Hamstring Strain: When Can You Start Running Again?
After a hamstring strain, the safest answer to “When can I run again?” is not a fixed number of days. A better decision uses the injury pattern, ...
Back Pain Doctor
Patient Resources
Showing all 37 resources
Morning Back Stiffness: Could It Be Inflammatory?
Morning back stiffness is common and does not, by itself, mean you have inflammatory arthritis. Sleep position, a change in activity, an ordinary...
Knee Pain on Stairs: Could It Be Patellofemoral Pain?
Pain around or behind the kneecap when you use stairs, squat, run downhill or stand after sitting may be patellofemoral pain. This describes a re...
Can Tight Neck Muscles Cause Dizziness?
Neck pain and dizziness often occur together. That does not automatically mean tight neck muscles are causing the dizziness.The neck provides the b...
Trigger Finger: Why Does Your Finger Catch or Lock?
If a finger clicks, catches or becomes stuck as you bend and straighten it, the problem may be trigger finger. The name sounds dramatic, but it u...
Calf Pain: Muscle Strain or Blood Clot?
Calf pain after a walk, run or gym session is often a muscle strain, but not every painful calf is a sports injury. A deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can ...
Radial vs Focused Shockwave Therapy: What Is the Difference?
If you have been offered "shockwave therapy" for a tendon or muscle problem, it is worth asking which kind. There are two, they work differently, and...
Meniscus Tear: Do You Need Surgery?
A meniscus tear does not automatically mean you need surgery. For many adults—particularly when symptoms developed gradually and the knee is not trul...
Bone Density Scans: When Is a DXA Scan Worth Discussing?
A bone density scan — usually called a DXA or DEXA scan — is one of the main tests used to assess osteoporosis. It can be very useful, but it...
Ankle Sprain: When You Need an X-ray or Medical Review
An ankle sprain can be painful, swollen and difficult to walk on. Most improve without an X-ray or a major intervention, but not every injury around ...
Frozen Shoulder: What the Evidence Says About Treatment
Frozen shoulder is one of the more frustrating conditions I see. It comes on without warning, hurts a great deal at night, and then stiffens to the p...
Creatine for Muscle and Bone: What the Evidence Actually Shows
Creatine has moved from the gym to the medicine cabinet. Once thought of as a supplement only for bodybuilders and sprinters, it is now being studied...
Weight-Loss Injections and Your Muscles, Bones and Joints
Weight-loss injections are everywhere at the moment. Medications in the GLP-1 family, such as semaglutide (sold as Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatid...
Cortisone vs PRP for Knee Osteoarthritis: What the Evidence Says
If you have knee osteoarthritis and have been offered an injection, you may be weighing up cortisone against PRP (platelet-rich plasma). They...
Do You Need an MRI for Back Pain?
Short answer: for most people with new low back pain, no — an MRI is not needed, and getting one too early can do more harm than good. This surpr...
Ultrasound-Guided Injections: Why Accuracy Matters
An injection is only useful if it reaches the right target. Some injections can be performed reliably using anatomical landmarks, but others are more...
Knee Osteoarthritis Flare Plan: What to Do When Pain Spikes
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms often fluctuate. A painful flare can feel like something has suddenly gone wrong, but flares are common and do not alway...
Achilles Tendinopathy: Returning to Walking, Running and Sport
Achilles tendinopathy can make simple activity feel unpredictable. Some people can walk comfortably but flare after hills. Others feel stiff every mo...
Rotator Cuff Pain: Why Scan Results Do Not Tell the Whole Story
Shoulder scans can be helpful, but they can also be confusing. Many people are told they have tendinosis, bursitis, impingement or a partial-thicknes...
Hip Pain When Lying on Your Side: Could It Be GTPS?
Pain on the outside of the hip is often blamed on "bursitis", but many cases are better described as greater trochanteric pain syndrome, or GTPS. Thi...
Cortisone Injections: Benefits, Limits and Common Misunderstandings
Cortisone injections are commonly used for musculoskeletal pain. They can be very helpful in the right setting, but they are often misunderstood.Co...
PRP Injections: What to Do Before and After Treatment
PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. A sample of your blood is processed to concentrate platelets, then the preparation is injected into a target joi...
The Relationship Between Sleep and Pain: Evidence-Based Strategies
Poor sleep, particularly insomnia, is strongly associated with increased pain perception and overall poorer health outcomes. Research consistently sh...
Hip Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options
Hip pain is a common condition that can affect your mobility and quality of life. Whether caused by an injury, overuse, or a degenerative condition, ...
Shoulder Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Treatment Strategies
Shoulder pain is a common issue that can affect your ability to perform everyday activities. Identifying which structure is involved is what determin...
Explaining Pain: A 5-minute animation
Pain can affect nearly every part of our bodies— take a look at this video from HNEHealth. ...
Tennis Elbow: Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Treatment Strategies
Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is a common condition that affects many people beyond tennis players. It results from overuse of the forearm ...
Shockwave Therapy: What to Expect at an Appointment
Focused shockwave therapy, or ESWT, uses acoustic pressure waves directed at a painful tendon or soft-tissue region. It is most often considered for ...
Neck Pain: Understanding the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments.
Neck pain is a common issue that can impact your daily life, from the ability to work to the quality of your sleep. This article sets out the common ...
Biomechanics, Causes, and Treatments of Back Pain
Back pain is a prevalent and complex condition affecting millions globally, with significant personal, societal, and economic impacts (Hartvigsen et ...
Sciatica Symptoms: What Leg Pain, Pins and Needles Can Mean
Sciatica describes pain related to irritation of a lumbar nerve root. It is often felt in the buttock, thigh, calf or foot, and may come with pins an...
Knee Pain and Arthritis
The knee joint is a complex structure designed to facilitate movement while minimizing friction. It comprises bones covered with a thin layer of smoo...
The Complexity of the Human Musculoskeletal System and Pain Mechanisms
The human body is a complex, fully integrated system where approximately 600 muscles are intricately connected to 206 bones (Smith et al., 2021). The...
Wrist Pain: Exploring the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options
Wrist pain is a common issue that can disrupt your daily activities, from typing to lifting objects. Whether caused by an acute injury or a longer-st...
Plantar Fasciitis: First Steps That Usually Matter Most
Plantar fasciitis, also called plantar heel pain, commonly causes pain under the heel or arch. It is often worst with the first steps in the morning ...
Why Tendon Pain Usually Needs Loading, Not Complete Rest
When a tendon hurts, the natural instinct is to rest it completely. Short-term rest can settle a flare, but long-term rest often leaves the tendon le...
Back Pain Red Flags: When to Go to Emergency
Call triple zero (000) or go to the nearest emergency department now if back pain is accompanied by new loss of bladder or bowel control, diffi...
Ready for a clearer plan for your back or musculoskeletal pain?
Book an assessment with Dr Joshua Hatch.
Your assessment focuses on understanding the likely source of your pain and the most appropriate non-surgical options for your diagnosis, with the aim of reducing pain and improving function.
Book an appointment