Professor Peter O’Sullivan is among the top 3 most popular physiotherapy voices on podcasts and here he focuses on myths and harmful beliefs about back pain. He takes a swing at clinicians who rely excessively on imaging findings to attempt to explain the source of pain. He shares the story of a clinician who told a patient his spine was ‘shredded’.

Prof O’Sullivan emphasizes the importance of history taking, finding factors that can sensitize neural tissue and gives an overview of treatment. He will be the keynote Refshauge Lecturer at Sports Medicine Australia’s 2016 Conference (#SMAConf16, @SMA_Events).

Timeline:
0.35 m - A sneak preview of the Refshaughe lecture plan – back pain is a big problem and those in sport can learn from what is known in back pain in the general population

2.17 m - Patients respond well to a combination of explanation, being shown ways they can get back to the things they love to do, and appropriate progressive exercises

4.21 m - A case where a patient could have been treated with early investigation, aggressive medical intervention, potentially surgery. An alternative approach to management

6.48 m - How junior clinicians can approach the patient who presents with a bag of images or a medical note that may not reflect current best practice for managing back pain

9.45 m - The biology of how neural tissue can be sensitized by lack of sleep, stress. Fascinating neuroimmunology

10.55 m - You do treat the back don’t you? It’s not just explaining pain, counseling?

12.30 m - Parallels with work of other physiotherapists such as Prof Jill Cook (@ProfJillCook) and Dr Alison Grimaldi (@alisongrimaldi) who advocate for progressive loading as a stimulus for healing. “Backs love movement”

13.55 m - A 30-second summary!

Related podcasts:
Please consider downloading the mobile app “BJSM’ from iStore or GooglePlay. There are over 250 to choose from and the 10 most recent are very easy to get via the app.

1. Professor Peter O’Sullivan (@PeteOSullivanPT) on Tiger Woods’ back and ‘core strength’
http://ow.ly/uNgj304udUI

2. Dr Kieran O’Sullivan (@KieranOSull) on how top clinicians approach back pain
http://ow.ly/18Ru304ue96