All bone & Joint Issues
22nd August 2025, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
We always worry when athlete patients take supplements to improve their workout and performance. We don’t really know what these “supplements” are. We don’t really know whether they work or whether they are safe. One of the most commonly used supplements is creatine. Does it help muscle building and performance? Does it help to lose fat?…
14th August 2025, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
Back pain remains one of the most frequent presentations in general practice across Australia. The underlying causes are varied and may include nerve root irritation (such as sciatica), inflammation of the facet joints, degenerative disc changes or muscle strain. While imaging plays a key role in identifying these conditions, CT-guided spinal injections have emerged as a valuable tool, offering both diagnostic precision and targeted therapeutic intervention.…
28th July 2025, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
We have explored the association between intensive endurance athletes and cardiovascular events in the past. Data on the dose–response relationship between long-term intensive endurance exercise and coronary heart disease has been rather conflicting over the years. While early studies suggest that regular endurance athletes have lower ischaemic heart disease (1), later studies reported an increased prevalence of coronary atherosclerotic plaques amongst highly trained athletes in comparison to healthy non-athletes (2–4).…
14th March 2025, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain in adults affecting about 10% of the adult population. It is most common in women aged between 40-60 years. It stems from the degenerative irritation of the plantar fascia origin at the medial calcaneal tuberosity of the heel and its surrounding perifascial structures.…
9th November 2024, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
What is shoulder bursitis?
Shoulder bursitis is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain and is referred as an inflammatory disorder affecting the subacromial-subdeltoid bursa (Faruqi & Rizvi, 2023). The subacromial-subdeltoid bursa is a fluid-filled sac lined with synovium which separates the supraspinatus tendon from the acromion, coracoacromial ligament and deltoid and helps ease movement between the rotator cuff and other structures of the shoulder joint (MacMahon & Yablon, 2017).…
10th December 2023, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
We don’t get old and weak. Actually, if we get weak, we become old. We all see that in practice. It doesn’t matter how old our patient is. When they become weak, they slow down. They can’t walk very far and they don’t. They become weaker and weaker. They have difficulty get off a chair.…
30th November, Spectrum Medical Imaging
The midfoot consist of 5 bones, cuboid, navicular and three cuneiform bones. These bones articulate with the base of the five metatarsals. In the Lisfranc injuries, it is these articulations (and their ligamemts) that are damage. Sometimes, there are fractures easily seen on plain xrays. Sometimes, one can see separation of the bones on plain xrays.…
12th September 2023, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
Back pain has to be one of the most common ailments we see in general practice. Pain may originate from nerve root irritation, facet joint dysfunction, degenerative disc disease or poor muscle function or even osteoporotic fractures. There has been numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses and most have highlighted how ineffective cortisone injections are in relieving the symptoms in the medium and long term.…
30th August 2023, Spectrum Medical Imaging
68yo female patient sustained a fall on an outstretched hand. Plain x-rays revealed a closed fracture to the right distal radius and ulna. This was reduced by the orthopaedic surgeon and held in a forearm plaster of Paris. Post op x-rays showed satisfactory alignment and she was discharged to see her GP with follow up with the orthopaedic team at a later date.…
26th July 2023, Dr Chee L Khoo
It is coming up to 10 years now when we, as GPs, were suddenly not allowed to prescribe TRT for our patients with low serum testosterone levels. The rationale cited at the time was that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) was potentially harmful because we were told that TRT is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in men with hypogonadism.…
30th May, 2023, Spectrum Medical Imaging
Knee injuries are one of the most common injuries we see in general practice. We always start with history to determine the mechanism of injury. Examination is not always straight forward especially, if there is severe pain and restriction of movement. MRI is an excellent tool for demonstrating injuries of the internal soft tissue structures in the joints.…
30th April, Spectrum Medical Imaging
All medical students will remember Morton’s neuroma but they never tell us what to do after you suspect the foot symptoms are suggestive of Morton’s neuroma. It also known as inter-metatarsal neuroma. It is a focal area of perineural fibrosis around plantar digital nerves of the foot. It is thought to be due to chronic entrapment of the nerve by the inter-metatarsal ligament and can be a cause of metatarsalgia.…