Professor Roberta Shepherd is an APA Honoured Member and an Honorary Professor at Sydney University. She is a pioneer in neurological and paediatric physiotherapy, working throughout her career as an educator and researcher. 

With the presentation title ‘Perceptual trickery to shape our experiences’, clinical pain neuroscientist Associate Professor Tasha Stanton is sure to hold attention at the November APA Victorian Branch Breakfast.

The clinically trained physiotherapist studies the role that the brain plays in pain, exploring how information from myriad sources can shape a person’s perception of their body and environment.

Low-back-pain (LBP) is a common and costly problem in the western world (Hurwitz et al 2018).

Clinical guidelines recommend the identification of red flags and radiculopathy, and in the absence of such features, management of LBP as a ‘non-specific’ condition (Oliveira et al 2018, Foster et al 2018).

Your recent study published in the Journal of Physiotherapy investigated the use of exercise to prevent low back pain from reoccurring. Isn’t it already established that exercise does reduce the risk of recurrence?

There have been several systematic reviews about photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for low back pain. Why did you decide that this topic needed to be re-visited?

Your trial compared two different approaches to spinal manipulation for chronic low back pain. Before your trial was conducted, what did the evidence say about the effects of spinal manipulation in chronic low back pain?

The past 15 years have seen tremendous change in the musculoskeletal (MSK) medicine landscape. At the centre of this has been a reconceptualisation of how we understand various common non-traumatic clinical conditions, including non-specific low back pain, osteoarthritis and tendinopathy, to name a few.

Pacing is universally considered to be a key aspect in the management of chronic pain conditions, in part due to its supposed intuitive logic (Stanos & Chang 2019). Many patients readily identify their own ‘boom/bust’ approach to performing physical activities or functional tasks.

This case study will present the complex case of Mr A, a 47-year-old man injured at work and referred for management of lower limb complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), almost six months after his original injury.