Lital Pentelka, a recent University of Brighton graduate, is presenting her MSc research at the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) World Congress of Manual / Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy in Quebec City, Eastern Canada later this month.
Lital, who graduated from our Neuromusculoskeletal Physiotherapy MSc course in 2011 has already had her research published in Manual Therapy, a peer-reviewed international journal for healthcare professionals. The article was published online in June and is anticipated to be in print in an upcoming edition.
Spinal mobilisations are a common form of treatment intervention applied by physiotherapists in clinical practice to help patients who have back or neck problems. Previous research has demonstrated that mobilisations cause a hypoalgesic effect (a decreased sensitivity to painful stimulation). However, there is very little research investigating the optimal treatment dose inducing this effect, and this has formed the basis for Lital's research which is titled ‘The effect of increasing sets (within one treatment session) and different set durations (between treatment sessions) of lumbar spine posteroanterior mobilisations on pressure pain thresholds'.
Lital, said: "One of the things I liked about the Neuromusculoskeletal Physiotherapy MSc course at the University of Brighton is the focus on clinical reasoning and independent thinking skills. It emphasises how clinical decisions are better made by being well grounded in high quality research. Continuing on to doing the research work helped to consolidate the learning experience. It is a privilege to publish and present our findings at the IFOMPT congress and add a small contribution to the body of knowledge, made possible by the guidance given at the university." The course is open to qualified physiotherapists.
Clair Hebron
Colette Ridehalgh
Clair Hebron and Colette Ridehalgh, course leaders for Neuromusculoskeletal MSc at the University of Brighton will also be presenting at the Physiotherapy World Congress which takes place from 30 September to 5 October 2012.
Clair, added: "There is a substantial amount of Health Professions research taking place at the University of Brighton. One area of focus is in the field of neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapy. It is great that we are able to represent the university by presenting some of our work at the IFOMPT conference."
Colette's area of research is looking at the way in which individuals with spinally referred leg pain respond to a common physiotherapy intervention, targeted at moving nervous tissue. The two papers she is presenting at IFOMPT represent the preliminary studies to date. There is little evidence to the amount of nerve movement that occurs in individuals during this form of intervention in vivo. The use of ultrasound technology has enabled new methods of analysing real-time nerve movement. This will be essential in assessing how these techniques benefit patients with this common pain presentation.
The Conference of the Federation is held only once every four years and will include clinical and scientific sessions, bringing together the very best and brightest in research, academia and clinical practice.
