Author: Garreth

PCRMM webinar – Managing Low Back Pain and Sciatica

Tuesday 31 May, 7 – 8:30pm

This engaging and extremely interesting webinar will be given by Ian Bernstein and Dan Bourke; they explore what works and what doesn’t work for managing low back pain and sciatica in primary and community care.
They combine a review of NICE guidelines with a discussion about how they implement them in practice.

Questions that they will discuss include:

  • ‘will my patient get better?’ – managing their expectations;
  • minimising harm – who should be imaged and what to prescribe;
  • how and when to de-prescribe – new NICE guidance in April;
  • ‘is it really that simple?’
…

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Blood matters

Blood Matters is the new National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) guide to the blood tests used in managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and adult juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Blood tests are an important part of both the diagnosis and monitoring of RA and JIA, but the different tests, abbreviations and numbers can be confusing, and it might not always be clear to you what the purpose of each test is, why it’s important and what the results mean.

NRAS has created this resource because they strongly believe that having a good understanding of your blood tests is important to help you to manage your condition and improve outcomes.…

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Bone Matters

The Royal Osteoporosis Society has launched their new #BoneMatters programme, a series of online expert information events.

The first webinar of the series is on Medication Support: helping people make informed decisions about recommended osteoporosis drug treatment. Join the ROS on Tuesday 17 May to hear from leading experts Dr Nicky Peel, Dr Zoe Paskins and Professor David Armstrong on key topics to help you make decisions about your osteoporosis drug treatment.

Topics include:

  • What’s new in drug treatments
  • Understanding side effects or health risks
  • Getting the most out of your medication

Get full details and tickets here

How treating my rheumatic disease has influenced my hopes for the future

Guest blog by Chantal Lyons. This essay was the national selection entry winner for the UK for the Edgar Stene Prize 2022

Everything changed in the year I turned twenty-three. In the spring, I began to run, dragging my unfit body off the sofa and into the local park. In the summer, I began to dream of running the London Marathon like my father had. And in the autumn, I could no longer ignore the white-hot pain growing in my hips and back.…

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Introducing Informatree

The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) is delighted to launch Informatree, a brand new, free website resource aimed at helping people with psoriatic arthritis to live well.

People living with psoriatic arthritis worked together with healthcare professionals who treat people with the condition, psychologists and researchers to develop the new resource. The contents were agreed upon by people living with psoriatic arthritis and clinicians.

The project was led by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and informed by people living with psoriatic arthritis worldwide.…

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NASS is recruiting a Senior Health Professionals Engagement Officer

The Senior Health Professionals Engagement Officer role involves working with colleagues to deepen NASS’s relationships with healthcare professionals and raise awareness and engagement with two key programmes: Act on Axial SpA and Aspiring to Excellence.

The successful candidate will create and promote new resources to healthcare professionals and promote NASS’s work through a range of channels.

Read more and apply here.

Gloucestershire Cryotherapy trial following knee surgery

knee surgeryRecovery from knee replacement surgery can be delayed by pain and swelling caused by the operation. Encouraging range of movement and mobilisation as soon as possible after surgery is part of the ‘Enhanced Recovery after Surgery’ pathway at Cheltenham General Hospital.

Thanks to a grant from the Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust (GAT), and in partnership with PhysioLab Technologies who have designed an innovative cryotherapy system, Orthopaedic Surgeon Peter Kempshall will undertake a pilot study of 200 knee replacement patients to undergo cryotherapy postoperatively, starting in July.…

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This week is Chiropractic Awareness Week

Chiropractic Awareness Week, hosted by the British Chiropractic Association, starts on Monday 4 April

Chiropractic Awareness Week (CAW) 2022 will commence on 4 April and this year’s theme will be Rigour, Evidence, Relevance: The Future of UK Chiropractic Care and Building Connections with Mainstream Healthcare.

The British Chiropractic Association’s primary focus for this year’s CAW (4-10 April) will be to showcase the chiropractic profession as a regulated, evidence-informed, ethical and reliable health profession to their peers in the wider healthcare community.…

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A future where no one sees community MSK services as a low priority

by Sue Brown, CEO ARMA

The King’s Fund has just published the results of the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSAR) questions on satisfaction with the NHS. Satisfaction has dropped by 17 percentage points since last year’s survey, with more people now being dissatisfied than satisfied with the NHS. The main reasons are waiting times (for GPs and hospital appointments), staff shortages and that the government does not spend enough money on the NHS. No one with any connection to health services will be surprised by any of this.…

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