Intro - Brandenburg No4 and Meatball Parade Close - Meatball Parade ..read more

Is it safe to exercise and lift heavy things for people with pelvic organ prolapse symptoms? Or put more bluntly, will lifting heavy weights make your lady bits fall out? Is lifting weight asking for trouble? That is the question that our guest this month is seeking to answer and Sandy and Cory sit down to ask some questions about her recently published cross sectional study that is a start to this research. There are some important implications of this and potentially some misconceptions that are driving current approaches. Please listen as we are joined by physiotherapist and PhD candidate ..read more

These questions arise very frequently in rehabilitation. Should it hurt? Is it OK if it hurts? Will I set myself back if it hurts? Will I get better if it doesn't hurt? In this episode we examine a pair of articles that examine these questions. One article is an RCT that covers pain free vs. painful exercise in an acutely injured population, while the other is a systematic review and meta analysis of the approach in chronic pain populations. Pain-Free Versus Pain-Threshold Rehabilitation Following Acute Hamstring Strain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Hickey JT, Timmins RG, Maniar N, Ri ..read more

A recent Cochrane review looked at studies of people with rotator cuff tears comparing those who had surgery with those who did not. What do you think they found? Did surgery provide benefit? Is it OK to go without surgery in these cases? Sandy and Cory discuss these findings and provide their clinical commentary in this episode of Pain Science and Sensibility. Surgery for rotator cuff tears. Karjalainen TV, Jain NB, Heikkinen J, Johnston RV, Page CM, Buchbinder R. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Dec 9;12:CD013502. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013502. Due to copyright laws, unless the article is o ..read more