Markham Location – News & Announcements
Do you spend a lot of time at work sitting or stuck in one position? During lunch or a break, take the time to move and stretch and change your position to keep your spine healthy. Prop your legs up against the wall with your back on the floor. Take a few deep breaths while ‘sitting on the wall’ to help the back, improve circulation, rest weary legs, or relax in general.
Dr. Jon Leung
Ingrown toenails are toenails that have a tendency to curl into the surrounding skin on our toes.
If left unattended, they are can get infected and/or irritated. Make sure to wear wider-fitting shoes. This will prevent your shoes from putting pressure onto your toenails. Wearing high heels will have just the opposite effect! Avoiding any type of trauma to the toenails will also be beneficial. Avoid people from stepping on your toes and avoid hitting your toenails against hard surfaces.
Jennifer Lam, Chiropodist
Keyboard Height
Sit with relaxed shoulders in an upright posture. Adjust your seat height until your elbows and knees are bent at 90-degrees, and your feet rest on the floor. You may also move your keyboard, the height of your desk, and/or use a footrest to achieve this position. When possible, you may try using an exercise ball (stability or Swiss ball) as an ergonomically-sound replacement for your chair.
Footrest
Adjustable footrests are ideal. An adjustable height Wobble Board is a good alternation, because the dynamic movement means that your legs and feet will not get tired of being in the same position for hours. You can also stand on a Wobble Board when talking on the phone. This is a great opportunity to enhance your balance and proprioception.
John Li, Massage Therapist
As the price of fresh produce continue to rise, money often becomes a limiting factor to eating healthy. Organic vegetables and fruits are preferred to reduce your exposure to pesticides, which may disrupt hormone levels in the body. However, the high cost of organic foods is often a deterrent.
Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group helps you make better decisions for your body and your wallet, by providing a list of foods which are safer to eat non-organic, and which foods are better eaten organic.
The “Dirty Dozen”
These foods were found to have the highest pesticide exposure. When possible, purchase the organic options for these foods:
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_dozen_list.php
The “Clean 15”
These foods were found to have the lowest pesticide exposure. Save your money and choose the non-organic options for these foods:
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean_fifteen_list.php
One final thought: my patients often ask me whether it is safe to eat vegetables and fruits even if they are not organic, due to the risk of pesticide exposure. My answer is always the same: Remember that the levels of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in produce outweigh the potential risks of pesticides. So Yes! You still have to eat your fruits & vegetables.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. Odette Bulaong ND
As technology is getting more advanced, we spend more and more time looking down at screens from laptops to tablets to phones. Looking down, especially for a prolonged period of time, is horrible for your neck. In fact, for every 15 degrees we look down, our neck/spine bears an EXTRA 10-15lbs. That’s a whopping 60lbs of weight at 60 deg neck flexion. So next time you are looking down, I suggest you spend an equal amount of time looking up (or just put the technology away for a while). Your neck will thank you for it.
Manni Wong, Physiotherapist
By John Li, Registered Massage Therapist (RMT)
Massage therapy is the manipulation of soft tissues of the body including, muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments and joints. Massage Therapy is a clinically-oriented healthcare option that helps alleviate the discomfort associated with every day and occupational stresses, muscular over-use and many chronic pain conditions. Receiving routine massages will maintain the body’s well-being.
Getting a deep tissue massage, where the therapist works on deeper layers of muscles, fascia, and myofascial layer can be advantageous.
Everyone experiences stress from everyday life demands. Deep tissue massage can ease the stress in a healthy manner, by relieving physical stress from the body. When the body is relaxed, it improves mental health as well.
Deep tissue massage uses techniques that focuses on key target areas and may be able to lessen pain. Deep tissue massage can be used for conditions such as fibromyalgia, tennis elbow, chronic pain – like low-back pain, and can provide pain relief.
Scar tissue forms around injuries and damaged muscles, ligaments, or tendons. Deep tissue massage can help make movement easier and promotes greater range of motion.
Deep tissue massage can use gentle yet sustained pressure to release pooled blood and improve blood circulation. Massage can also calm the body, therefore lowering heart rate and blood pressure.
With winter finally upon us, it’s time to bring out those snow shovels. The next time you have to shovel remember to hinge at the hip and lift the snow using your LEGS. Keep the shovel head as close to the body as possible, and try not to lift too much at once. Wet snow is surprisingly heavy so use your legs and avoid back pain.
Dr. Jon Leung
One way to keep the circulation moving in those legs is to keep your legs up i.e. with a foot stool, ottoman, chair when in a sitting position. Oftentimes, we tend to sit too much or stand too much in a span of a few hours. As a result, gravity will keep the blood pooling at our feet. This will increase our risk of getting varicose veins and swelling to our ankles. So keep those legs up whenever you get a chance!
Jennifer Lam, Chiropodist
