Author: Cole Maranger
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Strength and bulk: why speed matters for rehab
We may not be rehabbing a muscle at ‘race pace’ but the phrase “slow and steady”’ is a key aspect of regaining endurance and muscular control. Let’s quickly discover the weight of how speed influences muscle development. First, we need to discuss how a muscle responds to any kind of loading. When you lift weights…
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Shoe horns
Call me old-timey but a honking good tip for preventing and reducing back pain can be found in the simple shoe horn. This article goes out to my shoe horn that just broke. RIP (Recycled in pieces). Now, you may be the kind of person that unties their shoes every time they take them off.…
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Rolling on out of Bed
Many patients come into the clinic with pain and twinges because the night before they, “slept funny”. It could be from a sleeping position held all night long or their pillow being too large or small but more often than not, low back pain patients complain that it was as soon as they got out…
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Peace and Love
As the research increases for acute injuries like sprains and strains, the acronym for first treatment has changed as well. “R.I.C.E. and M.E.T.H.” (“rest, ice, compression, elevation” and “movement, exercise. traction, heat”) are now a much friendlier “P.E.A.C.E. & L.O.V.E.” When an injury happens, the best initial care is to keep the PEACE for the…
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Pain, reflection, progression
At a recent speaking event with macroeconomic expert and author Ray Dalio, he made the profound statement, “Pain, reflection, progression”. Contextually, this was for learning from mistakes in business and in the changing market but I drew a direct line to the pain and progression of physical healing. Whether you’ve had an injury or gone…
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Pain down river
Beavers are amazing creatures. One small beaver can reroute a waterway for an entire area. They direct rivers, create swamps, and can cause a lot of problems for those who need water down river. In the same way, an irritated or entrapped nerve can cause a lot of problems “down river”. Quite often, patients present…
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I slouch and that’s the perfect posture
Perfect posture is a thing that everyone strives for, notices, makes comments on. We seem to understand that the flattest, straightest, shoulders back-ist, chest out-ish posture seems “perfect”… but is there a perfect posture? The body loves movement. We’ve known this for thousands of years and all studies on movement and exercise tells us that…
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Hurt VS Harm: Does pain cause damage?
Besides the odd animals that lack a nervous system, like sponges and fungi, having a functional nervous system has helped every creature survive over the course of time. A nervous system allows all animals to feel and differentiate touch, temperature, pressure, chemicals, and maybe most importantly … pain. Hands-on therapies such as joint manipulation and…
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How to read a nutrition label
Nutrition labels can look like a whole other language. There are numbers, percentages, abbreviations, chemistry terms, and the list goes on. Here is a quick run down to better your knowledge on the food and drink we consume and how to read a label. Step 1: Portion size Labels in Canada are always listed per…
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Golfer Pick Up
We can all learn a thing or two from golfers If you’ve hurt your back, you understand the pain and toil having to pick anything up from the ground. Whether this is your dropped phone or some loose change, a hurt back can reduce your ‘drive’ and leave you ‘puttering’ around. It may even tempt…