Reviews

Compression socks are sold for almost everything: long flights, nursing shifts, marathon recovery, varicose veins, faster running and life after surgery.

In occupational health, I regularly meet patients who suspect that the air in their home or workplace is contributing to their symptoms.

In Finland, sauna is much more than a way to get warm. We Finns are a sauna-loving nation, and having a sauna at home is perfectly ordinary.

Late pregnancy is a distinct clinical phase. In my own practice, this is when I most often see pregnancy-related musculoskeletal complaints become practically limiting: pelvic girdle pain, low back pain, and sometimes contractions provoked by physical work or prolonged activity.

The best treadmill for home use depends on what you actually want the machine to do. Losing weight, training for a race, sitting less during the workday, and walking uphill to change knee loading are different goals, and the evidence behind each is not equally strong.

Back pain is one of the most common reasons people come to see me in occupational health—roughly the third most common in my own clinical workload.

Hiking poles are sold on big promises: kinder knees, less fatigue, better balance. Some of those claims have meaningful research behind them, some rest mainly on small biomechanical studies, and others have barely been tested at all.

“Overpronation” is one of the oldest ideas in running-shoe design: if the foot rolls too far inward, it may contribute to pain or injury, and a shoe with firmer material along the inner side might help control that movement.

Mattresses come up surprisingly often in conversations with my patients. Many are willing to spend a substantial amount of money on a new bed, usually because of back pain, poor sleep, or simply the hope of being more comfortable at night.

Workplace ergonomics has become much more prominent over the past couple of decades, at least from what I have seen in practice.

Plantar fasciitis is a common problem in my clinical practice, and it can be remarkably disruptive for patients. When every step hurts, the condition can interfere not only with running and other sports but also with ordinary walking and day-to-day activity.

If you watch basketball, weightlifting, or other strength and power sports, you have probably seen athletes wearing elbow sleeves.

Some patients already have some way of checking their oxygen level at home, although increasingly that may be through a smartwatch, ring, or another wearable rather than a dedicated medical-style device.

Most of us have seen some version of this idea before. Maybe it was an AbTronic-style belt on late-night TV promising a harder abdomen while you sat on the couch.

Physiotherapy has long been a space where new and sometimes unconventional treatment modalities appear early.

Plantar fasciitis is a common reason patients seek care for pain under the foot or around the heel, and many patients loosely refer to the problem as a “heel spur.” In my clinical experience, it is also one of those conditions that can look relatively straightforward on paper but prove surprisingly persistent in practice.

Tennis elbow is a familiar problem in clinical practice. When I see it, the patient often has a job or daily routine that involves repeated use of the hands and forearms — for example, cabin crew, nurses, construction workers, or sometimes people who spend long hours working at a computer.

Nasal strips are everywhere on social media. They are promoted for snoring, a blocked nose, better sleep, and sometimes even sleep apnea, and many influencers describe them as part of their nightly routine.

Weightlifting belts are one of the most common — and most misunderstood — pieces of gym equipment. Most lifters have probably wondered at some point whether a belt actually helps: does it reduce injury risk, protect the intervertebral discs, increase intra-abdominal pressure, or simply make heavy lifting feel safer?

Musculoskeletal complaints are among the most common reasons people come to see me in clinical practice, particularly in occupational health.