Ticks can attach to your pets any time the temperature exceeds 4°C, but activity will increase above 7°C, so look for greater tick attachment when walking through grass and shrubs/bush. Many people find the oral pill Bravecto, given with a meal, to be a convenient treatment administered every three months for dogs. For cats, there is Bravecto topical therapy every three months. Both products kill fleas also. If you are travelling with your pet east of the Rockies or into the southern US, you should consider using Revolution or Advantage Multi as your flea and tick control, with heartworm protection.

With golf season underway, it’s the perfect opportunity to look at how the game is a lot like investing. In both cases, you have to choose the right tool for the job. In golf, it’s about choosing the right club for the stroke, while in investing, it’s all about choosing the right investments for your portfolio. Much like golf, the focus in investing is on competing against yourself, rather than against an opponent, to succeed. Both activities also require relying on a partner to keep score and guide you, as well as developing patience and skills to help you win.

Encouraging students to exercise their brain in the summer months can help keep them sharp and better prepare them for back to school time in the fall. Practicing brain exercises that target a student’s ability to reason and process information quickly can help with difficulties in making connections when it comes to reading comprehension, math problems, and social situations, all of which are important for academic performance. For students with learning difficulties, keeping their brain on track ensures they will be able to perform at a similar level as their peers, setting them up for success when the school year starts up again.

Spring is a season for change. Spring is energizing. It makes us want to dust, and clean. To throw open windows to a fresh, cleansing breeze. We organize that garage, get rid of that clutter, and clear out that drawer. Spring is also the time to grab a pen and paper and do some inner spring cleaning. Are there patterns of thinking that we need to challenge? Are there habits that are holding us back? Are there goals we want to reach and mountains we still want to climb? Time to spring forward and get moving!

Trigger points are sensitive points in our soft tissue that can be painful. These muscle “knots” can occur anywhere in the body and patients may complain of tightness and pain in the upper back, neck and head area such as tension headaches or migraines. There are various ways of releasing the muscle tension and reducing aches and pains. Some of the common treatments are pressing and holding these trigger points with massage or dry needling techniques (IMS). Other effective but lesser known treatments to reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine headaches are trigger point injections or therapeutic Botox. Ask your doctor which options are best for you!

A chiropractic adjustment takes a misaligned joint of the spine and gently and specifically moves it towards a more neutral position. Joints become misaligned because of many common daily events – the effects of sitting, lifting, poor posture from using technology, and physical traumas all contribute to misalignment. The misaligned vertebrae cause strain on the surrounding soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and the delicate nerves that emerge from the spine), causing pain and dysfunction. A chiropractor can tailor the type of the adjustment to meet any patient’s needs, ranging from gentle manual techniques to low-force instrument adjustments.

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their life and will undergo treatment and surgery that can affect their mobility and strength. Physiotherapy is a useful intervention after any stage of diagnosis. If physiotherapy can be done before surgery or other treatments, this can help prepare the body for healing later on. When recovering from surgery, physiotherapy can assist with pain management, mobility, and strength, and can include exercises done at home. Physiotherapists can also recommend exercises that increase energy levels when going through treatments like chemotherapy. Think of physiotherapy as another way to heal and move on from cancer.

Skin ages and becomes loose and less elastic as we grow older due to a reduction in fibroblast cells, which build the collagen proteins that keep our cells connected tightly. Microneedling, also known as collagen induction therapy, is a safe and chemical-free way to trigger new collagen production. A hand-controlled device with tiny, shallow needles punctures the outer layer of the skin at 1000 times per second to create mild damage that will stimulate your body to produce new collagen and elastin. This process can be used all over the body, not just on the face, to treat wrinkles, stretch marks, scars, and more!

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is commonly seen in sports such as soccer, rugby, and skiing. Although many individuals initially recover well, the ongoing instability often prevents return to sports and leads to further knee injury, and the risk of developing future osteoarthritis becomes increased. Bracing is rarely sufficient. Surgical reconstruction performed early, within 3-6 weeks, helps to minimize the risk of further injury. ACL surgery should be treated as an urgent matter: assessment, diagnosis, and surgery can usually be completed within a few weeks. The athlete, elite, or weekend-warrior can then start early rehabilitation to maximize the benefits of the knee reconstruction.