Give the Gift of Health
Give the Gift of Health this Christmas! We have $25, $50, and $100 gift certificates.
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
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!
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
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Dr.Jimmy Feng from From & Function
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXd8aDKg30&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share
Fracture Rehabilitation
I have recently seen an influx of fracture patients, mainly due to the harsh winter conditions we experienced this year. I wanted to go over some facts and tips on rehabilitation of fractures.
There are different types of fractures and almost all require significant amounts of trauma. If you sustained trauma (ie fell off step, slipped and fell, car accident, etc), you should go see your family doctor. Most doctors will assess your symptoms and send you for an X-ray if they believe you may have a fracture. X-rays are the gold standard in diagnosing fractures. Once it has been confirmed you have a simple fracture, you will be immobilized at your fracture site for typically 6 weeks. Bone healing is usually around 4-6 weeks for upper body fractures and 6-8 weeks for lower body fractures. More complex fractures may require surgery and healing can be delayed depending on the surgery. Talk to your surgeon and get a timeline if this is your case. The whole process of rehabilitation of fracture can vary but it usually last at least 6-8 weeks post immobilization.
Tip #1: Do not think immobilizing the fracture site means immobilizing the whole limb. I have seen this happen far too often. For example, if you fractured your elbow, you can still move your shoulder, wrist and hands. Keep your body moving. Immobilization is one of the worse things you can do to your body (although necessary to facilitate fracture healing). So why subject non-injured body parts to immobilization when you can maintain healthy joint movement?
Tip #2: You don’t even need to immobilize the fracture site all the time*. Every once in a while, you can move slowly and in a control manner to keep your joints healthy. An example of this is ankle fractures which used to be plaster casted always. Now, almost all ankle fractures are given a walking boot and allowed to move slightly. It’s to help counter the detrimental effects of immobilization. Let pain be your guide when moving though (no more than a 5 out of 10 on a pain scale and absolutely no sharp pain).
Tip #3: Go see a rehabilitation health care professional. Even during your immobilization, there are modalities like laser therapy that can promote fracture healing. After immobilization, you may think your movement can come back on its own and it can but often times, you will require joint mobilization to regain all your mobility back. Sometimes, no matter how hard you force your joint to move, it requires a glide or a roll that has been lost due to immobilization. Your rehab professional can help regain that. Also, a rehab professional can guide you through the rehab process which requires regaining full range of motion, proper strengthening and progressive return to activity to prevent reinjury.
Hope that gives you a general guideline on dealing with fractures. If you have any questions or you have sustained a fracture and require rehab, feel free to come in and see one of our healthcare professionals at Form and Function.
Regards,
Man Chun (Manni) Wong
Registered Physiotherapist
*Only applies to simple fractures. Some complex and displaced fractures require full immobilization. Talk to your surgeon about immobilization before moving your fracture site if this is your case.
Top Clinic In Markham! Please Vote
The Form & Function team is so pleased to be nominated for the @TopChoiceAward for being one of the top wellness clinics in Markham. For all those who have benefited from our care, we would appreciate your vote.
Please take a quick moment toVOTE HERE http://vote.topchoiceawards.com/#/nomination/13c5f214a17446c68f3ad7a33d0b87b0
Thank you for all your support
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
FAB 5 Glute Medius Exercise to Treat ITB Compression Syndrome
Ever Since Frederickson’s article in 2k, there has been great deal of talk about how the Glute Mede and other abductors of the hip affect the ITB compreesion syndrome. Some recent articles have also pointed out that ITB compression at the distal end of the femur may lead to a sensory feedback to fire the Glute medes. So if the Glutes are weak, and inhibited, then it will lead to further lateralization of the hip during dynamic movements and then further compression of the ITB. Don’t forget, the ITB is a viscoelastic structure as described by Shleip, meaning when it gets loaded ballistically, it will come back and shrink due to hydration properties as well as actual contractile components.
We also know that the ITB does not have a great deal of ability to stretch, so therefore actual stretching of this compressive band to cure your problems is very unlikely. Because the pain is due to a compressive force at the distal (further away) end of the ITB, we also want to avoid compressing it even further. So make sure if you are foam rolling to avoid the actual painful site by working the proximal end (as long as it feels good after you roll). So if we can’t stretch it , massage it out, then that leaves us with modalities(laser, IFC, shockwave, acupuncture etc), and good ol’rehab. So check out the FAB 5 exercise I like to start with my patients. Most people get better with the basics, but for our active population, we make sure we introduce more sport and activity specific exercises to top it off.
This is my first attempt at using Final Cut on my Mac, I hope you guys enjoy. Feedback welcome.
For more about how to fix this problem and many others, visit https://www.formfunctionclinic.com/#locations to make a appointment
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhzchA0KWjk
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