By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

Beware of slacking off during Holidays!

With the holidays coming, I want to urge you to continue exercising and not slack off.

Exercise is crucial for everyone’s health and wellbeing. It is commonly stated by many health professionals that if the benefits of exercise could be reduced to pill form, it will be the most prescribed pill due to the vast amount of positive effects exercises has on our health. Some of these positive effects include reducing stress, increasing muscle strength, improving cardiovascular function, lowering risk of chronic diseases, among others.

So come the holidays, continue to exercise to keep those benefits. Note that it only takes two weeks for muscle to start losing strength/endurance and cardiovascular fitness to decrease so don’t let the holidays derail your health. Take some time for yourself and make exercise a priority this holiday! If you have any questions about exercise, you can talk to any health care professional at Form and Function Clinic. We will be happy to answer any of your questions.

By Dr. J 0 Comments Uncategorised

Lets talk Injury Prevention

When it comes to injury prevention during activity, whether that be your zumba class, kickboxing or lifting, it all comes down to alignment.  When your joints are properly lined up your body is strong and able to produce force optimally.  Proper alignment also prevents injury.  Any deviations from proper alignment put additional stress onto the muscles and/or ligaments of the joint.  Take for instance your ankle.  This image of the right foot viewed from the front, demonstrates the proper or normal alignment of the ankle in the middle. You’ll notice the two lines on each side in blue representing equal and proper distribution of stress and force.

Use proper alignment to prevent ankle injuries
Use proper alignment to prevent ankle injuries

On the left, we have inversion where stretching or tensile stress (in red) is placed on the outside of the ankle and compressive forces (in brown) on the inside.  The opposite is true for the image on the right or eversion.  When the body cannot handle the stresses placed on the joint, you get injury to the surrounding structures.  This is just a simple example of how proper alignment prevents injury!

For more information come into the clinic or join me this Saturday, December 6th at noon within the fitness studio at Club Markham where I will be giving a talk on injury prevention focusing on the back, knees and wrist.  Email info@formfunctionclinic.com with your name and phone number to sign up today.

Injury Prevention - club markham

By Dr. J 0 Comments Uncategorised

Lets talk Injury Prevention

When it comes to injury prevention during activity, whether that be your zumba class, kickboxing or lifting, it all comes down to alignment.  When your joints are properly lined up your body is strong and able to produce force optimally.  Proper alignment also prevents injury.  Any deviations from proper alignment put additional stress onto the muscles and/or ligaments of the joint.  Take for instance your ankle.  This image of the right foot viewed from the front, demonstrates the proper or normal alignment of the ankle in the middle. You’ll notice the two lines on each side in blue representing equal and proper distribution of stress and force.

Use proper alignment to prevent ankle injuries
Use proper alignment to prevent ankle injuries

On the left, we have inversion where stretching or tensile stress (in red) is placed on the outside of the ankle and compressive forces (in brown) on the inside.  The opposite is true for the image on the right or eversion.  When the body cannot handle the stresses placed on the joint, you get injury to the surrounding structures.  This is just a simple example of how proper alignment prevents injury!

For more information come into the clinic or join me this Saturday, December 6th at noon within the fitness studio at Club Markham where I will be giving a talk on injury prevention focusing on the back, knees and wrist.  Email info@formfunctionclinic.com with your name and phone number to sign up today.

Injury Prevention - club markham

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

You’re not as old as you think.

markham chiropractor

You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing, so continue to move and have fun. If you are active and pushing through limitations or pain, you will likely run into trouble.  Gone are the days of ‘no pain, no gain’. Take the time to listen to your body, stretch the muscles that are tight, and strengthen those that cry because they are weak. Take a look at our foam rolling video here for a great place to start.

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

Dr. Ho! How Does it Work? How To Get One FREE

tens small copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ho machines are Tens Machines or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation machines.  The device has been around for decades, but Dr. Ho just did some amazing marketing for his product! The reason why Tens machines  provide pain relief is by the following two main pathways:

1)  Gait control of pain: You can think of this as the “pinch yourself to get rid of your shoulder pain” technique.  It is essentially distracting your neurological pathways in order to scramble the pain signals coming from the site of your injury.  As complicated as our bodies might seem, it is easily deceived!

2) Endorphin release:  Think of Endorphins as your natural production of morphine.  This natural opiate helps to numb the pain even further in order for your to go on with your day.

Now that we know what these machines do, the real question is if they work?

Short answer is YES!  Why wouldn’t you want to reduce pain while you are doing amazing rehabilitation, functional exercises, medical acupuncture or restorative techniques with your healthcare team?  Why would you want to be in pain when you can reduce that irritant and activity deterrent?  Modalities sometimes have a bad rep in the rehab industry; but it is only bad if that is the only thing your physio/chiro/ AT is using for your rehabilitation or wellness program.  As per our Dynamic Treatment Paradigm (DTP), your treatment plan should consist a variety of evidence lead manual techniques, rehab and modalities that  accumulates to a better outcome.

