Sep
5
2023
New research shows some running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles—and create greater stresses on joints than even running barefoot or walking in high-heeled shoes.
Sixty-eight healthy young adult runners (37 women, 31 men), who run in typical, currently available running shoes, were selected from the general population. None had any history of musculoskeletal injury and each ran at least 15 miles per week.
A running shoe, selected for its neutral classification and design characteristics typical of most running footwear, was provided to all runners. Using a treadmill and a motion analysis system, each subject was observed running barefoot and with shoes. Data were collected at each runner’s comfortable running pace after a warm-up period.
The researchers observed increased joint torques at the hip, knee and ankle with running shoes compared with running barefoot. Disproportionately large increases were observed in the hip
internal rotation torque and in the knee flexion and knee varus torques. An average 54 percent increase in the hip internal rotation torque, a 36 percent increase in knee flexion torque, and a 38 percent increase in knee varus torque were measured when running in running shoes compared with barefoot.
The article is “The Effect of Running Shoes on Lower Extremity Joint Torques” appears in The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation, Volume 1, Issue 12 (December 2009), published by Elsevier. http://www.pmrjournal.org/article/S1934-1482(09)01367-7/fulltext
Sep
5
2023
Book review
J.-P. Barral and A. Croibier, Manual Therapy for the Peripheral Nerves , Churchill Livingstone (2007) ISBN 0-4431-0307-0 288 pages, £34.99.
Karen McCreesha, Department of Physiotherapy, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Physiotherapy
The aim of this text is to present, from an osteopathic perspective, a new system of assessment and treatment of dysfunction of the nervous system. The book is an English translation from an original French text, which was published in 2004. The authors are osteopaths with extensive experience in the practice and teaching of manual therapy and visceral manipulation. It is intended for practising manual therapists in osteopathy, chiropractic and physiotherapy.
The book is well organised, with the first three chapters dedicated to a detailed and comprehensive review of the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the peripheral nervous system. These would make useful reading for any therapist interested in revising their knowledge of these areas, and gaining further knowledge on mechanisms of neural blood flow, intra- and extraneural pressure and links to the visceral system. Subsequent chapters are devoted to an explanation of the authors’ system of assessment and treatment of nerves, dealing separately with the cervical, brachial, lumbar and sacral plexuses, with additional detailed review of the topographical anatomy of each area. The techniques are well illustrated; however, as is often the case with practical skills, it is difficult to gain an exact understanding of the ‘listening’ and ‘manipulation’ techniques described. This issue is often addressed in other comparable textbooks by supplying an accompanying CD-ROM with demonstrations of the techniques, which could be considered for future editions of this text.
The early chapters reference much of the classic literature in the areas of neuroanatomy and physiology. However, there is no reference to the more recent, extensive body of published work in the area of nerve movement, which, in the context of this book, would seem a significant omission. It is also disappointing that the text contains both unsubstantiated assertions and clinical anecdotes, detracting from the potential of this text as an evidence-based educational resource.
From a physiotherapy perspective, this text is interesting in that it demonstrates another profession’s approach to the management of neural pathology. As a complete text, it would be of use to experienced manual therapists as a practical and clinical guide to this particular treatment approach, while the anatomy and physiology sections would be a useful refresher for all therapists treating pain of neural origin.
Sep
5
2023
In a paper evaluated by f1000 Medicine, six studies tested relationships between reminders of money, social exclusion and physical pain.
In The symbolic power of money: reminders of money alter social distress and physical pain published in the journal Psychological Science, Xinyue Zhou, Kathleen Vohs and Roy Baumeister explored how money could reduce a person’s feeling of pain and also negate their need for social popularity.
Harriet de Wit, Faculty Member for f1000 Medicine, said: “This research extends our understanding of relationships between social pain and physical pain, and remarkably, shows how acquired symbolic value of money, perhaps because of associations with power or control, can influence responses to both emotional and physical pain.”
She also noted: “These findings have great importance for a social system such as ours that is characterized by wide disparities in financial wellbeing.”
Zhou, Vohs and Baumeister determined that interpersonal rejection and physical pain caused desire for money to increase. They said: “Money can possibly substitute for social acceptance in conferring the ability to obtain benefits from the social system. Moreover, past work has suggested that responses to physical pain and social distress share common underlying mechanisms.”
“Handling money (compared with handling paper) reduced distress over social exclusion and diminished the physical pain of immersion in hot water. Being reminded of having spent money, however, intensified both social distress and physical pain,” the authors said.
Sep
5
2023
People who have acute lower-back pain should undertake self-care and massage and spinal manipulation,
according to a recommendation from a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine October 2007.
The study reccomends that for patients who do not improve with self-care options, clinicians (Doctors) should consider the addition of nonpharmacologic therapy with proven benefits—for acute low back pain, spinal manipulation; for chronic or subacute low back pain, intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation, exercise therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, spinal manipulation, yoga, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or progressive relaxation.
The study was co-authored by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. The Annals of Internal Medicine examined and gathered data from Medline studies, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase to formulate its lower-back pain guidelines. For full report on the guidelines see: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/147/7/478
