Rate My Professor Lucy Thomas

Her research specializations include the safety of manual treatment of the neck, recognition of red flag conditions in patients with headache and neck pain, evaluation of the neck's role in disorders such as headache and dizziness, validation of simple screening tools for the cervical region, and optimization of cervical spine disorder management, with a particular emphasis on cervical arterial dissection. She led the development of the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s ‘Clinical guide to safe manual therapy practice in the cervical spine’ in 2018, which informed the revised 2020 International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists framework. Key publications encompass 'Validation of a diagnostic support tool for early recognition of cervical arterial dissection in primary care' (2024), 'Development of a diagnostic support tool for predicting cervical arterial dissection in primary care' (2023), 'Neck pain associated with migraine does not necessarily reflect cervical musculoskeletal dysfunction' (2021), 'Should we abandon positional testing for vertebrobasilar insufficiency?' (2020), and contributions to textbooks on cervical spine management. With over 970 citations, her work has advanced clinical practices in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Thomas is regularly invited to deliver webinars, lectures, and workshops nationally and internationally on safe cervical spine evaluation and management.