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Prevent MSD

Background on Muscle-Skeletal Disorders:

Muscle-skeletal disorders(MSDs) is one of the most common forms of injury in Canada.

MSDs cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars each year, with the price only increasing on a yearly basis.

Not only that, MSDs are among the most common workplace injuries, costing employers a hefty price.

In a 2016 report from Canada’s Workers Health and Safety Centre, the direct and indirect cost together amounts to $22 billion annually to the Canadian economy.

Before continuing, it is important to understand what MSDs means.

According to the CDC, Muscule-skeletal disorders (MSD) are injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are disorders of the muscles, tendons, and nerves.

Examples of WMSD’s are: wrist carpal tunnel syndrome, tension neck pain, and body tendon inflammation or irritation.

This is a yearly issue, but there are ways to prevent MSD’s, and that is through ergonomics especially for working professionals.

The Importance of Ergonomics:

Ergonomics is defined as the science of fitting a workplace to the user’s needs, ergonomics aims to increase efficiency, productivity, and reduce discomfort. 

For example, It’s important to think of the angle of your laptop monitor, keyboard, or mouse when working.

It’s important to assess, is your eyes strained, or is your back or wrists hurting from working?

With proper ergonomics put in place, workplace injuries can be prevented.

It’s important to put emphasis on proper body posture to reduce the impact of repetitive moments. 

The rapid transformation of technology in the modern workplace, has substantially increased the need for ergonomics.

Desks, chairs, monitors, keyboards, and lighting all need to be assessed when creating a workspace, whether it is at the office or at home. 

Ergonomics also takes into account the need for movement throughout the day.

In order to reduce the impact of sitting most hours of the day.

The goal is to move at least once per hour, in order to combat the effects of a sedentary workplace behavior. 

Conclusion:

With proper ergonomics in place for employees, it can result in huge amounts of cost reduction.

Employers can prioritize workplace safety by making employees aware that ergonomics is a priority.

As well as making employees aware of ergonomic resources.

See how we can you help you feel better!

Book An Appointment Today
By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Uncategorised

Movember and Physical Inactivity

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

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Uncategorised

Get up and move!

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!

By Administrator 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 Administrator 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 Administrator 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 Administrator 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

 

By Dr. J 0 Comments Events, Uncategorised

YOU ARE INVITED!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who have supported Form & Function in the past 5 year.  This year marks our 5 year anniversary as being one of the top health clinics in Markham and Richmond hill in providing Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Naturopathy, Athletic Therapy and Foot Care services.  I Wish to invite each and every one of you to our Patient Appreciation Lunch.  The information is as follows

Please RSVP HERE with you name an guest

Dr. Jim Feng

Clinic Director/Chiropractor

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By Administrator 0 Comments Uncategorised

Run Quieter

One easy way to see how effectively you run is by listening to how much noise you make.  Listen to the noise a great runners makes.  It is quick and crisp.  You can hear the opposite in runners who are not efficient.  Their stride sounds heavy, long and loud.

You will take 25, 200 steps in a marathon.  If each step is inefficient, more force goes through your body.  So if you are injured or want to run faster a Run Smart assessment can help.

Click the link to the Run Smart Assessment info

By Dr. Paul

Check out what a Chiropractor in Markham Does here