Rheumatoid arthritis can sometimes lead to other health complications, including oral conditions such as: 1) Oral infections – including bacterial and fungal infections. 2) Gingivitis – a mild form of gum disease that can cause swollen and tender gums. 3) Temporomandibular joint issues – causing pain when opening and closing your mouth. 4) Periodontitis – affects the bone and tissue supporting the teeth. 5) Sjögren’s syndrome – condition affecting the salivary glands that can lead to oral dryness and tooth decay. By seeing your dentist regularly and keeping up with your oral health through daily brushing and flossing, these conditions may be avoided or improved.
Community News
Laser Therapy for Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is generally caused by progressive wear and tear on our joints that results in the breakdown of our joint cartilage. When cartilage breaks down, the bones start to grind against each other, creating inflammation in the joint. These changes are what cause you to experience painful symptoms. The degenerative process itself may not be painful, however the resulting inflammation and irritation to surrounding muscles, ligaments, and tendons usually cause you to experience uncomfortable and sometimes debilitating symptoms. Cold laser therapy offers an innovative treatment for a variety of acute and chronic, often painful, conditions like osteoarthritis.
Health Fun Facts
Laughing is good for the heart and can increase blood flow by 20 percent.
Exercise will give you more energy, even when you’re tired.
Always look on the bright side: being an optimist can help you live longer.
Community Profile – Crossmount Memory Café
The Crossmount Memory Café is a social and recreational community program for people living with dementia and their caregivers. It is hosted twice a month at Crossmount and provides a safe, supportive, and social outing for people who may otherwise have limited opportunities to engage with others experiencing similar dementia-related health and social barriers. Following refreshments and a light snack, participants engage in a wide variety of activities and experiences, including creative workshops, live entertainment, intergenerational activities, low-impact fitness activities, and more. Participating in the Memory Café provides opportunities for connection and belonging by decreasing social isolation and enhancing overall quality of life.
A New Sauna Experience
Back2Nature Wellness and Adventures is excited to announce a new experience with our mobile, wood-burning barrel sauna – an evening of glow paddle and sauna! A well-known Finnish tradition, the dry sauna offers passive heat that involves dry air and high temperatures, and more humidity can be added by pouring water on the sauna’s hot rocks. Immersing yourself in the sauna can have many benefits beyond relaxation and leisure, including improving your overall health and wellness, improving heart health, flushing toxins, improving brain health, relieving stress, inducing a deeper sleep, assisting with fighting illness, and simply allowing you to feel good!
Book Club
Living Well with Arthritis: A Sourcebook for Understanding and Managing Your Arthritis Living Well with Arthritis is written by Canadian doctors for Canadians. Its authors, all respected experts in the field, focus not only on medications and complementary treatments, but also on management of the many aspects of life that arthritis can affect. Topics such as dealing with chronic pain and fatigue, developing emotional and social coping strategies, and managing relationships are all explored, taking readers through the steps of how the body is affected, and ways to manage the disease.
Words to Live By
“The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer.” – Fridtjof Nansen
Words to Live By
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” Harvey Fierstein.
Caring for Hearing Devices
Taking good care of your hearing aids can significantly prolong their life. *Make sure your hands are clean and dry before handling your hearing aids. *Clean them regularly using your hearing aid cleaning kit. *Remove hearing aids before showering, bathing or swimming and store in a dry location away from condensation. *Remove them before applying perfume or hair spray. *Store them in their case or drying cup away from heat sources and direct sunlight. *If you won’t be using your hearing aids for an extended period, remove the batteries and store them separately. *Use a hearing aid expert if you need repairs.
Protect Our Planet For Our Youth
For International Youth Day, let’s think about what we can do to protect our planet for our youth and future generations! We must replace toxic chemicals and pesticides with natural alternatives whenever possible. These are destroying our lakes, rivers and the soil our food grows in. We should reduce single-use plastics, so much of which has made its way to our oceans. Do your part by using natural cleaners at home and at work! Using a concentrate that you add your own water to, like Orange TKO, can save thousands of single-use bottles from our landfills and oceans!
Tips to Avoid Burnout
Resilience assists us in dealing with stressful situations without being overwhelmed and shutting down. Resilience and self-compassion can be built by: 1. Finding like-minded people at workshops and retreats who can introduce you to new coping skills and reinforce the skills you currently have. 2. Making time for yourself (even a couple of minutes) to turn your attention inward. Self-care isn’t selfish. 3. Being kind to yourself. The last few years have been difficult, and burnout is a real thing. Remember, you cannot give from an empty basket. We’re now booking for our upcoming Resilience Rebuilding Workshop.
