Falls and collision are the main source of injury for snowboarding and skiing – the best thing you can do is some dry land training exercises to stabilize and strengthen the core, legs, shoulders and arms. A little warm up goes a long way. Warm up before your first runs and choose a few easier slopes to warm up before hitting those double blacks and glades.
If you need help with your injuries, book with Dr. Jon here
Dr. Jon Leung
November is here and so is the fundraising campaign Movember. For those of you who don’t know what Movember is, it is a campaign that involves growing moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. Why mustache? They are very visual and meant to start conversions about mens health.
One issue Movember raises awareness and funds for is physical inactivity. Here are some facts:
– Inactivity is the 4th leading risk factor for global mortality
– 41% of men in high-income countries do not exercise enough
– Physical inactivity leads to higher risk of cancer and other diseases
The health guideline for exercise is a three times a week of at least 30 mins of activity. If you are not getting that amount of exercise, you should consider increasing your exercise level. If you have any questions about increasing your activity level, the health care professionals at Form and Function can help set up an exercise plan for you.
Furthermore, If you want to help raise funds for Movember, you can donate here http://mobro.co/manniwong
Join me tonight at 7pm at Cornell Community Centre and Library (3201 Bur Oak Ave, Markham) for my health talk on Staying Fit While you sit!
I’ll go over how sitting is essentially a disease which plagues our society, how this affects you, and how you can counter the negative effects of sitting. I will be taking all the participants through a stretch and exercise period at their chairs as well as a question and answer period afterwards!
Come on out and take charge of your health.
Ingrown toenails have a tendency to curl into the skin on the side of the toenails and cause excruciating pain. In some cases, an infection can occur, leaving the skin to become red and swollen. Blood and pus may also be present around the infected areas.
Here are some tips to avoid infections:-
1) Try soaking your feet with Epsom salts and warm water. This will reduce pain and swelling around the toenails.
2) Make sure to cut your toenails straight across instead of curving them into the corners, which will increase your risk of ingrown toenails.
3) Keep your feet dry at all times.
4) Apply an antibiotic ointment and bandage around the area to reduce your risk of infection around the toe.
5) Wear shoes which allow more room around the toes to avoid adding pressure to the ingrown toenails.
Most importantly, seek the advice of a Chiropodist for more comprehensive advice regarding your ingrown toenails. Please feel free to contact, Jennifer Lam, the Chiropodist at the Form and Function Clinic for a consultation.
Challenge yourself to balance regularly. Not only will this prevent falls, it will increase the proprioceptive awareness of your body. Meaning you will take better control of your body and improve your awareness within space.
It’s simple! I challenge you to take a few minutes out of your day and balance. Try this while you wait in line at the grocery counter, wait for the microwave, or just when watching tv! You can start off easy with simply putting your feet together, stretching your arms out and closing your eyes. Try to hold for at least 30 seconds at a time. Once you get to 30 seconds you can try to make the movement harder. Once you’ve mastered 2 leg balance you can try to balance like the image above:
1. Shift weight to one foot. Keep your arms spread out to start
2. Press your opposite foot above your knee into your thigh
3. Keep a slight bend in the knee. Balance!
4. To make it harder; Hold, twist, take arms overhead, work up onto your toes, etc
The more you challenge yourself the more you will improve. Remember balance is a learned skill so just keep at it and you’ll be amazed as to how much you improve trying everyday for a week. Go outside, enjoy the sun for a few minutes, soak in the vitamin D and work on that balance! If you want more progressions or examples feel free to email me at jleung@formfunction.com or come on into the clinic.
When we are heading to our summer destination by plane, our feet are usually enclosed in a tight space with very minimal leg room to move around. As a result, we end up with swollen feet.
It is vital that we move our legs as much as possible to allow adequate blood flow to and from the legs. Low cabin pressure and dehydration due to the dry air circulating on the plane can impair our blood circulation to our feet. Thus, this can contribute to life-threatening blood clots that can have serious impact on our overall health.
Here are a few tips:
1) Reduce your salt intake. Salt will increase fluid retention to your feet.
2) Drink plenty of water. This will decrease your risk of dehydration.
3) Walk along the aisles. Take bathroom breaks to keep your legs moving.
4) Avoid crossing your legs. This will reduce circulation to your feet.
5) Consider wearing compression stockings. These stockings will assist with improving the circulation to your feet.
If you are interested in having an individualized consultation about your feet, please feel free to book an appointment with Jennifer Lam, the Chiropodist at the Form and Function Clinic.
Foam rolling is a great tool for injury prevention and keeping our body’s tissues healthy.
Think of foam rolling like flossing your teeth. Why do we floss?
We floss to keep our gum tissues healthy and help clean out debris and junk from our teeth (joints).
This is what foam rolling does for our tissues (muscles and fascia) and can have a positive effect on our joints.
Our society has led us to often sedentary lifestyles with many of our hours sitting – at a desk or in our cars. As a result our tissues have become “tough”, “tight” and “restricted”.
Take care of your tissues! Try foam rolling for at least 15 mins a day – even if its while your watching TV.
If you need help or advice regarding different foam rolling techniques, come by Form & Function clinic. Our Athletic Therapist, Physiotherapist and Chiropractors would love to show you how. You can check out our previous video posts on foam rolling technique.
Sometimes the skin on our heels are too dry to the point where they split open and become painful. If these cracks are left untreated, they can bleed and/or become infected. The main cause of heel cracks and fissures is due to dehydration. Other causes include:
1) cold, dry winters
2) hot and long showers and/or baths
3) using harsh soaps on your feet
4) if you have a particular condition such as diabetes
To prevent painful cracked heels, make sure to moisturize your feet, avoid taking hot showers and drink plenty of water to hydrate your skin. If you continue to have issues with cracked and fissured heels, please make an appointment to see, Jennifer, the Chiropodist at the Form and Function Clinic.
Make a tall proud chest before getting up.
When we sit we all get to that position of “comfort” where our pelvis rounds backward (or posterior tilt). I tell my patient not to get up from position they have stressed their spine when sitting. Making a tall chest or elongating the spine put the pelvis and spine in a better position. This position allows your spine to distribute the load and you to have better access to use your gluts and core.
So before getting up make sure you have a proud chest or tall spine.
In a modern society where most jobs are in front of a computer 8 hours a day, prolonged sitting has become prevalent in a lot of peoples lives. What’s wrong with sitting all day? Well, more and more studies are revealing that prolonged sitting increases risk of disease (diabetes, heart disease and cancer) EVEN if you exercise regularly. So, even if you are diligent and exercise before or after work, it seems that it will not to reverse the risks of prolonged sitting.
So moral of the story? Get up and move! Make sure you are never sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time. This also isn’t to say that sitting is bad. Everyone needs to sit and rest sometimes but prolonged sitting is the issue. Remember, motion is lotion so remember to get up and move!
Also, check out our previous post for some tips on avoiding prolonged sitting!
