Interventions were provided over 30 minutes twice a week for two consecutive weeks, which

is likely to correspond to typical physiotherapy intervention for acute low back pain. In summary, for non-specific acute low back pain there does not appear to be any short-term or medium-term advantage from the addition of Strain-Counterstrain treatment to appropriate analgesic medication, advice, range of motion exercises, and transversus abdominis exercises. Further studies could examine whether a subgroup of individuals with non-specific acute low back pain are more check details likely to benefit from Strain-Counterstrain treatment. Thanks to Deborah Davis, Administrative Officer, Stanthorpe Health Services, for assistance in administering self-report outcome questionnaires and randomisation of participants. Thanks to Stephanie Valentin, Physiotherapist, for research assistance at The University Compound C datasheet of Queensland. Thanks to Alexandra Newcombe, Senior Physiotherapist Warwick Health Services, for pre-study discussion and input.

Thanks to Dr Asad Khan, Senior Lecturer in Statistics, The University of Queensland, for statistical analysis guidance. Ethics: Ethical approval for the study was given by the Toowoomba and Darling Downs Health Service District Human Research Ethics Committee and The University of Queensland Medical Research Ethics Committee. All participants gave written informed consent before data collection began. Competing interests: None declared. “
“Shoulder pain is a common problem. The incidence is 11.6 per 1000 person-years in Dutch general practice (Bot et al 2005), with reports of the prevalence in various populations ranging from 7% to 67% (Adebajo and Hazleman, 1992, Cunningham and Kelsey, 1984, Meyers et al 1982, Reyes Llerena et al 2000). Abnormal scapular position and movement are associated with shoulder pain and glenohumeral joint impingement syndrome

(Cools et al 2003, Kibler, 1998). Scapular dysfunction may arise from musculoskeletal factors – including sustained abnormal posture (Rempel Edoxaban et al 2007), repetitive movements that deviate from normal movement patterns (Madeleine et al 2008), or glenohumeral and scapulothoracic muscle imbalance (Cools et al 2004, Hallstrom and Karrholm, 2006) – or from neurological abnormalities. Co-ordinated activation of the scapular upward rotators is essential for normal scapulohumeral rhythm. Scapular winging is a specific type of scapular dysfunction that has two common causes. One is the denervation of the long thoracic nerve leading to difficulty flexing the shoulder actively above 120°. The second cause is weakness of the serratus anterior muscle.