Category Archives: debunkery

Am I wrong? I survey some recent patellofemoral pain science in search of embarrassment

By Paul Ingraham | Published: July 6, 2010
Recently a reader wrote to me to point out that, in his opinion, recent scientific evidence has begun to support the “conventional wisdom” about chronic anterior knee pain (a.k.a. patellofemoral pain syndrome, or PFPS). That would make my e-book on the topic look bad. I pretty much roll my eyes at the conventional wisdom from [...]
Also posted in exercise, gait retraining, hip weakness, patellar alignment and tracking, patellofemoral pain, structuralism, treatment | Leave a comment

Hypocrazy! I reserve the right to critisize even though I also mak mistaks the sometimes

By Paul Ingraham | Published: May 8, 2010
Sometimes I criticize poor quality writing as a corollary of poor quality thinking in the world of therapy, because it’s alarmingly common. Many deluded and fraudulent purveyors of bogus treatments are often incoherent when they try to ’splain themselves. People out there in on the interwebs often write to scold me for this — how dare [...]
Also posted in humour | Leave a comment

Therapy by charisma

By Paul Ingraham | Published: May 6, 2010
Thought of the day, from my article on structuralism: Patients with great anxiety, pain and frustration are especially vulnerable to persuasion, or “therapy by charisma.” This is why I really make an effort in my work to be reassuring without offering miracles, to be knowledgeable without claiming to “know” what the problem is. All too often, [...]
Also posted in diagnosis, hip weakness, myths, pain, structuralism, therapy | Leave a comment

Out of the Park: my new Traumeel article jumps to prominence in Google search results practically overnight

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 13, 2010
It’s World Homeopathy Awareness Week (WHAW)! Homeopaths are once again holding a week-long publicity campaign to raise awareness for their practice … and many consumer rights activists are also committed to raising a different sort of awareness of homeopathy. So what a happy coincidence that Dr. Harriet Hall, the The SkepDoc, recently let me know that [...]
Also posted in traumeel | Leave a comment

More hip weakness hype

By Paul Ingraham | Published: April 12, 2010
Are weak hips a major factor in running injuries like IT band syndrome? It’s unlikely, despite the gushing of running magazines over the theory. From time to time I like to point out that hype about hip strengthening — it will save your knees, it will find your lost socks! — continues unabated in the absence [...]
Also posted in hip weakness, it band, patellar alignment and tracking, patellofemoral pain, research, shin splints | Leave a comment

Platelet-rich plasma injection “no more effective than saltwater”

By Paul Ingraham | Published: January 14, 2010
Well, this was probably inevitable. Last summer a reader asked me what I think of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections — the injection of a concentrated preparation of your own blood into irritated tissue, usually a tendinitis or similar condition like iliotibial band syndrome or plantar fasciitis — to stimulate healing. I replied quite optimistically at the [...]
Also posted in it band, osteoarthritis, pain, patellofemoral pain, plantar fasciitis, research, treatment | Leave a comment

The Graston Technique®: Magic steel massage tools that supposedly scrape the pain away, and “resonate” in the therapist’s hands

By Paul Ingraham | Published: January 13, 2010
Dr. Harriet Hall, the SkepDoc, recently criticized The Graston Technique® in some detail. At the same time, I was responding to a reader request for more information about Graston for plantar fasciitis (“tendinitis” of the arch of the foot), a common treatment offering for that condition. It’s also commonly prescribed for iliotibial band syndrome (runner’s [...]
Also posted in it band, massage therapy, plantar fasciitis, treatment | Leave a comment

Iliotibial band massage and foam rollers for iliotibial band syndrome

By Paul Ingraham | Published: December 17, 2009
Regarding iliotibial band syndrome, a reader asked recently: What is your opinion on the use of a dense foam roller on the hip, glutes and sides of the thigh? Does it do anything or is it just another snake oil solution? Foam rollers have limited usefulness in the treatment of IT band syndrome, but are probably not [...]
Also posted in it band, massage therapy | Leave a comment

Ultrasound probably does not help most knee pain and arthritis

By Paul Ingraham | Published: December 4, 2009
As promised in the last post, only an hour ago, here’s some more ultrasound information. This time I’m zooming in on one of SaveYourself.ca’s most important topics: knee pain, especially patellofemoral (kneecap) pain. Does ultrasound help knee pain? No, it probably does not. As described in detail in my last post, ultrasound is generally understudied, for [...]
Also posted in osteoarthritis, patellofemoral pain, treatment, ultrasound | Leave a comment

Ultrasound again, but this time with the smoking gun showing the poor state of the evidence

By Paul Ingraham | Published: December 4, 2009
A few days ago I reported that I was pretty disappointed to find so little ultrasound research for me to study. A few days later, I presented you with the smoking gun: the evidence about the state of the evidence. I’ve summarized it all here, with some repetition of the previous post, but much more, [...]
Also posted in treatment, ultrasound | Leave a comment