McKenzie Method & self treatment guides

January 14, 2021 by Sian Smale

A reflective piece on the self-treatment guides created by the late Robin McKenzie. A true pioneer and leader in our profession who was passionate about the treatment of musculoskeletal pain disorders. His work in renown world wide for ‘repeated movements’ and ‘directional preferences’ commonly known as the McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy. His wisdom and pearls from years of patient management have been distilled into self-treatment guides. This blog reviews five of his books involving self-treatment of the neck, back, shoulder, hip and knee.

You move the way you train

November 12, 2017 by Sian Smale

Shirley Sahrmann, PT, PhD. is a world renowned physical therapist and house hold name in connection with movement system impairment syndromes (MSI). Shirley has been shaping the education system in the States for many decades and continues to be active as a clinician and teacher at Washington University. Recently, I attended her lower quadrant course on MSI of the lumbar spine and the influences of and relationship to the hip. This blog is an overview of the key messages I took away from the course.

Hip: Athletic Groin Pain Part 2

January 19, 2017 by Sian Smale

Welcome back to part two of the Athletic Groin Pain series. Here we discuss how the clinical assessment of groin pain correlates with MRI and what biomechanical analysis tells us about the AGP population.

Hip: Athletic Groin Pain Part 1

January 13, 2017 by Sian Smale

This week we continue to look at the hip by exploring the definition of athletic groin pain (AGP). This blog series dissects three research papers from Dublin about the clinical assessment, role of MRI and biomechanical changes with AGP. First up - what is the groin triangle and what does groin pain mean?

Hip: Post Hip Arthroscopy Rehab Phase 3 & 4

December 22, 2016 by Sian Smale

For the second part of this blog we look further at the progression of rehab into phase III and IV and eventually ending in return to sport and unrestricted play. What I've taken away from these blogs is how extensive our involvement with patients needs to be to get them through each phase and I hope you'll appreciate this too.

Hip: FAI - a Condition That Matters

November 23, 2016 by Sian Smale

This year the Australian Physiotherapy Association hosted Joanne Kemp as the keynote speaker for the end of year breakfast. Joanne is a passionate physiotherapist and researcher in the field of femoroacetabular impingement and hip osteoarthritis. Joanne presented on clinical features of FAI, research updates and the key role that physios play in patient rehabilitation. Joanne’s lecture gave me a new positive perspective on this condition and broadened my knowledge about the role of physiotherapy and treatment options outside of surgery.