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.

Processed food, sedentary lives, lack of sleep, unceasing stress, dissolving relationships, and collapse of purpose take a massive toll on our health and enjoyment from life. Most healthcare costs are linked to lifestyle-related diseases and nearly all top causes of death are due to chronic conditions. Lifestyle medicine combines an acknowledgment of these facts with evidence that lifestyle interventions such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress reduction, and smoking cessation can prevent, manage, and reverse disease. Using evidence-based medical assessments and leveraging personal health coaching, lifestyle medicine can help people take control of their health and optimize long-term vitality.

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!