Welcome to PhysioMSK. The main aim of this site is to provide honest, evidence based advice and information in sufficient detail to help everyday people manage their common MSK conditions.
What is MSK?
MSK is short for Musculoskeletal and its the name we give to the speciality relating to the Skeleton and the supporting tissues such as muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves and other soft tissues.
MSK includes conditions managed by a number of different professions including Physiotherapy, Orthopaedics, Sports and Exercise Medicine, Rheumatology, Chiropractic and Osteopathy as well as your own family doctor in General Practice. So things like back pain, arthritis, muscle and joint pains, sports injuries etc. will tend to fall under the MSK umbrella.
The term 'MSK' is fairly new but is has been readily adopted throughout healthcare organisations and is now starting to become more widely recognised throughout the community. Eventually it will become as engrained into our healthcare language as other medical acronyms such as ENT (ear, nose & throat) MFU (maxillofacial unit) and DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis).
In keeping with modern healthcare policies including the NHS long term plan, this site has a strong bias towards self-help and encouraging people to take responsibility for managing their own MSK health.
We have seen huge changes over the past few decades in technology, convenience products, diet and a move towards more sedentary occupations. An unfortunate consequence of our modern lifestyles is that our activity levels have significantly declined and body weight has increased. As a result, we have seen a dramatic increase in public health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, mental health problems and MSK conditions.
The main objective of this site is to provide good quality honest advice for normal everyday people with the most common MSK conditions from the perspective of an experienced MSK clinician. The site is not aimed at elite sports or those who wish to enhance their sports performance. There are plenty of other websites out there to cater for this area. This website is aimed squarely at 'Joe Public', normal everyday folk with common MSK problems.
I strongly believe that a well educated person who understands the nature of their condition is more likely to be pro-active with regards to self-help and when implementing treatment suggestions. The most helpful thing I can do for my patients is provide good quality information that they can use to help understand and manage their condition by themselves. And so the main intention of this site is to educate and encourage self-management wherever possible, and then to provide advice and information about other treatment options if they are needed.
The idea of the articles is to go beyond the simple basic leaflets provided by most healthcare organisations and instead try to provide something with more substance. Something that would mimic the advice and information that I would typically give to a patient within a consultation.
Please be aware that the site is in its infancy. New articles and videos will appear every few weeks with the aim of addressing the most common MSK conditions over the next 2 years.
Many Thanks for visiting
Stephen Bunting
July 2021
This website uses affiliate links for certain products that may be illustrated in the articles. When you use one of these links to purchase a product, the site receives a small commission at no extra cost to yourself. This helps support the running costs of the website and YouTube channel.
