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 Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips

Ergonomic Tips

In our current society, more and more people are working at deskjobs. Although these jobs are mostly sedentary, there are inherent stressors that can lead injuries. Here is a brief overview of some physical stressors and ergonomics adjustments that can reduce your chances of developing injuries.

  • Wrist injuries: If you do a lot of computer typing or mousing, you are at risk of developing repetitive stress to your wrist muscles and tendons. To decrease the stress, try to keep your wrist neutral while typing or mousing. If you type or mouse with an angle to your wrist, you place extra stress on your wrist tendons. Some support at the wrist may help with keeping your wrist neutral if you have a high keyboard but be sure to not have constant pressure on your wrist all day.
  • Back injuries: Sitting can actually be more stressful for your back than standing. If you sit a lot during the day, be sure you have an adjustable ergonomic chair with good lumbar support. Your low back has a natural curve (concave) that is often reserved when sitting (convex or “slouching”) without good support. This can lead to increased stress on your back muscles and joints. If you have a good chair with lumbar support, make sure you sit back and support that natural curve to reduce stress.  If you do not have good lumbar support, try to find support with a different chair or back rolls. Also, be sure to take microbreaks every 30 mins. Stand up, stretch and then back to work!
  • Neck injuries: This is particularly important if you work on a laptop or multiple computer screens. Your neck is designed to sit on the vertebrate (neck bones) without leaning forward or turned for extended period of time. Often that is the case when working on computers. Our heads lean forward or turn to the side and place a lot of stress on the muscles and joints in our neck.  To reduce this, try to keep your main computer screen at eye level. If you use more screens, completely turn your whole body if you are working more than 5 mins on that screen. If you are using laptop for more than 30 mins, try to get an extra keyboard so you can place the laptop screen at eye level.

I hope these tips help with reducing your physical stress at work. If you have more ergonomic questions or if you are already feeling symptoms of pain at work, be sure to visit an healthcare professional at Form and Function. We can help relief your pain and address any other ergonomics questions or issues that you may have.

Manni Wong
Registered Physiotherapist

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips

Osteoporosis vs. Osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis often get confused for one another, as they both begin with ‘osteo’; however, they are completely different conditions – you may have only one of them or you may even have them both.  Both conditions can cause pain and limit your mobility, but the underlying cause of the pain and mobility restrictions are treated differently.  So it is important that you obtain an accurate diagnosis, in order to have a treatment plan that will be successful for you!

 

  Osteoporosis Osteoarthritis
Definition It is a condition that involves the state of your bones.  There is a decreased quantity and quality of your bone structure.  This can increase your risk of getting a fracture.
It affects your overall bone structure.		 It is a condition that involves the state of your joints.  There is a thinning and destruction of the cartilage that is normally at the ends of bones.  There can also be changes to the bone that lies underneath the cartilage.It affects specific joints.
Symptoms It produces no symptoms, even as the condition progresses.  Only when the bone has become weakened to a point that a simple movement (i.e. bending over to pick up something heavy) can cause a fracture, can pain occur. It produces significant pain that can result in restricted mobility and stiffness.  The joints may also appear larger over time, due to an accumulation of fluid in the joint.
Risk Factors Major Risk Factors:

–       Low bone mineral density
–       Increasing age
–       Low body weight
–       Family history
–       History of low-trauma fracture(s)

 

 Internal Risk Factors:

–       Age
–       Gender
–       Genetics
–       Previous joint damage
–       Bone malalignment

External Risk Factors:

–       Obesity
–       Repetitive jobs/sports that stress the joint(s)
Exercise Therapy The exercise program would be individualized to the person to include weight-bearing and strength training exercises that can help stop bone loss, maintain/increase bone density, or increase balance and prevent falls. The exercise program would be individualized to the person to include range of motion and strength training exercises of the muscles surrounding the joint, in order to provide support to the weak and painful joint.If the damage to the joint is severe, a joint replacement surgery may be needed.  An exercise program can also be developed in order to prepare yourself for surgery and for recovery after surgery.

Come into Form & Function to be assessed by one of our healthcare professionals, in order to have a treatment plan developed that will work best for you!

Sonia
Physiotherapy Resident

By Administrator 0 Comments Uncategorised

Achilles’ Tendon Injuries

The Achilles’ tendon is the largest tendon in your body and is located in the back of your ankle. It is a commonly injured tendon in the body. There can be many factors leading to injury:

– Excessive ankle pronation: All tendons like to used in a linear fashion. When there is excessive ankle pronation, this causes the Achilles’ tendon to be stressed on the one side more than the other due to poor biomechanics. Over time, this one-sided stress can lead to repetitive overuse injuries like tendinitis.

– Tight calves: Your calves are primarily formed by two large muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) which attach to the Achilles’ tendon. If they are excessively tight, it puts undue stress (especially if you also have excessive ankle pronation) on the tendon and can also lead to injury

– Weak hips: Weak gluteal muscles can lead to poor biomechanics all the way down to your feet, affecting your Achilles’ tendon by placing undue stress on one side of your tendon, similar to excessive pronation.

– Previous ankle injury: Any previous traumatic injury (ie sprain, fracture) can lead to scar tissue buildup, loss of range of motion and stretch which can lead to altered ankle biomechanics.

– Sudden high impact activity increase: Increasing your activity too quickly can place too much stress on the Achilles’ tendon for it to properly heal after each activity session (ie. tennis, running, soccer, etc) leading to injury.

If you have any pain symptoms in your Achilles’ tendon, do not ignore them. Since Achilles’ tendon injuries are typically repetitive in nature, it could be a sign of an injury waiting to happen.

Proper biomechanics are key to treating and preventing this type of injury. Come into Form & Function and see one of our healthcare professionals to make sure your biomechanics are tip top shape!

Man Chun (Manni) Wong

Registered Physiotherapy

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips

Spring Season Footwear Tips

As we anticipate the warmer weather, everyone is eager to bring out their spring/summer footwear and ready to set aside the bulky footwear that they have been wearing for all those winter months.

Flip flops are usually the most popular and convenient choice for footwear, however, they can increase your risk of developing foot problems.  They lack the proper support to the arches of your feet.  There is also a lack of stability to the back of your foot as the flip flop has no ability to hold your foot in a stable position.  Blisters and calluses can form in certain areas of your feet due to the constant friction.  Your toes are exposed, making you more prone to injury.

Ballerina flats are also a popular trend but unfortunately they do not provide the adequate support your feet needs.  They may feel light on the feet and are easy to wear but it may be better to consider wearing footwear that would provide more stability, cushion and support to the feet.  You can increase your risk of foot pain at the heels and balls of the feet.

Flip flops and ballerina flats can be worn for short distances, but should not be worn on a regular basis.  Be sure to switch up your footwear from time to time, as you can develop fungal infections!

For more information, regarding your foot health and whether you are wearing the proper footwear, feel free to contact Jennifer Lam, the Chiropodist at the Form and Function Clinic.