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Health & Wellness NewsletterFall 2007Is your workplace a pain in the back?Over 80 percent of Canadians experience back pain sometime in their lives. Many of them while at work or as a result of what they do for a living. According to WCB, last year, 160,000 Albertans were injured on the job, with 26 percent losing time from work as a result of their injury.Back pain, strain or injury can strike when you least expect it—bending, lifting, twisting the wrong way, sitting hunched at a computer or stepping out of your truck after a long day of driving. If you’ve ever experienced back pain or injury you know it can be debilitating and can even prevent you from earning a living. From physical labor, like construction and painting, to office work and truck driving, employees in almost every industry have some risk for back pain, strain or injury. “People who perform physical labor for a living find that a great deal of their day-to-day tasks involve using the muscles in their back. So improper lifting or moving the wrong way can easily lead to back strain or injury” states Dr. Jeff Warren, President of the College of Chiropractors of Alberta. “If that strain or injury isn’t managed or treated quickly it can lead to serious pain and the inability to perform regular everyday activities.” Physical labor is not the only culprit for back pain and injury. People who sit for extended periods of time are also at risk. Sitting in a chair that doesn’t provide proper back support or hunching over at your computer can also cause back strain and long-term back problems. By positioning your chair, keyboard, and computer monitor in optimal settings for your height and working style, you can avoid unnecessary strain and stress on your body. Factors contributing to back pain, strain and/or injury include: poor posture, slips and falls, carrying or lifting excessive weight, stress – physical and mental. Since there are many ways to injure or strain your back at work, it’s important to examine your specific work environment and activities to assess your risk for job-related back strain or injury. If you find your job contains many risk factors, consider ways to address these to help reduce your risk. “Sometimes it’s a matter of modifying tasks like changing the way you bend to lift or taking more frequent breaks from sitting,” states Dr. Warren. “One of the best ways to prevent back pain and injury is to ensure your back muscles and core muscle group are strong. Just like professional athletes – everyone’s back muscles require regular maintenance to keep them flexible and strong.” To help you avoid back strain, pain and injury practice prevention by reducing your risk, lifting and sitting properly, and staying fit and active. Get your back checked before you have pain or injury. We can assess and treat your spine preventing problems to get you back on your feet. Addressing Posture Habits Early Kids spend the better part of each say, five days a week, in school where they sit at a desk that’s not the least ergonomic in design. To and from school carry backpacks so heavy they slouch when they walk. Bad posture habits don’t stop at school. Add to this time spent at home hunched over an over-sized computer desk surfing the net or curled over their game controls. It’s no wonder that their exposure to repetitive postural strain rivals that of the average middle-aged executive. But is their risk being fully recognized? It is increasingly becoming evident that young clients are not to be dismissed from the rehab picture. As a profession, we believe that “as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” One of the simplest courses of action to take when addressing our children's posture is to make sure they are carrying their backpacks safely. For example a backpack should not exceed 10 to 15 per cant of a Childs body weight, also they should sit approximately 1 inch above the waist. For more backpack safety tips and to get your child’s posture checked call us today! Things you Should Know but probably don’t Part II Food, Water & Air Let us help you to take care of those nerves! Why do I need Vitamins and Minerals? The answer is simple. We are not getting all the nutrients we need from the foods we eat. Over 50 percent of Canadians don’t eat breakfast. None of us eat seven to 10 half cup servings of fruits and vegetables per day every day which is the minimum amount needed to get adequate nutrients. And there are problems with the way our food is produced. Foods are harvested before they are ripe; foods are grown in soils exhausted of their essential elements; we eat parts of the plant and not the whole food; we eat refined or highly processed foods devoid of nutrients. If you are like most people you may be to busy to eat, under stress, or on a weight-loss diet or a fitness program, making it difficult to get all of your nutrients from food. We know that half of Canadians are vitamin D deficient, even in the summer when we get sunshine on our skin. Zinc, an important mineral of the immune system is involved in over 100 enzymatic reactions in the body. Without B vitamins our hair grays earlier, our skin sags and we get depressed. If you are interested in what vitamins and minerals you should include into your diet talk to Dr. Russell or Dr. Gdanski today! Are you new to Chiropractic? If you answered "yes", you are joining many of your neighbors who have chosen the natural, drugless chiropractic approach to good health. People see their Doctor of Chiropractic for many different reasons. For some, chiropractic is a system of healing musculoskeletal problems - back, neck, disc, arm, shoulder, leg, hip, joint, nerve and muscle pain or discomfort. For others chiropractic is a natural system of healing from diseases or conditions including: headaches; fatigue; high blood pressure; skin conditions; PMS; menstrual cramps; arthritis; asthma; sinus trouble; digestive problems; nervous stress; emotional disorders; fevers; bed-wetting; colic; ear, eye, nose and throat problems and many more, without drugs or surgery. Others use chiropractic as a method of keeping their health at its peak: for better sports performance, higher resistance to disease, clearer thinking, a more comfortable pregnancy and more energy. For whatever reason you are here, we say "welcome." Please ask us how chiropractic can help you and your family. Let us know of any health concerns you may have. Quick Aloha Pizza Preheat oven to 425°F Arrange pitas on a baking sheet. Divide olive oil or pizza sauce, spreading evenly over pitas. Top with pineapple, ham, green pepper and cheese. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until cheese melts. Enjoy! HumorA couple goes on vacation to a fishing resort in northern Minnesota. The husband likes to fish at the crack of dawn. The wife likes to read. One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and continues to read her book. Along comes a game warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies (thinking "isn't that obvious?"). "You're in a restricted fishing area," he informs her. "I'm sorry officer, but I'm not fishing, I'm reading." "Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up." "If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says the woman. "But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden. "That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment." "Have a nice day ma'am," he responded as he left.. MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think. | |||||||||||
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