Author: Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

How to make working from home work for your body

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

During this difficult time, lots of people are working from home.

Many are struggling to try to find that comfort working from the comfort of their own home. If you are new to working from a home office you will want to review your setup.

Sitting position: be at the good height

If you can adjust your chair: minimum of 90° between your chest and your thighs with your feet flat on the floor.

If < 90°, your knees are higher than your hips level your psoas (hip flexor) will get tight and will pull lower back forward when you will stand up. You could also experience lower back pain.

Have your knees relaxed and bent at 90°

If you just have a classic chair, it has to have a back support and you can adjust the height by using pillows. Be careful to put the pillow under your buttock close to the chairback. If under your thighs you might decrease the natural lordosis of your lower back.

Support the lower back and avoid to be slouched at your desk

Think back support!

If you can adjust your chair back, adjust it in a seated position where the chairback supports the natural lordosis and maintains your lower back.

If you have a classic chair, you can put a pillow between the chair and your lower back.

If you bend your lower back forward, you will use more energy to keep the rest of your body in a good position.

If you slouched forward, you will add to much pressure on your visceral organs and this might affect the way they work properly.  With time this may cause problems such as constipation or poor circulation.

  • Breathe

If you are slouched, your diaphragm won’t be able to expand properly. This results in shallow breathing and could generate some stress.

This muscle needs to be able to move correctly. Its movement is like a natural massage on the organs below, aiding in the digestive movements. However, this shallow breathing can result in constipation and other digestion difficulties over time.

Moreover, this lack of mobility can be responsible for circulatory trouble. When organs add too much pressure on the pelvis, it can then affect the circulation of the legs, possibly leading to cramps and weakness of the legs or other troubles with the veins of the legs.

 Don’t compress the back of your knees.

If you have an adjustable seat, adjust the seat depth.

If not, you can add pillows behind your lower back to move you forward.

  • Rest your forearms

Your elbows have to be bent at 90° and rest on the armchair to keep your shoulders relaxed. If you don’t have support, your shoulders will be tense to support your elbow’s weight. If you don’t have armchairs, it is crucial to put your elbows on the table or desk but be careful not to put your shoulders too high.

If your table is too high, you can increase your height by adding a pillow under your buttocks but always respecting the lower body’s position (legs relaxed and feet on the floor). If you can, add support under your feet.

You can add support under your elbows if your table is too low.

Always try to find a good balance between your upper and lower body to adopt the most natural position.

  • Good work environment
  • Keep the object that you are using on a daily basis close to you.
  • Your table must allow you to keep your shoulders relax along your body, your elbows bend at 90° and resting on support with your wrist horizontally with preferably a wrist rest under the wrist using the mouse.
  • Your screen must be in front of you at eye level.
  • If your work on a laptop and if your table is too low, add some books under it. The screen must be between 50-70cm from your eyes. If to close, your eyes will get tired faster.
  • The light should not be too dark or too strong. Avoid direct light on your screen since it could create on-screen reflection and over visual stimulation.

Last recommendations for a good working from home:

  • Drink water and take breaks regularly
  • Remember to breathe with your diaphragm! (take deeper breaths)
  • Check your position from time to time and make sure you maintain good posture (back, shoulders relaxed).
  • Stop your activity if you start experiencing too much tightness, walk a little, stretch, take a short break (active break).
  • Do a stretching session at the end of each workday or during your lunch break. Also do some muscle strengthening if possible. It is important to stretch your shoulders forward and backward to prevent upper body tension. For lower back tension: stretch your psoas and piriformis muscles first.

9 Tips for a Productive Exercise That Will Keep You On Track!

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

Everyone knows that fitness is important to health. Especially when wanting to lose weight. Without the application of exercise weight loss will not happen very successfully. Being fit is highly desirable. However, if you have slipped away from regular activity, or are wanting to try a new or harder type of exercise there are often some obstacles that get in the way,

The biggest challenge is usually just getting started. You CAN do it!

