Happy new year. Happy new decade! I hope my first newsletter of 2020 finds you well. Shout out to all of you who have read my newsletters in the past, and welcome to those of you who are new patients of mine receiving your first newsletter. I don’t write too often so don’t unsubscribe so fast (although you can if you want).
A new decade has arrived, and with it the implementation and integration of all that we have learned in previous years. Research into best practices for neuro-musculoskeletal conditions dominated the previous decade. Study after study flipped healthcare on its head and changed the world’s approach to physical injuries. When once we managed back pain with medication and bed rest, we now tackle these same problems with exercise, mental health advice and manual therapy. When we used to resort to surgery, we now know that it has poorer outcomes than rehabilitation for most physical problems. The message, thanks to science, is becoming clear: A lot of our healthcare needs can be addressed through lifestyle changes, both as prevention and treatment. Imagine if we all started to do more of the things on this list:
- Exercise: Make exercise / physical activity part of your life. Generally speaking, more physical activity makes us healthier. Do something you enjoy. This is the most important criteria to being physically active. Downhill Skiing. Running. Squash. Tennis. Swimming. Hockey. Dance. Yoga. Weight Lifting. Playing with your kids. Rock Wall Climbing.
- Exercise: I know, I’m cheating; I’ve now put exercise on this list twice. I didn’t even move it lower down on the list to try to trick you. It is that important. Physical activity builds stronger muscles, healthier joints, better psychological health, better weight management, and has a positive impact on the many health conditions affecting us, including heart disease, diabetes, mental health disorders, and, of course, the myriad of physical ailments.
- Cleaner Eating. Technology advances has made ordering in food very easy. Uber Eats, Skip The Dishes, etc. makes meal time easier, but also potentially less healthy. There are other services out there that will mail you better food with easy recipe instructions. Or, back to the basics and just grocery shop for healthy ingredients and start making some better food at home.
- Human-to-Human Interaction. Get off your phone! Talk to people. Discuss things. It’s amazing how much we can help others and ourselves simply through face-to-face communication.
- Sleep Well. Patients ask me all the time which sleep posture is best for their injury. The answer is nuanced, but the take home message is this: Sleep quantity and quality matter more than the posture. I’d rather you get consistent 7-8 hours of sleep a night over a disrupted sleep in a new posture.
- Focus on your Health: Addressing your health needs is incredibly important. Whether it be regular visits to your psychologist, more consistent healthy grocery shopping, or lifestyle changes to incorporate exercise and visits to your rehab specialist (that’s me!), getting healthy makes life easier and more enjoyable.
Reminders for 2020
- Consistency is key. If you’re one of my patients that benefits from my care, keep up with your visits. If we’re working through a rehab plan, be consistent. If you’re already recovered, you may now require just some maintenance from time to time. Maintenance visits for some of you is 4 visits per year, while for others it might be 24 visits. No matter who you are, you have joints and muscles and movement patterns that need some help from time to time. I’m here to help.
- Chiropractic care is different for different people. I will use any or all of the tools in my tool belt, but you are always in charge. Not every patient receives spinal manipulation. Here are the most commonly used treatment approaches:
- Exercise Advice: I will give you specific instructions based on your needs, determined by my physical assessment. Some (not all) of the Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) exercises I recommend can be seen on my YouTube channel.
- Functional Range Release (FR): FR is a manual therapy technique to relieve muscle tension, improve muscle and joint range of motion, and is a significant aspect of how I manually help people recover from various physical complaints, including neck and shoulder tension, forearm pain, back pains, etc.
- Joint Mobilizations / Spinal Manipulation: Joints need to move. Period. Joints are like the hinges on a door. If you don’t regularly open and close the door, the hinges get rusty. General exercise will help your joints. Specific exercises (like the FRC exercises) ensure your joints are moving. And, manual therapy that includes mobilizations or manipulation helps restore healthy, proper joint motion and health.
- Cold Laser Therapy, Graston Technique, Custom Orthotics, are all other services I provide. If you’re not sure what’s right for you, just come in and ask me. My pledge to you is that I will try to provide you with not only the best therapy I can, but also up-to-date health care advice.
Thanks for reading. I sincerely wish you the very best health and happiness for the new year and new decade. And don’t forget, I’m not all “health”. You’re welcome to visit me to chat Toronto sports, fantasy & sci-fi books, tv shows, true-crime, and music!