Physio Edge podcast (general)

How can you accurately assess neck pain patients and choose the most effective treatment to help resolve their pain and prevent recurrence? Find out in part 1 of this two part podcast series with Emeritus Professor Gwendolen Jull, and explore:

  • How to accurately assess patients movements, muscular control, strength, posture, and palpate the cervical spine to identify the source of neck symptoms and contributing factors.
  • Which questions and assessment tests will help you choose treatment that resolves symptoms, fully rehabilitates patients and helps to prevents future episodes of neck pain?
  • How to use clinical reasoning to target your rehab, and decide if your treatment should include neck strengthening, manual therapy, sensory motor control, postural or work position changes?

Download this podcast now to improve your assessment and treatment of neck pain.

The next podcast with Prof Gwen Jull, available soon, will build on the knowledge you gain from part 1, and provide you with additional neck pain treatment strategies.

CLICK HERE to get access to Cervical spine assessment & treatment for neck pain & upper limb symptoms

CLICK HERE to get access to Cervical radiculopathy assessment & treatment case study


Pec minor cops the blame for shoulder pain, scapular dyskinesia and all sorts of upper limb pain and “dysfunction”. Is pec minor shortness or “tightness” really responsible for shoulder pain?

In this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), you’ll discover whether the latest evidence supports pec minor as a major cause of shoulder pain, or whether pec minor is an innocent victim. You’ll also explore:

  • Is pec minor responsible for shoulder pain?
  • Does pec minor truly become “shortened”?
  • Is there a link between a shortened pec minor, scapular dyskinesia and risk of developing shoulder pain?
  • Should the Pectoralis minor be stretched in patients with shoulder pain?
  • Review of pec minor attachments & anatomy
  • Measurement of pec minor length has been shown in the literature to be reliable, but do we need to measure it?
  • What is the most effective way of increasing length in pec minor? Stretching, self release, taping or strengthening the rotator cuff?
  • Does pec minor stretching help to improve shoulder function, mechanics or prevent injury in overhead athletes?
  • How long do ROM improvements following pec minor stretching last?
  • If patients have a clear history of trauma, is pec minor shortness relevant?
  • Is pec minor shortness relevant in thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS)?
  • Can weightlifters develop pec minor tendinopathy?
  • Is it worth assessing pec minor length in shoulder pain patients?
  • Does the evidence support treating PM shortness in shoulder pain patients?

The handout for this podcast is an article referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Article associated with this episode:


Stress fractures and bone stress injuries in running patients need to be identified early, to allow recovery before the injury worsens and requires extensive time away from running. When should you suspect a stress fracture or a bone stress injury (BSI) in your running patients? Find out in the podcast with Tom Goom (Running Physio), and explore:

  • How to identify stress fractures & BSI’s in your patients.
  • Which patients are at greater risk of developing BSI or stress fractures?
  • Features in your patient history, including past & medical history, onset & aggravating factors that increase your suspicion of a stress fracture.
  • Which BSI’s are “high risk”?
  • Common training errors that lead to a stress fracture.
  • What tests can be performed in your objective assessment to help diagnose stress fractures?
  • How to differentiate tendon pain from bone stress injuries
  • Will bruising or swelling appear with bone stress fractures?
  • How palpation can help your diagnosis
  • Why common assessment tests are often painfree in bone stress injuries.
  • When imaging is important.
  • Which imaging modalities to request when you suspect a stress fracture or BSI.

Improve your identification and assessment of stress fractures and bone stress injuries now with this podcast.

 

Your comprehensive guide to ITB assessment & treatment with Tom Goom

If you treat runners, walkers, cyclists or rowers you'll regularly see patients with lateral knee pain from an irritated iliotibial band (ITB).

What causes ITB syndrome? How can you assess, diagnose and successfully treat it?

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to a free three part video series that will help you successfully treat ITB pain, covering:

  • Video 1 - Discover what causes ITBS, how to explain it to your patients, and 2 treatments you NEED to avoid.

  • Video 2 - How to quickly & accurately assess ITBS, other potential diagnoses, and a common ITB test you can stop doing now.