The next barrier that many people come up against is pain. This can make working out a little less inciting. The soreness in the muscles that you get the day or two after an intense work out is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS for those in the line of bodywork). It happens because of your building muscle! It is also due to lactic acid, a by-product of exercise. A few tips on minimizing this:

  1. Find a good trainer. Someone that will work with you at your level. Too much too soon will cause more soreness. Start slow and build gradually. Working out doesn’t have to hurt.
  2. Have a good work out. One that includes a warm-up, cool down and stretching. A trainer can help with this
  3. Stay hydrated. If you’re sweating more you need to replace your fluids. Drink more water. It’s simple, so do it.
  4. Eat well. If you’re not getting enough of certain minerals (magnesium, potassium, calcium) or electrolytes you can get muscle cramps. A proper diet is also important to support muscle development, a changing metabolism, and increased demand for energy. I always recommend working with a professional, like a holistic nutritionist, that will help you meet your individual needs and save you the guesswork.
  5. A contrast shower. After a work out have a hot shower, finish the last 30 seconds with cold water. This will help to “flush” out the lactic acid.
  6.  If you missed the first 5 points and are sore the next day have a hot bath with half a cup of Epsom salts, a hot tub, or sauna.
  7. Practice good form. This is where a good trainer can help. It is so much better to do an exercise correctly, slower, and with less intensely once, than to do it fast or with poor form 10 times to avoid injuries. Pilates is excellent for bringing body awareness.
  8. Address injuries. Generally, movement is good the body, but if something hurts more than a little, check you’re technique. If it hurts a lot, listen to your body; don’t do it. Have someone help you resolve and rehabilitate completely from your injuries. This is where I highly recommend Osteopathy. Osteopathy can help to restore proper body mechanics, improve circulation, reduce pain, and promote healing. It helps you get to the cause of injuries that can slow you down.
  9. Rest. This is important to allow your body time to recover, repair muscle and injuries. By rest I mean sleep. If you practice good sleep habits and still don’t sleep well you may benefit from having an Osteopath Manual Practitioner help balance your nervous system.

Pain is a signal from your body to change what you’re doing or to address an injury. The sooner you deal with pain the sooner you’ll enjoy the activities you want to do. Work with professionals that understand the body. Your health is an investment: Take care of your body and your body will take care of you.

Anatomy of the Bag

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

After having a new baby, I started to look at new diaper bags. The thought came to me, “maybe I should just get a bigger purse so that I don’t have so many bags to carry”. I was also in the market for a backpack for my oldest child who was starting school. It was my concern for him that brought me back to the ergonomics of a good bag.

In my Osteopath practice, I have to say I’m quite effective at resolving back pain, shoulder pains, neck pain, headaches and that shooting pain down the arm. When it keeps coming back I start to question what it is in everyday life that could be provoking it. Repetitive and persistent issues that keep reoccurring often come back to something we do habitually. They aren’t caused by trying to move furniture all on your own, or that time you tried to drywall the ceiling. More often it’s something you don’t even think twice about. Something like carrying your purse or laptop bag.

So I thought I’d share:

  1.  Whether you’re looking for a backpack or a purse get something with wide straps. Preferably padded straps. A heavy bag from a thin strap is just going to dig into your shoulder
  2. I love the look of leather, but practically speaking, choose a bag that is made of lighter materials. This means avoiding chains, or accessories that to the weight of the bag.
  3. Adjustable straps is a must. And when you’re choosing a bag adjust the straps before you buy it too make sure it fits the way it should. The back pack should sit no higher than your shoulders, and should rest above your pelvis. The purse should hang at the level of the belly button so not to pull away from your centre of gravity.
  4. Fits snug against the body. This means choose a bag that will contort to your body when you wear it. Boxy, ridged bags won’t do this as well. For purses try to get it to rest in that sweet spot between your waist and elbow so your arm hangs naturally. For backpacks, try to find one that has added lumbar cushioning and look for a waist strap to better distribute the weight.
  5. Lots of compartments. This keeps things from moving around so you can evenly distribute the weight. It also makes thing easier to find!
  6. I’m sure you’re waiting for me to say bigger isn’t better, but this isn’t necessarily true. The important factor is that you don’t carry too much weight. With the big mom bags, the tendency is to carry more with you. The bag shouldn’t ever weigh more than 10% of your body weight, 15% if you have a backpack.

Always pack the heavy things closest to your body. When you look in the mirror your posture shouldn’t be altered by the bag. If it is, the strap is too long or you are carrying too much.

After re-thinking the importance of a good bag, I got my son the best backpack I could find, and one for myself too. Well for the baby actually. I find it much easier, to carry the baby gear in a backpack than an over sized mom bag. I can fit all my essentials in it and still have my arms free to chase, hold, or carry my kids.

Osteopathy at the Heart of the matter

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

Valentines Day often paints many pictures of hearts. The heart is the seat of love. It is also a very important organ.

Heart health is not to be taken lightly. It is one of the leading causes of death claiming more than 33, 000 deaths in Canada each year and 1.4 million living with heart disease. Much of the focus for heart health largely ties into lifestyle. For many it means finding ways to be more active and having a closer look at diet.  This is truly fundamental, however there are other ways to help the heart.

