Comparison of brain structure between pain-susceptible and asymptomatic individuals following experimental induction of low back pain.

Background Context: Peripheral differences often do not adequately account for variation in reports of pain intensity in people with musculoskeletal pain.

Purpose: Here we sought to determine the extent to which structural differences in the brain (grey matter density) of pain free individuals might relate to subsequent pain (or lack thereof) after standardized peripheral muscle injury (ie, micro trauma from high intensity exercise).

Study Design: This was an observational laboratory-based study that was a secondary analysis from a larger trial.

Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: Modeling an Approach.

Synopsis Manual therapy interventions are popular among individual health care providers and their patients; however, systematic reviews do not strongly support their effectiveness. Small treatment effect sizes of manual therapy interventions may result from a "one-size-fits-all" approach to treatment. Mechanistic-based treatment approaches to manual therapy offer an intriguing alternative for identifying patients likely to respond to manual therapy.

Comparison of 2 Lumbar Manual Therapies on Temporal Summation of Pain in Healthy Volunteers.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to compare the immediate change in temporal summation of heat pain (TSP) between spinal manipulation (SMT) and spinal mobilization (MOB) in healthy volunteers. Ninety-two volunteers (24 male; 23.8 ± 5.

The influence of clinical equipoise and patient preferences on outcomes of conservative manual interventions for spinal pain: an experimental study.

Background: Expected pain relief from treatment is associated with positive clinical outcomes in patients with musculoskeletal pain. Less studied is the influence on outcomes related to the preference of patients and providers for a specific treatment.

Objectives: We sought to determine how provider and patient preferences for a manual therapy intervention influenced outcomes in individuals with acutely induced low back pain (LBP).

Placebo Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing?

When a physical therapist provides a manual therapy (MT) intervention for a patient presenting with pain and the patient experiences a positive clinical outcome, we cannot answer as to why this occurs. Would we continue to devote valuable time and financial resources to learning and improving our skills in providing MT interventions if the related clinical outcomes were placebo responses? In this Viewpoint, the authors conceptualize placebo as an active and important mechanism of MT and argue that placebo mechanisms deserve consideration as an important component of the treatment effect. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(5):301-304.