Musculoskeletal Pain: Current and Future Directions of Physical Therapy Practice

Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is 1 of the most common problems managed by clinicians in MSK care. This article reviews current frameworks for the assessment and management of MSK pain within evidence-based physical therapy practice. Key considerations related to the biopsychosocial model of pain, evidence-based practice, assessment, treatment, physical activity/movement behavior, risk stratification, communication as well as patient education and self management skills within physical therapy and physical and rehabilitation medicine are addressed. The future direction of MSK pain management is also discussed, including strategies to promote evidence-based practice, behavior change, social prescribing, and the use of technologies.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).