Learn › Musculoskeletal
Musculoskeletal
Joints, bones, muscles — osteoarthritis, gout, back pain.
12 posts in this body system.
Full-text search across every page — patient-education library, /pulse news commentary, and site pages. Try statin, TGA peptides, insomnia.
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Polymyalgia rheumatica; giant cell arteritis
PMR and GCA: diagnosis and steroid management in general practice
PMR causes bilateral shoulder stiffness in older adults; GCA is a sight-threatening emergency. Both require prolonged prednisolone with bone protection.
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Ankylosing spondylitis & axial spondyloarthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis & axial spondyloarthritis: the GP guide
AxSpA — recognising inflammatory back pain under 45, the diagnostic workup, PBS biologic access, and long-term monitoring in Australian general practice.
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Hip pain — greater trochanteric pain syndrome & femoroacetabular impingement
Hip pain: GTPS, gluteal tendinopathy & femoroacetabular impingement
GTPS and FAI — diagnosis, the LEAP trial, when corticosteroid injection helps, and the Australian referral pathway for lateral and groin hip pain.
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Frailty and sarcopenia
Frailty and sarcopenia: identifying and reversing decline in older adults
Frailty affects ~15% of Australians aged 65+. Clinical Frailty Scale, resistance training, protein targets, polypharmacy review, and MDT care.
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Ankle sprain — lateral ligament complex
Ankle sprain: Ottawa rules, POLICE protocol, and getting back to sport
Ankle sprain — when to X-ray, how to grade severity, the POLICE protocol, rehabilitation for preventing re-injury, and the AU general practice pathway.
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Shoulder pain
Shoulder pain: causes, diagnosis and treatment in Australian general practice
Shoulder pain affects ~70% of adults at some point. How rotator cuff problems, frozen shoulder, AC joint and OA are assessed and managed in Australian GP.
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Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome: symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment in Australia
Carpal tunnel syndrome causes night-time hand tingling and numbness. How AU GPs diagnose and treat it — splints, injections, and surgery.
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Plantar fasciitis (plantar fasciopathy / plantar heel pain)
Plantar fasciitis: heel pain causes, stretches, and treatment
Plantar fasciitis causes stabbing morning heel pain. How AU GPs diagnose it, which stretches and orthoses help, and when injections or scans are needed.
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Low back pain
Low back pain: the AU general practice approach to acute, chronic and radicular
Low back pain in Australia — red-flag exclusion, no routine imaging, NSAID first-line, physiotherapy, and the biopsychosocial approach for chronic pain.
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Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis: bone density, fracture risk, and what actually works
Osteoporosis — how it's diagnosed in AU general practice, when bisphosphonates or denosumab are used, and why exercise plus calcium and vitamin D matter.
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Gout
Gout: treat-to-target urate, not just the flare — the AU GP approach
Gout — why daily allopurinol to a urate target matters more than diet alone, how acute flares are treated, and the AU general practice pathway.
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Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis: exercise, weight, topical NSAIDs first — the AU approach
Osteoarthritis — what it is, why exercise and weight loss come before pills, and the AU primary-tier pathway through pharmacotherapy and joint replacement.