I'm Stephen Bunting and I'm an MSK physiotherapist working in the northwest of England. I set up this website during the COVID pandemic as I was finding it difficult to find good quality online information to send to my patients while I was unable to see them face to face. I spent many hours trawling the internet for websites and YouTube videos that I could email to my patients by way of reinforcing the advice I was providing.
And I soon discovered that from a patients perspective, the internet is littered with fragmented information, much of which is outdated, contradictory or just plain quackery. There is also an emphasis for information that is sports specific, has a strong surgical bias or is influenced by a commercial agenda. For the average everyday person, it can be a difficult to task to sieve through all this content and find good quality impartial advice.
The idea behind this website was therefore to provide a portal where good quality unbiased information can be found regarding the most common MSK problems. The videos and articles are presented from the perspective of an experienced MSK clinician with aim of being open and honest regarding the evidence base behind many of the treatments, opinions and ideas regarding MSK conditions.
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.
In my experience, having been diagnosed with an MSK condition, most people want answers to the following 3 questions.
1) What it it ? (What exactly is wrong & what is the reason for the symptoms)
2) Why have I got it ? (Is it something I've done or are still doing? How do I know I've got it?)
3) What can I do about it ? (What are the treatment options, including self-help & medication. Is it likely to get better and what are the other options if it doesn't get better).
My videos and articles therefore aim to answer these questions and have a strong bias towards self-help and advice. They also discuss other options if the condition fails to settle down including medication, injections and surgery.