Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee pain

Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee pain – A questionable practice without solid scientific supporting evidence? Keyhole surgery to trim a torn meniscus of the knee (arthroscopic partial meniscectomy) is one of the most common surgical procedures. It is typically performed for middle aged to older adults with knee pain. Some 150 000 knee arthroscopies are performed in the United Kingdom each year. The volume is about five times higher in the United States. In the case of South Africa,

Active Treatment and Exercise Progression is not a "Quick Fix"

In a world of fast results and immediate gratification, we need to take a step back and realize that our bodies do not evolve as technology does. All too often, as physiotherapists and trainers, we are dealing with a patient or client that wants to progress faster; they want pain reduction immediately, a fast return to their active lifestyle, and effective results in the short-term. The “health and wellness” marketers have successfully engrained the thoughts of immediate results with the “Six

Elements of Evidence Based Treatment

Evidence Based Physiotherapy is Active Treatment and a Cognitive Behavioral Approach: What should this consist of? The term and definition of Evidence Based Medicine has been around for quite some time now, but naming and defining what a treatment approach is, well… that is a lot easier than delivering the said definition in a clinical setting. The definition of Evidence Based Treatment is comprised of three different elements: Best Scientific Evidence Clinical Experience and Expertise Patient

It's Taking You Too Long To Come For Treatment

A conversation between a physiotherapist and a new patient: “When was it that you first noticed these shoulder symptoms” Asked the concerned physio. “Oh, I guess it was about two…no wait…two and a half years ago.” replies the evidently slightly over-stressed patient. “And what types of treatment have you had for these shoulder pains so far?” Asked the physiotherapist, who is now more concerned about the extent of potential damage. “I got some muscle relaxants and pain killers from the

DBC Is Not Real Physiotherapy

Over the years I have seen some outstanding individual treatment results coming from the completion of a DBC active rehabilitation treatment protocol. These individual outcomes make up individual case outcomes that are seen in the DBC treatment database of over 115,000 documented treatments; even on an international scale, this amount of individual treatment results is significant. So it struck me as odd when I was completing part of my final physiotherapy studies and mentioned to one of the

Individualized Treatment for Low Back Pain

The systematic Cochrane reviews are regarded as the top source of reliable information on the efficacy of various medical interventions. The reviews are not read only by physicians but also by patients and stakeholders. The evidence supported by the Cochrane reviews is indisputable for exercise-based therapy in all focus areas of DBC, i.e. knee, shoulder, neck and low back problems. Besides exercises, there is also evidence based on the systematic reviews for the use of manual techniques in neck