Category: Treatments & Therapies

Making Moves with Didy Veldman, leading International Choreographer

Recently, NRAS members who signed up took part in a dance and movement programme for people living with RA with leading International Choreographer, Didy Feldman, over Zoom, with Didy leading from the Royal Ballet School.

Dutch-born Didy Veldman trained as a ballet and contemporary dancer in Amsterdam. She danced professionally for fourteen years and began choreographing in 1987. She has created new works nationally and internationally for Birmingham Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance Company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London, to name but a few.…

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Seasonal Insertional Heel Pain – a matter of overuse

by Andrew Coutts. BSc Hons, MSc, FCPodS, Specialist Registrar in Podiatric Surgery, Derbyshire Community Health Service NHS Foundation Trust

One of the most common questions I get asked by patients, colleagues and friends is – ‘how do I get rid of my heel pain?’ I see many patients with plantar fasciitis symptoms, insertional Achilles tendonosis and other causes of heel pain, such as retrocalcaneal bursitis, tarsal tunnel syndrome, fat pad atrophy and Sever’s Disease, however every year I see an increase in referrals specifically around February, March and April time [1].…

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SOMM’s courses for portfolio route supervisors

Great news that the HEE Roadmap to Practice for First Contact Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners in Primary Care (Musculoskeletal) was published on 15 October! The Roadmap is available through the HEE website and provides a clear educational pathway from undergraduate to advanced practice for clinicians wishing to pursue a career in MSK primary care.

SOMM is delighted to be one of the organisations running courses to train supervisors to take clinicians through the portfolio route described in the Roadmap.

Supervisors need to be:

  • Working in MSK as an Advanced Practitioner with a postgraduate Master’s degree;
  • In a current team lead post in MSK and hold a postgraduate Master’s degree in MSK; or
  • Working as a Consultant Physiotherapist working in MSK

The courses will be able to take a maximum of 14 places and are open to a maximum of 2 supervisors per Trust/CCG.…

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Let’s Move with Leon

Versus Arthritis has launched a new free physical activity programme, Let’s Move with Leon, designed and presented by exercise expert Leon Wormley who specialises in working with people with arthritis and related conditions. The programme consists of weekly 30-minute movement sessions delivered right to a subscriber’s email inbox. Leon’s classes are a holistic, full-body programme and – they’re great fun!

Anyone can sign up to Let’s Move with Leon here.

For people who are not yet ready to commit to a weekly exercise, we also launched the Let’s Move programme.…

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NICE guideline: Low Back pain and sciatica

NICE has published the final guidelines on Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management. Supporting evidence, tools and resources as well as all the stakeholder comments are available. NICE said the comments were invaluable in refining the guidelines. NICE produced an equality impact assessment too.

NICE included the recommendations of this guidelines in the NICE Pathway on Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s: assessment and management. There is an interactive flowchart which brings everything together from the guideline.…

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‘Unlocking Exercise’ webinar and live Q&A

Arthritis Action will hold their latest webinar “Unlocking Exercise Webinar: Barriers and Benefits – Eating Well, Thinking Positively, and Getting Stronger” on Wednesday 30th September, 11:00am – 12:00pm.

The webinar will explore a holistic approach to restarting exercise and preventing the loss of strength and function, for people living with arthritis. The charity’s expert panel will cover the barriers and benefits to exercise, including; immunity, independence, community engagement and mental wellbeing.

There will also be a live Q&A on the topic at the end of the webinar.…

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The Good Boost Home App

Responding to the pandemic with co-design to create digital solutions.

Good Boost is a social enterprise which transforms public swimming pools into therapeutic spaces for people living with MSK conditions. We create individually-tailored aquatic rehabilitation programmes using AI-powered software on waterproof tablets. We’ve been developing rehabilitation technology for the last 5 years since starting up as a community research project in Oxford, UK.

“We’re working to make sure we continue supporting people living with MSK conditions while minimising risk of transmission” Ben Wilkins, CEO.…

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Guest blog: Dancing on the Rusty Brown Carpet

by Victoria Wells, a personal reflection about a new play with a theme of dancing for health – how a work of theatrical art relates to my experience of joint replacement surgery, pre-operative rehab, post-op rehabilitation and a lifetime of dancing.

On 3 October 2020, a play by Fiona Hamilton will be screened for the first time.
My experience contributed to one of its main characters.

As a child I enjoyed dancing and getting lost in the rhythm. I was born with hip dysplasia that was not diagnosed until mid-childhood and, as a result, I walked with constant pain.…

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BOA Policy update – July 2020

report coverThe report emergent from Baroness Cumberlege and the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review was published in early July and has been welcomed by the British Orthopaedic Association. This comprehensive review has demonstrated the impact on the physical and mental health of patients when implants fail. The review shows that there is a clear need for detailed surveillance of implants, and we welcome the recommendation for the establishment of more National Implant Registries.

Read the BOA’s full position on this issue.…

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