Hormone replacement therapy tendon repair post-menopause

By Damien Howell

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which individuals with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. It is when we lack competence that we are most…

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Mom’s words of wisdom make sense

By Damien Howell

Mother’s Day is a fun time to review some old wives’ tales that abound in the health and wellness arena. My mom used to say, “the difference between a man…

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Deviant movement resulting in pain – Excessive Toe Out Gait

By Damien Howell

Asymmetrical movements walking or running are considered deviant or less than optimal movements. The individual in the video below is complaining of musculoskeletal pain in the left lower extremity. What…

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Understanding the Nuances of Disease, Syndrome, & Uncertainty in Musculoskeletal Pain

By Damien Howell

Disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to an external injury. Syndrome…

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Using symptoms &/or sign modification procedure to manage musculoskeletal pain syndrome

By Damien Howell

The symptom modification procedure is a clinical reasoning process and is a common practice in the Physical Therapy profession. The symptom modification procedure involves identifying the specific movement, posture, and/or…

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Path of least resistance is not always the best option – sometimes it is better to have some stiffness

By Damien Howell

There are three possible relationships between movement and musculoskeletal pain syndromes. There is either too much movement, not enough movement, or an optimal amount of movement. When a muscle tendon…

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Intellectual humility and tolerance for ambiguity

By Damien Howell

When dealing with musculoskeletal pain syndromes uncertainty and ambiguity can cause unease and frustration for both patients and clinicians. The goal is to stamp out uncertainty, but not to stamp…

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Steps to manage first step pain

By Damien Howell

A definitive symptom of plantar heel pain is “first-step pain” First-step pain is felt on the first step out of bed in the morning or after other periods of inactivity…

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How to improve the quality of a selfie video to facilitate motion analysis

By Damien Howell

In a previous article, I described how sharing selfie videos with healthcare professionals can facilitate motion analysis for the management of painful musculoskeletal syndromes, injury prevention, and performance enhancement. This…

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