Toronto Health Blog

May this new year bring many opportunities, to explore the joy of life. May your resolutions for the days ahead stay firm, bringing great health and wellness, to turn all your dreams into reality and all your efforts into great achievements for 2008.

Keeping stress levels down nowadays is becoming harder and harder. We work more than ever and are just as busy, if not busier, at home. Add in a busy holiday season and things can get a little tense. However, performing breathing exercises can be a great way to keep stress to a minimum, are simple to perform, and can be done virtually anywhere, anytime.

Simply sit or stand in a relaxed position while slowly inhaling through your nose, counting to five. Be sure to let your abdomen expand outward like sticking your stomach out rather than sucking up and raising your shoulders. This allows your diaphragm to better fill your lungs with air. Now let the air our through your mouth while counting to eight. This can be repeated several times to quickly relieve tension or over several minutes as a type of meditation.

Try to set aside time each day to relax and relieve stress for long term health. It does not have to be complicated, just regular.

That is a question I get from patients all the time. The answer is YES. Seem confusing?  It does not have to be.

Acute injuries such as ankle sprains or trauma to muscle such as a Charlie Horse most often require ice to control swelling as well as pain. Applying heat can cause a throbbing, achy pain in this situation. However, chronic conditions such as lateral epicondylitis, which is tendonitis of the elbow or more commonly called tennis elbow, benefits from icing to control tenderness and achy pain. Ice can thus be used to take the edge off of any painful area whether acute or chronic. Heat on the other hand is used primarily with chronic conditions such as long term muscle tension and muscle spasms. Heat helps to bring more blood into tight, adhesed, or spasming soft tissue to relax the area and reduce pain.

Sometimes the time of year can dictate your choice of pain control. For instance, a hot and humid summer day may not be the greatest time to apply heat to your neck or back. Likewise, a chilly fall or winter day may not be the best time to benefit from application of ice to the body. Some people just cannot stand applying ice and find it uncomfortable. Therefore, as a basic rule of thumb, if heat makes it worse try ice and if ice does not help try heat.

You should ice an area no longer than 15 minutes at a time and leave it off for about 45 minutes to 1 hour to let the tissue come back to body temperature. Heat can be applied for about 20 minutes with a similar break as ice. The body tends not to like having large temperature swings for too long so try not to sleep with ice or heat applied.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can sometimes seem like an ever more complicated and daunting daily task. Try following these simple steps to point yourself in the right direction towards balanced physical and mental health for the long term.

1. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water per day. Adding a slice of fresh lemon or lime can aid in naturally detoxifying the body and to help increase bowel function.
2. Snack on raw nuts and seeds. Eating unsalted almonds, walnuts, pumkin seeds, and sunflower seeds between meals are a qreat way to prevent excessive hunger and overeating during regular meals.
3. Avoid precessed, sugary, and fried foods as well as limiting caffeine. Instead, try to incorporate more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and fish into your diet.
4. Try to get 8 hours of sleep per night. Follow a regular sleep schedule in order to present your body and mind with natural sleep triggers that help you to fall asleep.
5. Try to fit in 20 minutes of exercise per day. Taking the stairs whenever possible or simply leave the car at home. It does not need to be complicated. For added fun, check your posture as you pass by objects that are vertical such as a doorway.
6. Get outside more often. Fresh air and sunlight can be marvelous for your mood and stress levels.
7. Breathe deeply a few times per day. Try to set aside 2 to 5 minutes a few times per day to focus on breathing. Use your abdominal muscles by sticking out your stomach (tummy breathing) to help your diaphragm fully inflate your lungs with air.
8. Express your emotions. Talk to a friend, write it down, or call a family member.
9. Enjoy life each day as best you can. Have a fun activity planned each day.
10. Focus on what you do well. Every night try writing down 3 things that you have accomplished and are proud of. You might be pleasantly surprised at the list that accumulates.