  • Video 3 - How to successfully treat ITBS. You'll explore practical demonstrations of exercises, gait retraining, load management and treatment you can use to get great results with your ITB patients.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to this free ITB video series with Tom Goom.

 

Lateral hip pain assessment, diagnosis & treatment video series

To improve your lateral hip pain assessment, diagnosis & treatment skills, CLICK HERE for your access to 3 free videos presented by Tom Goom


Patients with atraumatic sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) instability may have pain during overhead activities, throwing or playing sport. How can you diagnose and successfully rehabilitate SCJ instability? Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), and explore:

Assessment & diagnosis

  • Which bony surfaces, ligaments and muscles provide stability at the SCJ.
  • Why do patients develop SCJ instability, and what are the risk factors?
  • What the research reveals about SCJ instability.
  • Common symptoms that help you identify SCJ instability.
  • Questions you need to ask that help with diagnosis.
  • Posterior instability - Common symptoms & anatomical structures that can be impacted.
  • How to identify clavicular epiphyseal plate injuries in young athletes.
  • When closing of the proximal clavicular epiphyseal plate occurs, and why this is important to know.

Rehab & recovery

  • Rehab exercises you can use to develop muscular support for the SCJ.
  • How and why you can add C/Sp exercises into SCJ rehab.
  • How long recovery will take your patients.
  • When patients are likely to start noticing improvements in symptoms.
  • Will SCJ instability patients continue to experience instability and pain after rehab?
  • Is this condition self-limiting?
  • How can involvement of the SCJ disc be identified?
  • What imaging can be helpful?
  • When should you request SCJ imaging?
  • When is SCJ surgery indicated?

Jo also answered these questions from FB Live listeners:

  • Does hypermobility change with age?
  • Can asymptomatic SCJ instability occur in weightlifters that do not have hypermobility, and do we need to treat it?
  • Which SCJ patients benefit from injections?
  • When should SCJ injections be avoided?
  • What autoimmune inflammatory conditions may result in SCJ swelling?

The handout for this podcast consists of articles referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Articles associated with this episode:


How can you rehab patients with an acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) injury, or end of range elevation shoulder pain, long term shoulder pain, clavicular osteolysis, or osteoarthritis? What exercises and manual therapy can you use in your rehab program? Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), and discover:

  • Common ACJ mechanisms of injury
  • A recap of ACJ injury classification and treatment pathways for different grades of injury.
  • How useful is X-ray in ACJ injuries, and what is the best imaging for this injury?
  • What imaging should ACJ injury patients have?
  • What are the long term risks for ACJ patients?
  • What factors correlate with worsening ACJ pain?
  • Can atraumatic instability occur at the ACJ?
  • What movements should be assessed in ACJ injury patients?
  • Why is symptom modification helpful in shoulder pain and ACJ patients?
  • What compensatory movement patterns do patients adapt that may contribute to ongoing pain?
  • How can we help to break the cycle of ACJ pain?
  • What tests can be performed to identify the best treatment for individual ACJ patients?
  • What muscles help to improve stability around the ACJ, and how can these be targeted in ACJ injury patients?
  • What exercises can be used in initial ACJ rehab?
  • How can ACJ rehab be progressed?
  • How can end range pain (ERP) be improved in ACJ patients?
  • How to identify when scapular mechanics affect the ACJ.
  • Exercises that improve scapular mechanics in ACJ patients?
  • When is manual therapy useful in ACJ patients?
  • What combination of manual therapy or mobilisation with movement and exercises can be used in ACJ patients?
  • What role can the ACJ play in shoulder pain?
  • Does the ACJ need to be symptomatic to cause shoulder pain?
  • What common symptoms make you suspect the ACJ is involved in shoulder pain?

Answers to live listener questions:
What humeral fractures or bone stress injuries occur in throwing athletes?
Who develops humeral spiral fractures or stress fractures?
Are recreational or high level athletes more likely to develop humeral fractures?
Are players more or less likely to have a fracture after having a 6 week break from training?
How can players prevent humeral stress fractures?

