While we’ve all seen the old banana peel skit, slips and trips in the real world are no laughing matter. Simply falling to the floor or pavement from an upright position causes a great many serious injuries—and even deaths—each year. No one really knows for certain how many falls could actually be prevented, but the topic is of growing interest to a wide variety of people, from public health officials, designers, architects and community planners to business owners, workplace supervisors and employees. Senior citizens are perhaps the most at risk. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presents several statistics that highlight this point:
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Keeping our joints healthy is one of the most important things we can do to remain independent and active as we age. Life can become quite challenging for individuals who are immobilized by joint pain, since it can result in reduced physical and social activity as well as a higher risk of psychological and emotional problems. If children eat a healthy, balanced diet, they should not generally require nutritional supplements. However, very few children actually eat a wide enough variety of foods to get the all the nutrients their growing bodies need. To help you choose the best nutritional supplements for your children, we discuss the most important ones below. In 1998, Dr. James L. Wilson, DC, ND, PhD, coined the term "adrenal fatigue" to mean lower-than-normal adrenal function that is caused by stress. The term was created to differentiate this condition from adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease. According to Dr. Wilson, the body does the best it can to make up for the faults of poorly working adrenal glands. However, the extra work this requires from the body creates new problems of its own. Manual therapies have been used to treat musculoskeletal disorders for thousands of years. Practitioners around the world—in countries with many different cultural influences and diverse medical traditions—have used their hands to manipulate various parts of the body to stimulate healing. "Manual" literally means "by hand." Thus, manual therapies consist of healing techniques that use the hands. There are more than two dozen techniques used worldwide. Among the most commonly known are acupressure, chiropractic, massage therapy, physiotherapy, reflexology, Rolfing and shiatsu. Whether we like to admit it or not, the technology in our lives—and the fact that we use much of it while sitting down—is contributing to a growing list of health problems in our society. Those who sit at a desk all day or sit behind the wheel of a car or truck with little or no exercise are at increased risk for a number of chronic health problems. According to the Mayo Clinic, those who have such a sedentary lifestyle are in danger of things like "obesity and metabolic syndrome — a cluster of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels." Toronto is a big city, with many chiropractors.
How to find the one best suited to treat your unique case? Part 1 (see health blog) in this series looked at recommendations from family and friends, online recommendations such as at "RateMD", and the importance of a thorough initial examination. What other factors can help you decide on your best chiropractor? The term metabolic syndrome is actually not just one condition. It is a term relating to a group of different related conditions that have been shown to increase the threat of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. With the high rate of obesity and the typical American diet high in sugar, salt and hydrogenated oils, metabolic syndrome is becoming more of a problem. Of all the musculoskeletal complaints for which people will go to a doctor, back pain is the most prevalent. The more sedentary we are (think about our desk jobs and all the hours we spend in front of a TV or computer screen), the weaker all of the structures that support our frame—muscles, tendons and ligaments—become. This in turn makes back injuries more likely. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. By strengthening your core, which includes not only your back, but your abdomen, buttocks and hips, you are more likely to prevent injury. By practicing a few of these back strengthening exercises on a regular basis, you can help keep your back pain-free. Perhaps the most frequent injury involving automobiles comes from closing the door. Nearly 150,000 times a year, someone is injured in this fashion, and that's with the car parked or stationary. This includes doors closing on fingers. Another 10,000 are injured by using a jack and 74,000 have been injured by a car or car part falling on them. Pain and stiffness can significantly reduce your neck’s range of motion. Although a decreased range of motion in your neck may not seem like a major problem, it can actually contribute to a number of unpleasant conditions, including headache, fatigue, irritability and sleep loss. Like any other part of the body, our neck can become stronger and more flexible through exercise. Following are some useful exercises that can help to increase the range of motion in your neck. Some aches and pains are normal as we age, but there’s no reason why we should not try to keep them to a minimum. Knee health is important in keeping you mobile as you get older, and experts agree that the best way to keep them in good shape is (ideally) to avoid receiving a knee injury. Even old injuries to the knee that may have happened when you were in your 20s can come back to haunt you in your retirement years. You may not be able to go back in time and avoid the injury, but there are some things you can do to help keep your knees from being prone to injury. Following are the top 5 ways experts recommend to keep your knees younger longer. As opposed to macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates), micronutrients are necessary in the diet only in very small amounts. They are what we commonly refer to as vitamins and minerals. But despite the fact that we need very little of them, if we are lacking in even one of these micronutrients, it can wreak havoc with all of our body’s systems. Micronutrients are essential for the production of enzymes, hormones, and proper growth and development. Everyone develops scar tissue over time. This is the body’s normal reaction to injury—no matter how slight. Even simple actions that most people wouldn’t regard as injury-producing can lead to a buildup of scar tissue. Repetitive motions like typing, for example, can cause micro-trauma to the soft tissue (often referred to as an overuse injury), leading to carpal tunnel syndrome. As part of the repair process, scar tissue is created. However, this type of tissue tends to interfere with the smooth movement of muscle and may eventually affect your range of motion. Plantar fasciitis can cause more inconvenience than almost any other type of ligament inflammation, since the injured ligament is put to use every time you take a step. This means that resting it is difficult and recovery is prone to setbacks. The plantar fascia is the ligament that connects your heel to the ball of your foot. When extra stress is placed on it, or if it is stretched in an irregular manner, it can become inflamed and cause pain in your heel. Luckily, it does not have to become a chronic condition and can be managed with some extra care and specific exercises If you have ever had a case of sciatica, in which pain seems to start in your lower back or hip and radiate down your leg to your foot, you have suffered an example of what is referred to as “radiating pain.” The medical term for pain the starts in one area and travels to another is radiculitis, and although it is not the most common form of nerve pain, it causes a lot of misery for those who suffer from it. We first begin to learn eye-hand coordination (sometimes also called hand-eye coordination) when we are infants, with the greatest amount of development occurring during childhood. But it is never too late to improve eye-hand coordination skills. It is important to maintain this function as we age, since it is central to so many of our daily tasks, such as driving or chopping vegetables. A back spasm can occur when the muscles supporting the spinal column, particularly those in the lower back, become overworked. If the muscles suddenly contract near the nerve roots around the spinal cord, this condition can be extremely painful. Muscles that are overstretched or worked more than usual can become tender and inflamed. The pain may first become noticeable when you are twisting your back, or are pushing or pulling something, particularly if you are moving something heavy. Sudden movements in particular are likely to trigger back spasms. Playing golf, for example, in which the back twists quickly as the golfer swings, can cause the back to spasm. Weightlifting, baseball and football are other sports that carry a higher risk of back spasm. Even something as seemingly safe as gardening can cause back spasms, since it usually involves bending and turning. If the activity is not stopped immediately, the spasms are likely to get worse. |
AuthorPosted by Dr. Babak Missaghi Archives
August 2017
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