While often overlooked, or perhaps unknown, Osteopathic Manual Therapy can influence the heart. Osteopathy aims to improve function of structure my removing any restriction to the tissues or organs. This is also done by finding ways to improve the circulation to any afflicted area. One study by Henley et. al. found that osteopathy can influence the heart through direct manipulation of soft tissue and fascia of the neck. This had an affect on the vagal nerve, the autonomic nerve that affects the heart, by lowering heart rate.

This is one of the many ways that Osteopathy can affect the autonomic nervous system, the part of you that reacts to stress, causing physiological responses such as elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Any physical restrictions in the body have the potential to disrupt blood supply. Blood supply is so important because it is the source of nutrients, oxygen, and health to every tissue and cell in the body. Circulation is also a closed system, like a loop. This means that is there is a disruption anywhere in the path of circulation it is going to affect the entire circulation system. Kind of like how a traffic jam affects your overall commute.

When thinking of the heart, look at the big picture. Better circulation means better health.  Love yourself, and give osteopathy a try!

A Time for Change

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

With the new year comes new hopes, dreams, opportunities, and ambitions. At the forefront of all of this comes your health. With all the things we would like to do we need our health to do them. And now with the feasting, the visiting, and celebrating coming to a close, it’s time to get into a routine. A new routine.

Nearly everyone I meet wishes their health could be better in some way. Most people know that they could improve their lifestyle. Eat more vegetables, drink more water, exercise more and spend less time on the couch. Sometimes we need more than that. We need accountability. We need more specific directions. We need a remedy, a treatment, a plan that is specific to our unique individual needs and barriers.

One of the things I like about hypnosis is that it enables you to make the changes that you want. The reason why we constantly fail at making changes despite all our willpower and logic is that many of our habits are formed at our subconscious level. Our thought patterns, our daily habits and even some of our physiological responses (cravings, physical tensions, sleep) are very much dictated by what is happening at the subconscious level of the brain. The reason hypnosis is effective is that it empowers you to make changes at the subconscious level of the brain.

If you’re trying to make healthy changes our nutritionist here is an excellent lifestyle coach. She can help you decide what’s for dinner, what to put in your shopping cart and how to make smart choices when you’re on the go. It’s the bridge between wanting to eat better and knowing how to.

Everyone has the potential for change. To potentially improve their situation, to make their quality of life even better. Having the right resources is key. Having the right people in your corner to support you makes all the difference.

As you reflect on how you can make 2016 even better, know that we are here to help you live healthy and feel your best!

“Life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change” Jim Rohn

Sciatica, the original pain in the butt.

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

What does it mean to have a pain in the butt? Unfortunately, it is one of the most common complaints treated at our clinic. Medically speaking, we’re talking about sciatica. However sciatica is not a diagnosis in it self but merely a symptom of another problem.

Sciatica simply refers to an irritation of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve begins from nerves of the lumbar spine (low back) and travels through the pelvis, down the back of the leg, and all the way to the foot.  It is, impressively, the longest and thickest nerve in the body. Nerve pain of its nature is typically sharp or tingly. Some might even describe it as an electric shock. It can also present as numbness or weakness. The sciatic nerve may be felt partially or entirely from the low back, to the buttocks and all the way down the back of the leg into the foot. Typically, sciatic pain only occurs on one side.

Any type of irritation to the nerve can cause it to flare. There may be a compression at the spine, such as a disc herniation, lumbar spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), degenerative disc disease, or osteophytes (bony growth).  It could also be caused from a vertebrae being out of place or stuck. Another less severe cause could be what is called “piriformis syndrome” (AKA tight a** syndrome). The sciatic nerve passes through, or very close to, a muscle in the buttocks called the pirformis muscle. Sometimes this muscle can be so tight it may impinge the sciatic nerve.

Anyone that has experienced sciatic pain can attest to how annoying and potentially debilitating it can be. To prevent it much of the same advice pertains to back health, as that is often the cause for it.

  • Regular exercise is important, specifically core strengthening. Keeping the back muscles strong helps maintain better alignment of the spine. A personal trainer can be a great asset here to make sure exercises are done properly.
  • Avoid twisting and bending at the same time, this can lead to disc herniation if there is a weakness.
  • Try to avoid sitting all day, but if you must, ensure you have a firm chair with lumbar support. Also, don’t sit on your wallet or phone. This is a common cause for the pelvis to be put out of alignment.

