This page explains how the clinical content on getmusclemap.com is researched, written, cited, and reviewed. We publish it so practitioners can judge the quality of our content the same way they would judge a journal article.
Who we are
MuscleMap is a small company building objective measurement tools for chiropractors and physical therapists. Articles are written by Harrison Shu, founder of MuscleMap. Harrison is not a licensed clinician. Articles that touch on clinical decision-making are reviewed against peer-reviewed sources before publication.
What we write about
Our content covers two topics: patient retention for manual therapy practices (drop-out causes, re-examination cadence, communicating progress), and clinical stiffness measurement (myotonometry, soft tissue assessment, comparisons to palpation and other tools).
How we source claims
Every clinical claim in our articles is backed by at least one of the following:
- A peer-reviewed study indexed in PubMed, with a real DOI linked inline
- A published practitioner survey from a known industry source (e.g., ChiroEco Annual Survey)
- Our own internal data, clearly labeled as such (e.g., "MuscleMap Dropout Survey, n=455, 2026")
We do not cite Wikipedia, blog posts, or marketing pages as sources for clinical claims. Citations are linked inline on the author name or study title, not buried in a bibliography.
How we handle uncertainty
Clinical research rarely produces hard rules. We hedge accordingly. We write "may reflect," "may indicate," or "may suggest" rather than claiming direct causation. We explicitly note when the evidence base is small, when sample sizes are limited, or when studies disagree.
What we do not claim
We do not claim that any measurement tool, including MuscleMap, can diagnose conditions, predict recurrence, or replace clinical judgment. Stiffness measurement is one data input among many. We never present it as the answer to a clinical question on its own.
Conflict of interest disclosure
MuscleMap sells a device that measures soft tissue stiffness. Most of our articles touch on topics where this device is one of several relevant tools. We name it as one option alongside range-of-motion testing, posture analysis, and other approaches, never as the unique solution. We do not pay for citations or placements.
How we use AI in our content workflow
We use large language models to help with research synthesis, drafting, and copyediting. Every article is reviewed by a human (Harrison) before publication. Citations are verified against the original source, not taken from the model's output. The model is never the source of a clinical claim.
How often we update
Each article carries a Last reviewed date in the article header. We review articles on a rolling basis when new peer-reviewed evidence is published on the topic, when a citation becomes outdated, or when the article is more than 90 days old.
How to flag an error
If you find a factual error, a misrepresented study, or a missing citation, email harrisonshu@getmusclemap.com. We respond within 5 business days and update the article with a visible correction note if the error is substantive.
Disclaimer
The content on getmusclemap.com is educational. It is not medical advice and does not replace clinical judgment by a licensed practitioner. Always defer to your own clinical reasoning and applicable professional standards.