Over the summer we got used to doing more outdoor activities and the heat that goes along with it all the while paying attention to water intake. However, as it starts to get cooler we tend to take in less water as it is not at the top of our minds. The thirsty, urgent need for water we sometimes feel is not as prominent; however, it is always important to keep hydrated as the signs of thirst are usually later than the bodies actual need for fluids. We lose approximately one litre of water from breathing, sweating, and bowel movements every day. As well, the average adult output of urine is approximately one and a half litres of fluid. Thus, it is very important to stay on top of fluid intake on a daily basis. Food can amount to about twenty percent of total fluid intake. Consequently, if you can take in an additional two litres of fluids per day you can be sure of keeping your body hydrated and functioning at it’s best. Your body will love you for it.

Try the overhead squat test to determine your ability to have good posture and an efficient gait pattern (e.g. walking). Flexibility in the spine, shoulders, and lower limbs is critical to great posture and walking enjoyment.

Overhead Squat Test

1. Hold a broomstick or pole overhead, arms straight and fully extended, with your hands and feet shoulder width apart.
2. Squat slowly down like you are going to sit onto a stool.

What happens?

• Do your feet rotate outwards and/or your heels lift off the ground? This means that you lack ankle flexibility and your feet have to pronate (toes out, arches fall in) and the heels come up to maintain balance.
• Do your knees buckle inward? This is also related to the pronation effect of the feet. When this happens the tibia (shin bone) rotates inward causing the knee to fall inward which in turn causes the hip to rotate forward which can then put strain on the lower back. This has fatigue written all over it.
• Do you have to hyperextend your lower back? If your upper back is very stiff and unable to extend, your lower back has to try and provide that extension in order to prevent you from falling forward.
• Do your arms fall forward? Here again, if your upper back lacks the ability to extend and your shoulders are unable to externally rotate and abduct fully, you will have a hard time balancing with a feeling of falling forward.

As a result, having an efficient upright posture with shoulders down and back and a gait without pronation is a tall order. We are in forward flexed postures most of the day from walking with our heads down to sitting at computers.

Help?

Stretch your spine front and back as well as your ankles for improved posture and overall health. To stretch your back simply lay back over a exercise ball, face up, feet flat on the ground with knees at 90 degrees, extend your arms above your head and try to reach for the floor (2-4 times by 30 seconds). Also, do a V stretch or downward dog (yoga) movement while really trying to push your heels into the floor to increase your ankle flexibility (2-4 times by 30 seconds).

Please note that if you have had long term joint dysfunction in the spine, especially in the upper back, it will be hard to improve posture and spinal flexibility by stretching alone. See a health professional to get it treated to restore proper function.

All the best to everyone for Canada Day. Stay active, healthy, and safe.

Summer approaches and everything becomes pleasantly green and warm. Thus, it is easy to start thinking about going Green. Smog alerts have already started in Toronto which opens the mind to questions of just what this summer season will bring with regards to the Toronto environment. The Evans family tries their best to recycle and conserve energy in the home. We now have carried that over to our vehicle. We have just taken our car back to the dealer as the lease was up. We will be without a car this summer which helps reduce the smog contribution for Toronto. Of course where we live in Toronto we are able to pull this off. We have everything we need close by home. We can reduce pollution, it just takes a little planning and effort.

Presently experiencing some lower back pain? Try not to talk while you walk to help keep the strain off your lower back. In order to talk you need to breath more often to produce sound which distracts deep trunk muscles of the spine. These muscles support the spine while you are maintaining an upright posture. Therefore, you leave your lower back unsupported and vulnerable to discomfort. It is subtle; however, if you are uncomfortable it may just make getting around a bit easier on your body.

Gardening season is upon us. Be careful to warm up properly and to not do too much too soon. Set small goals at first so that you don’t cause undo fatique. This is what leads to subtle unjury to joints, ligaments, and soft tissue. That little window of opportunity where the back is unprotected by muscles and good posture is what gets you when you least expect it. Follow these simple safe gardening tips and you will find that your entire season is much more satisfying when you are pain free.