Direct download: 117._ACJ_rehab._Physio_Edge_Shoulder_success_podcast_with_Jo_Gibson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm AEDT

How can you diagnose posterior shoulder, neck and supraclavicular pain in your weightlifting patients and throwing athletes? Could a bone stress injury be responsible for your patients pain?

Explore how to assess, diagnose and rehab shoulder pain from bone stress injuries in weightlifters or throwing athletes in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist). Discover:

  • Bone stress injuries in the upper limb and ribcage that cause shoulder pain.
  • What causes first rib stress fractures?
  • Which patients develop first rib bone stress injuries - common populations and activities.
  • Common areas of pain with first rib stress fractures.
  • How to assess & diagnose first rib bone stress injuries.
  • Common painful and restricted movements that help with diagnosis.
  • How to differentiate between a rotator cuff injury and first rib bone stress injuries.
  • Cervical spine & shoulder strength and control assessment tests that help identify where to target your rehab.
  • Do biomechanics in weightlifting matter?
  • How to assess and address weightlifting biomechanics to allow healing and return to sport.
  • Imaging
    • Why imaging is vital in patients with this injury.
    • Common imaging that misses 1st rib bone stress fracture, and what imaging to request that actually identifies it.
  • Why non-healing with the formation of pseudoarthrosis may lead to better outcomes than bony callous formation.
  • Whether patients can return to sport if rib stress fractures don’t heal.
  • How can you rehab patients with 1st rib stress fracture?
  • How to progress rehab exercises.
  • Treatment when 1st rib callus formation is causing thoracic outlet syndrome.

Accurately assess, diagnose & treat stiff shoulders, including frozen shoulder, with this free videos series from Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist) at clinicaledge.co/shoulder

Improve acute shoulder pain diagnosis with 3 free videos from Jo Gibson clinicaledge.co/shoulder

Improve clinical skills, confidence and reasoning for all other areas of the body with a free trial Clinical Edge membership clinicaledge.co/freetrial

The handout for this podcast consists of an article referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Article associated with this episode:


Time for some detective work - can you diagnose the cause of this man’s shoulder pain? Listen out for the clues in this interesting case study.

When your shoulder pain patient has bilateral shoulder pain after starting a gym program, difficulty lifting their arms overhead due to weakness, significant bilateral scapular winging and muscle atrophy, what are your potential diagnoses?

Find out in this case study with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), and discover:

  • When patients have uncommon shoulder pain presentations, what potential diagnoses can you keep in mind?
  • How does it impact your diagnosis if your patient has difficulty smiling, whistling and drinking through a straw?
  • What’s this patients’ diagnosis?
  • What tests can be performed to confirm the diagnosis?
  • Which muscles are commonly affected?
  • How much muscle weakness commonly occurs?
  • What is the long term prognosis for this condition?
  • What treatment is supported by the evidence?
  • Are braces helpful?
  • Which medical specialists are important to include in diagnosis & management?

Accurately assess, diagnose & treat stiff shoulders, including frozen shoulder, with this free videos series from Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist) at clinicaledge.co/shoulder

The handout for this podcast consists of articles referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Articles associated with this episode:


When paediatric or skeletally immature patients have shoulder pain, what diagnoses should be kept in mind? What are the potential diagnoses following trauma, in overuse injuries or “little leaguers shoulder”? What assessment and imaging is required in these patients?

Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), and explore:

