Last week, I slammed the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports PT (JOSPT) for not including nutrition in their CPGs regarding concussions. This week, I want to laud them for including a great meta-analysis on knee, hip, and spine osteoarthritis (OA) in relation to weight loss in this month's journal.

As physical therapists (PTs), we know that musculoskeletal disorders like knee, hip, and back OA account for a huge portion of healthcare spending. We also know that OA of these joints greatly impacts quality of life, function, and ultimately long-term disability. Physical therapists do their best to offer cutting-edge treatment like exercise and patient education.

Current research shows that people with arthritis can greatly reduce their pain, improve their movement, and restore their strength with physical therapy. Often the best treatments are active exercises, education, activity progression, and manual therapy to initially help to reduce pain. Dry needling has been shown to...

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By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

Last month the Journal of Orthopedic and Sport Physical Therapy (JOSPT) published a lengthy Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) specific to physical therapy and concussion management. Here's a link to the authors' summary. The authors of the CPG offered a long list of references, well-thought out discussions, and clear evidenced-based recommendations. However, our team at Nutritional Physical Therapy feel the CPG did not go far enough for physical therapists (PTs). 

Managing patients with concussions, or mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), involves a multidisciplinary and multi-faceted approach. Concussions involve disruptions in cognition, planning, executive function, balance, physical performance, speech, vision, and even sleep. As such, the authors do a fabulous job outlining the need for PTs to screen for cognitive, vision, speech, and sleep issues....