If you do suspect that you have sciatic pain stretching, massage therapy, physical therapy and acupuncture can be great for pain relief. Usually if there is sciatic pain, there are other restrictions and compensations happening in the body that have lead to it. Osteopathy can do wonders in realigning the body and relieving the cause of the pain. If it is persistent (longer than 6 weeks), severe, or accompanies other symptoms, it is a good idea to follow up with your doctor, preferably with imaging (X-ray, or even better MRI). Pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication may be prescribed if your family doctor thinks it’s warranted. Surgery nowadays is largely reserved for the most severe cases and should be a last resort. Depending on the cause sometimes spinal injections may be considered (nerve block or cortisone) by neurologists.

So if you ever have a pain in the butt, just remember we treat the WHOLE body and we’re only a phone call away!

Why Fad Diets Don’t Work

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

Most people think of a diet as a temporary plan someone goes on to lose weight. Many times, these diets will have a certain gimmick or theme. Some are too restrictive or too hard to maintain as they eliminate certain foods, and drastically limit or eliminate entire food groups altogether, some involve only shakes and pills and some can be dangerous due to their lack of calories and essential nutrients.
 
These types of diets are popular as many people want that ‘magic pill,’ a quick fix solution to health and weight issues. Supplements and shakes that promote metabolic boosting or curbing hunger often sound very appealing but are unfortunately very short lived.
 
The main problem with fad diets is that many simply don’t work long-term. People often find that they can’t stick with a diet for a long period of time. This is likely due to the fact that many diets aren’t realistic, are too restrictive, too costly, too complicated, or too inconvenient to maintain. 
 
So many programs promote radical and extreme changes that are just not sustainable or family friendly. They can over-complicate how simple a healthy lifestyle can be.
 
We need to reconsider the way we think about food. Rather than thinking about temporarily going on some hot new diet to shed excess weight or achieve some other aspect of wellness, we should be thinking about making achievable, realistic changes that we can sustain for a lifetime. 
 
Knowing where to start is half the battle; realizing that you didn’t get there overnight is another point to consider. Taking back your health is going to take a little time and effort but we are here to help you.
 
Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just think about where you could start today. Perhaps it will be as simple as drinking more water or having one less cup of coffee or making an appointment with our Naturopathic Doctor to discuss hormonal issues or nutrient deficiencies.
 
Consider making conscious choices to incorporate more real foods into your diet rather than food-like products. We have 2 Nutritionists that can work with you to build a plan that is personalized and manageable for you.
 
Our team of Osteopaths and Massage Therapists can also help you achieve a healthier body by getting to the root of pain issues and bringing your body back into balance.
 
When you concentrate on diet and exercise alone, you may be neglecting the issues in your life that caused you to become overweight or sick in the first place. To lead the life you have always envisioned for yourself, you may need to look at why you gained the weight or developed health issues and deal with the emotional component. Our Social Worker, Jordan Smith is here to help guide you in this process.
 
Making changes to your lifestyle is not always easy, even making gradual changes can be overwhelming but the Better Health Team is here to help. ‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase just take the first step.’

‘Tis the Season to give

Posted on by Stacey Ayres RMT, DOMP

The holidays are upon us, a time of traditions, celebrations, and giving.  Giving and helping others can take countless forms; from giving money to charity, to helping a stranger dig his car out of the snow, to simply sharing your company with someone. No matter how or what you give, the result is the same – happiness. Researchers have found that giving makes people happier, and that happier people give more. 

At the most basic level, brain images from MRI scans show that people who give to charity lead to similar brain activity in the pleasure and reward circuitry, activating the neurotransmitter dopamine, a rewarding stimuli similar to using drugs or seeing an attractive face.  And since pleasure is a central motivator in our lives, when we discover something that gives us pleasure, it is a natural reaction to want to make it happen again.  These results suggest then, that giving is inherently rewarding. 

Numerous studies over the last 40 years have similarly concluded that happiness increases charitable behaviour and this behaviour is fuelled by positive emotions. In 1972 Isen and Levin found that the participants who experienced positive events, like receiving cookies or finding a dime in a payphone, were more likely to help others in return.  Additionally and consistent with other studies, researchers found that higher levels of volunteer work were associated with higher levels of overall life satisfaction. Finally, a study looking at those who gave money to charity versus those who did not, found that individuals who devoted more money to charity reported greater happiness, whereas personal spending was unrelated to happiness. Interestingly, the amount of money people were given in the study, did not influence how happy they were, which suggests that how people spent their money was more important than how much they received. In fact, it was found that as little as five dollars was plenty to boost happiness levels.  

Let us all add to the findings of the studies; go out today and give. Buy someone their coffee, donate to a local charity, sit and talk to a stranger. How would it feel to receive the same back?

In the spirit of the holidays and in light of this research, I hope a new sense of giving will enter your life – filling your life with a lot of love, and whole lot of happiness.