Dr Ross Armstrong
PhD, MSc Sport and Exercise Medicine, MSc Physiotherapy, BSc (Hons) Sports Science and Physiology
Ross is an Advanced Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and an Associate Professor of Musculoskeletal and Population Health at the University of Cumbria. He has extensive experience working with athletes of all abilities, and his special interests are injuries related to dancing, hypermobility-related injuries, and helping people to deal with chronic pain. He is also a qualified acupuncturist and Pilates instructor.
He has more than 20 years’ experience, having worked in Britain’s NHS and military as well as in private practice and professional sport. He has worked as a physio at the following elite sporting events:
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London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics
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Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
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Baku 2015 European Championships
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Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics
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London 2017 World Athletics Championships
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Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Ross has also been working part-time as a physio with the youth academy and women’s teams at Liverpool Football Club since 2016.
In addition to his clinical experience, he is the author and co-author of more than 40 research studies and book chapters and has presented his research at various international conferences. He was co-author on a Cochrane systematic review that investigated running shoes for preventing lower limb running injuries and was lead author on two scientific reviews that investigated injuries in dance and gymnastics.
“I firmly believe that all healthcare practitioners must engage with both clinical practice and research to work effectively,” says Ross.
He has also volunteered as a physio in Honduras, Guatemala, and Brazil. “This has strengthened my research ethos by allowing me to experience first-hand the need for the development of evidence-based practice.”
Ross is a founding member of the Somatic Practice and Chronic Pain Network, and his current research focus is the management of chronic pain.
He is also a founding member of the Brazil-UK Dance Medicine and Science Network and has worked with Dance UK as an advisor on musculoskeletal screening.
Ross’s own sporting interests:
Ross enjoys running, going to the gym, and playing tennis and volleyball. He also enjoys skiing and has skied since childhood. “I like to try new sports and activities and generally like leading an active life, including lots of hill walking in the Lake District.
"I realise how frustrating injury can be, having suffered injuries over the years, and I understand patients’ desire to get back to sport as quickly as possible.”
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With regards to providing online physio treatment, Ross says:
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"Online physiotherapy has revolutionised patient access and allows prompt injury assessment and planning to allow return to sport in as quick a time frame as possible. Education, exercise prescription, and self-management are vital to the injury recovery process and form an important part of the online physiotherapy consultation."
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Key articles written by Ross
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Relph N, Greaves H, Armstrong R, Prior TD, Spencer S, Griffiths IB, Dey P, Langley B. Running shoes for preventing lower limb running injuries in adults (2022). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Issue 8. Art. No.: CD013368.
Armstrong R, Relph N (2021). Screening tools as a predictor of injury in gymnastics: Systematic Literature review. Sports Medicine Open 7 73.
Armstrong R, Relph N (2018). Screening tools as a predictor of injury in dance. A systematic review and meta-analysis Sports Medicine Open 18;4 (1) 33
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See all his research output here.
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Ross had been practising as a physio since 2002.
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Qualifications:
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PhD, Musculoskeletal Screening: Implications for Injury and Performance
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Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education
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MSc Sport and Exercise Medicine
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MSc Physiotherapy (Accelerated route)
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BSc (Hons) Sports Science and Physiology
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APPI Pilates Instructor
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Acupuncturist
Memberships and Registrations:
