Alone in the pain

[gjones]

I think this is very problematic. The first paper you quote Violet says that the smaller the sample size, the greater the chance of inaccuracy of the results, and you then quote two studies with very small sample sizes of about 10 people. The first study seems to refer to an improvement in psychological states rather than in pain, unless I've misunderstood. The second study seems more positive, but then there is the tiny number of participants to consider. In short, it's not very convincing. But then if we can't rely on studies , even if they have thousands of subjects, are we reduced to relying only on subjective, individual and anecdotal testimonials - and many of them anonymous? It all seems to be a minefield to me, covered with danger and traps. If we can't rely on evidence based on scientific method, how do we know any treatment is not going to make things even worse? Do we just have to take a big risk?

[HarryPotter69]

will it work for a full hip replacement joint as my father had a Surgery recently and i hope it will work

[eraser]

I think this is very problematic. The first paper you quote Violet says that the smaller the sample size, the greater the chance of inaccuracy of the results, and you then quote two studies with very small sample sizes of about 10 people. The first study seems to refer to an improvement in psychological states rather than in pain, unless I've misunderstood. The second study seems more positive, but then there is the tiny number of participants to consider. In short, it's not very convincing. But then if we can't rely on studies , even if they have thousands of subjects, are we reduced to relying only on subjective, individual and anecdotal testimonials - and many of them anonymous? It all seems to be a minefield to me, covered with danger and traps. If we can't rely on evidence based on scientific method, how do we know any treatment is not going to make things even worse? Do we just have to take a big risk?

The difficulty with the condition is that it is not fully understood and there are potentially many possible causes. We do not have good diagnostics and as a result, people are not diagnosed with the condition even though they have it. Consequently you will not get the robust randomised controlled trials that would give us all the answers we are seeking. Even then, outcomes would not be certain but we would all be able to make more informed choices. The sad and very frustrating consequences of this is that I don't think anybody will ever really be the specialist in this field.

Medicine itself is very imprecise and isn't at all based on the scientific method, many treatment options for other conditions are based on cost rather than effectiveness. For instance, in the UK there is an entire body that considers the argument of cost vs benefit.

Personally, I do not believe in PT for anything as if it was simple as that, generally people would have figured it out themselves. However, is there any harm in giving it a go? Absolutely not, I think the key is if it doesn't work in 1-2 months is to realise that it won't work and you need to try something else, which is inevitably going to be more invasive.