Treatment of low back disorders with directional preference management

Welcome to the STOPS.physio course on Lumbar treatment with directional preference management.

This course can either be purchased individually or as part of the STOPS Assessment and treatment of low back disorders four course bundle.

Based on ground breaking research from the STOPS trial and the latest evidence-based literature. After completing this course practitioners will have sufficient knowledge to treat a typical low back disorder patient with uncomplicated reducible discogenic pain in a primary care setting.

Practitioners are primarily interested in providing effective treatment for their patients with LBD. However the 1st step in this process is the identification of primary barriers to recovery. We therefore strongly recommend all practitioners considering completion of this course to firstly complete the Standard and Complex assessment of low back disorders courses. This will enable practitioners to identify patients with uncomplicated reducible discogenic pain that should be highly responsive to the treatment methods outlined in this course.

This course is divided into modules which are a series of topic specific lectures. Through-out these lectures you will have the opportunity to test your understanding by completing multiple attempt quiz questions.

On completion of this course the practitioner should have sufficient knowledge to:

• Generate and test hypotheses regarding cause of symptoms, source of symptoms, relationship between symptoms and contributing factors
• Adequately select an appropriate treatment technique that results in patient improvement
• Adequately reassess a patient to evaluate the effectiveness of the technique
• Understand the basic principles of the McKenzie method as it applies to reducible discogenic pain
• Adequately prepare the patient for a directional preference management treatment program
• Identify a suitable mechanical loading strategy that results in patient improvement
• Progress the patient through a 10 session treatment program including planning for discharge
• Identify and appropriately triage patients not responding to directional preference management

Course format includes text, interactive tests of your understanding, photos, videos and numerous tables/figures.

Quizzes throughout the course will assist the practitioner in self assessment of progress.The practitioner will be able to have multiple attempts at these quizzes and their completion is not compulsory. Formal assessment and certification is an optional extra for the practitioner to ensure the above learning outcomes have been achieved.

Following are some “test your understanding” exercises from "Standard assessment of low back disorders" as a self assessment tool to evaluate competency in these areas. If less than 4 out of 5 exercises are answered correctly we strongly advise review of "Standard assessment of low back disorders". If your licence to this material has expired please contact us.