CAM LIVE: A physiotherapeutic approach to osteoarthritis management with Diane Messum

The lovely Diane Messum returns to CAM to guide us through a physiotherapist’s approach to arthritis management, from diagnosis and assessing needs through to identifying factors in the individual day-to-day routine which may be hindering treatment. She explains the methods of managing pain and protecting joints from further trauma and disease progression as well as the role of diet, weight and the importance of a multimodal approach to managing osteoarthritis.

Diane has been a Chartered Physiotherapist for over 17 years, qualifying from the University of Birmingham in 2002. She went on to specialise in musculoskeletal outpatients and hand therapy where she developed knowledge and skills that were key to her current practice within the small animal field. Diane completed her Master’s Degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy in 2007, awarded by the Royal Veterinary College, London, when she started her private practice for equine and small animals. After dividing her time between human and animal species, she went on to specialise in small animals, joining Davies Veterinary Specialists to head up and develop the Therapy Services in 2011. This came with the fantastic opportunity to work alongside the Orthopaedic and Neurology services, just two of the many specialists’ services at Davies Veterinary Specialists, one of the largest and most diverse small animal referrals hospitals in Europe. Growth of the service led to the launch of the Davies Therapy and Fitness Centre in January 2017 where services now include physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, splinting and orthotics and a Pain Management Clinic including acupuncture. Diane works alongside Anaesthetist and Pain Specialist Louise Clark and other members of the Therapy Services team to optimise the quality of life for patients with long term comorbidities such as osteoarthritis. Diane also has a special interest in the use of splinting and orthotics for the management of musculoskeletal injuries. Diane continues to share her own passion for the work she does by lecturing nationally and internationally and being an active clinical educator for the Master’s Veterinary Physiotherapy Programmes in the UK.

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