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Dr Colette Ridehalgh

Dr Colette Ridehalgh PhD, MSc Manipulative Physiotherapy, BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy. Pg Certificate in Higher education, MCSP, MMACP

Senior Research Fellow
E: c.ridehalgh@bsms.ac.uk
T: 01273 075260

Areas of expertise: Neuropathic pain

Research areas: Neuropathic pain, QST, MRI, Whiplash, radiculopathy

Other relevant positions: Principal Lecturer School of Sport and Health Sciences, Research Officer Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapy

Preferred gender pronouns: She/her

Twitter handle: @cr19Colette

Biography

Colette started her career as a Physiotherapist specialising in musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and working in London at several hospitals including UCLH, St Mary’s and Chelsea and Westminster hospitals. After completing her MSc in Manipulative Physiotherapy at the University of Brighton, she worked locally at BSUH and various private practices before getting a job at the University of Brighton as a Senior Lecturer in MSK Physiotherapy. Colette was always interested in nerve related MSK pain particularly radiculopathy and soon started her PhD exploring Straight Leg Raise treatment for individuals with spinally referred leg pain. On completion of her PhD in 2014, she continued teaching and applied for a number of small grants and was successful in receiving the Rising Stars grant from the University of Brighton in 2017. This enabled her to carry out a feasibility study looking at sub-profiling of people with spinally referred leg pain. In the meantime, she became Course leader for the MSc Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy course and supervised many undergraduate and postgraduate students including MRes and PhD students as well as collaborating with academics both internally at the University of Brighton and BSMS and externally at the University of Oxford and Curtin Universities. More recently Colette has been appointed as Research officer at the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists and worked collaboratively with HEE looking at governance of a portfolio route to Advanced Clinical Practice for musculoskeletal practitioners.

She currently works at BSMS as a Senior Research Fellow on a Versus Arthritis study exploring nerve inflammation in people after whiplash injury. Whilst maintaining a part time position as PL at the University of Brighton.

Research

Colette's research interests are all centred around people with peripheral neuropathic pain conditions such as radiculopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome and more recently whiplash injury. She uses both clinical tests (eg movements tests, neurological integrity tests, neurodynamic tests, blood tests) as well as MRI, skin biopsies and quantitative sensory testing to identify specific physiological mechanisms related to neuropathic pain but to also establish prognostic factors. Psychological and social factors are also potential prognostic factors associated with these conditions and she utilises a number of specific questionnaires to explore this in these groups of individuals. However, she has also supervised a number of student projects from BSc to PhD exploring a number of musculoskeletal conditions including low back pain and rotator cuff injuries.

Colette mostly uses quantitative research methodologies, but has supervised qualitative research exploring the lived experience of people living with pain and would be keen to collaborate with qualitative researchers to explore this further.

Teaching

Colette has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate Physiotherapy students since 2002. Her areas of teaching have included anatomy, musculoskeletal assessment and management, clinical reasoning and neuropathic pain. She teaches both within the University setting and externally for musculoskeletal clinicians in the UK and Europe.

Her philosophy around teaching is to help to develop students to become independent leaners, to enable them to question, reason and defend theory, practice and evidence in a holistic person centred way.

Selected publications

Does peripheral neuroinflammation predict chronicity following whiplash injury? Protocol for a prospective cohort study15 Dec 2022BMJ Open12(12 )Ridehalgh C, Fundaun J, Bremner S...7 more

Management of low back pain: Treatment provision within private practice in the UK in the context of clinical guidelines 1 Dec 2021 Musculoskeletal Care19(4):540-549 Murtagh S, Bryant E, Hebron C, Ridehalgh, C et al.

Do behaviour change techniques increase adherence to home exercises in those with upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders? A systematic review 1 Sep 2021Musculoskeletal Care19(3):340-362 Thacker J, Bosello F, Ridehalgh C

This is the day your life must surely change [11]: Prioritising behavioural change in musculoskeletal practice 1 Sep 2021Physiotherapy (United Kingdom)112:158-162 Lewis J, Ridehalgh C, Moore A...1 more

Rotator cuff related shoulder pain. Describing home exercise adherence and the use of behavior change interventions to promote home exercise adherence: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials 1 Jan 2021Physical Therapy Reviews26(4):299-322 Hall K, Grinstead A, Lewis JS, Mercer,C, Moore A, Ridehalgh,C.

Posterior shoulder tightness; an intersession reliability study of 3 clinical tests 1 Dec 2020Archives of Physiotherapy10(1) Hall K, Lewis J, Moore A, Ridehalgh, C.

Sensory descriptors which identify neuropathic pain mechanisms in low back pain: a systematic review 2 Oct 2020Current Medical Research and Opinion36(10):1695-1706 Heraughty M, Ridehalgh C

Validity of clinical small-fiber sensory testing to detect small-nerve fiber degeneration 1 Oct 2018 Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy48(10):767-774 Ridehalgh C, Sandy-Hindmarch OP, Schmid AB

The short term effects of straight leg raise neurodynamic treatment on pressure pain and vibration thresholds in individuals with spinally referred leg pain 1 Jun 2016Manual Therapy23:40-47 Ridehalgh C, Moore A, Hough A

Sciatic nerve excursion during a modified passive straight leg raise test in asymptomatic participants and participants with spinally referred leg pain 1 Aug 2015Manual Therapy20(4):564-569 Ridehalgh C, Moore A, Hough A

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