  • What growth plate injuries may occur in skeletally immature athletes?
  • The case study of a young athlete with misdiagnosed pain over the acromioclavicular joint (ACJ)
  • A recap of acromial apophylysis and distal clavicular osteolysis.
  • What are the common mechanisms of injury for ACJ?
  • How are ACJ injuries classified?
  • What are the limitations of ACJ injury classifications?
  • Why are there often differences in ACJ injury classification between X-ray and MRI?
  • How can ACJ imaging lead to incorrect return to play timeframes in mature athletes?
  • In paediatric patients, what differential diagnosis do you need to keep in mind with an apparent ACJ injury?
  • How does imaging help guide prognosis and treatment in younger athletes with ACJ injuries?
  • How can growth plate injuries be identified?
  • Can patients have a slipped humeral epiphysis?
  • What are the most common humeral fractures
  • What are humeral Salter-Harris fractures?
  • Which fractures may impact future growth in the humerus?
  • When is imaging absolutely required in paediatric shoulder injuries?
  • What is “little leaguers shoulder” and why is it important to identify this early?
  • When is glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD) relevant in lateral humeral pain?
  • What are the risk factors for shoulder pain in young athletes?
  • What causes GIRD in paediatric and skeletally mature athletes?
  • What tests help with diagnosis in stiff shoulders?
  • When is GIRD relevant?
  • Why should the term “shoulder impingement” be avoided?
  • How can you describe shoulder pain to patients?
  • Can osteolysis of the whole scapula occur?

Accurately assess, diagnose & treat stiff shoulders, including frozen shoulder, with this free videos series from Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist) at clinicaledge.co/shoulder

The handout for this podcast consists of articles referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Articles associated with this episode:


What are the best rehab options for patients with an irreparable rotator cuff tear? Can we predict which patients will do well and how long rehab will take?

Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), discussing rehab options, a patient case study and the latest evidence for massive rotator cuff tear (MRCT) rehab. Discover:

  • When patients are unable to have surgery, what rehab options are available to rehab MRCT?
  • What is classified as a MRCT?
  • What common issues do patients with MRCT face?
  • What proprioceptive deficits exist in MRCT patients functionally and on fMRI?
  • Is the “Anterior deltoid program” really the best rehab program for MRCT patients?
  • What MRCT rehab exercises & programs are supported by the latest research?
  • Which MRCT patients are likely to respond to rehab?
  • Is scapular dyskinesis important to target in MRCT rehab?
  • When patients are unable to lie supine, and are therefore unable to complete the anterior deltoid program, what options are available for rehab?
  • How do rotator cuff imaging results help guide treatment?
  • Which rotator cuff tendons need to be intact for successful rehab?
  • Specific exercise ideas and progressions that can be used in rehab.
  • How long is recovery likely to take?
  • What key messages are important to convey to patients?
  • What is the evidence for injections in MRCT, including prolotherapy, PRP?
  • How can rehab programs target subscapularis strength?
  • Is humeral head depression an important component in rehab?

Get free access to video series on assessment & diagnosis of acute shoulder pain and stiff shoulders at clinicaledge.co/shoulder

For improved clinical skills, knowledge and treatment results with all other areas of the body, get a free trial Clinical Edge membership at clinicaledge.co/freetrial

The handout for this podcast consists of articles referenced in the podcast. There is no additional transcript or handout available.

Articles associated with this episode:


When swimmers and overhead athletes have superior & anterior shoulder pain, what are your likely diagnoses? How can you successfully treat shoulder pain that improves with rest from sport, then comes back each time they return to training or sport? Find out in this podcast with Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist), where you’ll discover:

  • What are your likely diagnoses?
  • Distal clavicular osteolysis (DCO) - what is it?
  • How to differentially diagnose acromial apophysitis/apophylysis (AA) in young overhead athletes.
  • What are common areas of pain and aggravating movements in DCO patients?
  • Common training errors and weight training exercises that can cause or aggravate symptoms.
  • Which athletes are likely to develop DCO, and common mechanisms of injury.
  • Imaging you need to order.
  • What Xray and other imaging reveals in DCO.
  • What are potential long term issues following DCO, and how can this be avoided?
  • The MOST important treatment for patients with DCO and AA.
  • How can DCO be successfully managed?
  • How to modify work activities in DCO patients.
  • How long recovery takes.
  • Why asymptomatic stress tests and palpation doesn’t mean your patient is safe to return to sport.
  • How to work with coaches when your patients are experiencing DCO.
  • How to successfully return DCO patients to sport.

Accurately assess, diagnose & treat stiff shoulders, including frozen shoulder, with this free videos series from Jo Gibson (Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist) at clinicaledge.co/shoulder