 

Get your Free Tense Machine

Most insurance covers a tense machine. Book a free call with one of our team members to find out how.

Learn More
By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

Dr. Ho! How Does it Work?

tens small copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ho machines are Tens Machines or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation machines.  The device has been around for decades, but Dr. Ho just did some amazing marketing for his product! The reason why Tens machines  provide pain relief is by the following two main pathways:

1)  Gait control of pain: You can think of this as the “pinch yourself to get rid of your shoulder pain” technique.  It is essentially distracting your neurological pathways in order to scramble the pain signals coming from the site of your injury.  As complicated as our bodies might seem, it is easily deceived!

2) Endorphin release:  Think of Endorphins as your natural production of morphine.  This natural opiate helps to numb the pain even further in order for your to go on with your day.

Now that we know what these machines do, the real question is if they work.

Short answer is YES!  Why wouldn’t you want to reduce pain while you are doing amazing rehabilitation, functional exercises, medical acupuncture or restorative techniques with your healthcare team?  Why would you want to be in pain when you can reduce that irritant and activity deterrent?  Modalities sometimes have a bad rep in the rehab industry, but it is only bad if that is the only thing your physio/chiro/ AT is using for your rehabilitation or wellness program.  As per our Dynamic Treatment Paradigm (DTP), your treatment plan should consist a variety of evidence-based manual techniques, rehab and modalities that accumulate to a better outcome.

How to get a FREE TENS MACHINE ? 

 

Free tense machine

Most insurance companies cover the full price of a tense machine. Call our health concierge in Markham to find out how.

Learn More

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Talk

The Best Exercise That Not Many Know

TURKISH GETUP HEALTHTALK NEWSLETTER NOV 2014

Welcome to another Health talk Newsletter!  This month’s piece, written by Dr. Paul Oh is all about the best exercise that no body knows. Click here for more info: TGU

 

The Turkish Getup (TGU) may be the best exercise nobody knows! Legend has it that traditional strong men in eastern Europe would not allow you to do exercises until you could do a TGU 100 pounds with each hand.  Click here for more info: TGU

 

Simply put, the TGU is getting up and down to the floor using a weight.  Click here for more info: TGU

 

This exercise is so effective that I have used portions of the TGU during the rehab process.  Click here for more info: TGU

 

If you have any questions about the getup, please don’t hesitate to contact the Form and Function clinic.  Click HERE for more info: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

Stretch for Stress

Combat tension from stress, anxiety or too much sitting.  You can simply stand up, reach for the sky, or extend your arms out as far as you can and hold that position for 15-30s to help yourself loosen up and let go of some stress.  Take some deep breathes through your belly and simply enjoy and feel your stress fade away.  Try to do this once EVERY 30 minutes.  When you are stressed, the body’s fight or flight response is triggered causing the body to tense up in preparation.  This tension can lead to chronic pain and this is where stretching interrupts our body’s defensive response. So stretch away from stress 30s at a time and remember that change happens over time. Book in an assessment today if you’d like a regime catered to you!

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

Stretch for Stress

Combat tension from stress, anxiety or too much sitting.  You can simply stand up, reach for the sky, or extend your arms out as far as you can and hold that position for 15-30s to help yourself loosen up and let go of some stress.  Take some deep breathes through your belly and simply enjoy and feel your stress fade away.  Try to do this once EVERY 30 minutes.  When you are stressed, the body’s fight or flight response is triggered causing the body to tense up in preparation.  This tension can lead to chronic pain and this is where stretching interrupts our body’s defensive response. So stretch away from stress 30s at a time and remember that change happens over time. Book in an assessment today if you’d like a regime catered to you!

By Dr. J 0 Comments Health Tips

To ice or not to ice

Inflammation gets a bad reputation.  Everyone wants to get rid of inflammation.  We have long been told to RICE (Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate) any acute injury to get the inflammation settled down.  What if this was wrong?

 

Recently Dr Gabe Mirkin, the physician that coined the term RICE, has spearheaded a movement away from icing acute injuries (see link below).  The heart of his message is “Let inflammation runs it course”.  Inflammation is needed for the body to call for healing chemicals/cells in the acute stages of injury.  Why slow that down by icing and reducing blood flow?

 

It is against a lot of traditional thinking but next time you injury a body part and it swells up, try using avoiding the ice immediately.  Rest, compress, elevate and get treatment to maintain muscle and joint function.  The health care professionals at Form and Function can guide you through the acute stages of injury and get you back to normal quicker!

 

For the link: http://drmirkin.com/fitness/why-ice-delays-recovery.html