Welcome back again to the ThreeSpires Physiotherapy blog. This time I want to continue with looking at some recent research about physiotherapy and highlight a recent review by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) which examines the importance of physiotherapy in addressing Musculoskeletal problems.

This review examined in detail the impact of physiotherapy on musculoskeletal health and wellbeing. Wait! I hear you say: “What exactly is musculoskeletal health and wellbeing?”!! Well, unless you work in healthcare or specifically are a physiotherapist that is a reasonable question. Musculoskeletal basically means anything that is related to the muscles of the body or the skeleton (i.e. the bones) and problems are an enormous problem in the UK. Probably the most widely experienced musculoskeletal issue is low back pain which at some point most people will experience and is responsible for a large number of days off work. Some statistics may help understand the scale of the problem: almost 31 million days of work were lost due to musculoskeletal pain and caring for patients with musculoskeletal pain is the third highest area of NHS spending. So, clearly improving general musculoskeletal health in the UK would bring great benefits and as physiotherapists we see a large number with musculoskeletal problems such as arthritis, joint sprains and neck pain, so evidence related to how effective our work can be is of huge importance to us.

Now this is a large and interesting piece of research, so I think we will probably have a look at some different sections of it in a later blog but for now I thought it might be good just to highlight some of the key ways that physiotherapy can help with musculoskeletal pain and disability:

“Movement and exercise are essential for health. There is overwhelming evidence that exercise and activity are effective and should be a core treatment in musculoskeletal pain.”

“Physiotherapists can play a part in increasing productivity and minimising absence from work. Research demonstrates the effectiveness of physiotherapists in primary care in providing advice to overcome obstacles to staying at or returning to work, in people with musculoskeletal pain.”

“Research has shown that physiotherapy can improve function and reduce pain in areas like exercise-based rehabilitation for knee joint pain and strengthening hands for people with rheumatoid arthritis.”

Now this is clearly fantastic news and support for our work as physiotherapists and shows the difference that physiotherapy can make and gives us clear evidence for the work that we do with our patients. Certainly, my experience as a physiotherapist echoes the information above. For example when I see someone with low back pain early on in their condition I can make a real difference to their speed of recovery and return to work. Continued exercise throughout life (no matter what your age) with both strength, balance and endurance work is vital to ongoing health. For more information about this topic and to read the full review click on this link: https://discover.dc.nihr.ac.uk/download/resource/9000405

Okay, I think that will probably do for now but we will almost certainly revisit this review at a later stage and have a look at some more key facts. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog: for anyone who hasn’t come across the site before we are a home visit physiotherapy service based in Lichfield and serving surrounding areas such as Burntwood, Cannock, Norton Canes, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley and Walsall.