Community News
Living with Diabetes

Are you living with diabetes and struggling with low energy, numbness and tingling, low libido and poor blood sugar management? Is improving your HbA1C important to you? Did you know that better regulation of blood sugar, improved insulin sensitivity, balanced eating, and nutritional status can determine how well you live with diabetes? A Naturopathic approach includes proper diet and use of supplements, and sometimes IV nutrient therapy. These can play a role in managing symptoms, but the key is an individualized treatment plan that includes a thorough investigation of lab work, and possible use of specialized testing.

Plan for the Unexpected

Are you planning to travel this summer? Do you have the right medical insurance? It’s important to ensure you’re covered for unexpected expenses that might result from an accident, illness, or injury while you’re away. When you’re dealing with a health issue away from home, you don’t want to be worrying about having to pay for treatment. It’s a good idea to get travel medical insurance even just for short day trips to the U.S., as you never know what might happen. Your insurance advisor can help you find the right travel medical insurance for you and your family.

What is an Adjustment?

An adjustment is a unique form of joint manipulation that is specific to chiropractic. Trauma and repetitive bad posture (from sitting and using technology) can cause the joints of the spine to become misaligned (“a subluxation”), which damages muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and nerves. This eventually results in stiffness, achiness, pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness. A Doctor of Chiropractic is trained to detect and correct these subluxations with a chiropractic adjustment. The adjustment is tailored to each patient and gently directs the joint into a more neutral position to take pressure off damaged tissues and allow the body to heal.

Get Outside!

Daily, outside time, 12 months a year is important to incorporate into your routine. These six months are the easiest time to do that with our nice weather. You can accomplish this while exercising – walking, running, hiking, or playing a sport – but you don’t have to. Sitting outside and reading a book will accomplish the same thing. Fresh air, vitamin D, with nature around us is truly good for the soul and for our mental health.

Benefits of Companionship

Whether it is a close friendship or an intimate relationship, social interaction is needed to prevent health decline in seniors. Loneliness is a risk factor for functional decline in adults over the age of 60. Something as simple as a friendship can enhance aging hearts and strengthen the immune system. Companionship can decrease the physical risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. The psychological benefits include increased self-esteem, decreased stress, and a sense of belonging. Older adults can also benefit from having a pet. Dogs, in particular, can open seniors up to new activities and interests.

Surgery for ACL Injuries

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.

Know Your Core Muscles

Physiotherapists offer training for the deep muscles of your core. These muscles include: 1) Transversus abdominis – the deepest abdominal that wraps around the abdomen between the lower ribs and top of the pelvis. It stabilizes the low back and pelvis and protects the inner organs. 2) Multifidus – a deep muscle located along the back of the spine very close to the midline that works with other muscles to stabilize the low back and pelvis. 3) The pelvic floor – a hammock of muscles that connect the pubic bone at the front to the tailbone and “sitz” bones at the back. There are no recipes for training the deep muscles – speak to your physiotherapist about the right training for your core.

Rejuvenate Your Skin with Ease

Enhanced Microcurrent Facial Treatment acts like an electronic syringe, which enables the therapist to fill lines, reduce wrinkles, pigmentation, and stretch marks. It can provide the results offered by traditional mesotherapy and/or micro-needling, but without the painful injections, bruising, or downtime. The active compounds we use during the treatment have no unnecessary chemical ingredients, just effective, natural formulations to help improve the skin. The treatment time is short, at only 45 minutes, and there is no healing time needed or any risk of scarring. Six weekly sessions can provide optimal results for issues such as acne, rosacea, hyperpigmentation, dehydration, and signs of aging.

Dyscalculia and Learning Difficulties

Students with dyscalculia can find understanding numbers and mathematical concepts extremely difficult. Although dyscalculia is often associated with an individual’s ability to do math problems, it can also affect their ability to time manage, follow a calendar, or deal with situations that involve mathematical communication, such as getting a quote. The best way to assist students who are struggling with dyscalculia is to combine specific cognitive interventions with one-on-one instruction and drills to help them build math skills and confidence. A specialized program outside of school can provide the additional individualized instruction that students with dyscalculia need to succeed.

Do You Know Your 7 #’s?

Everyone should take control of their own health, and that means knowing some things about yourself. A great start is knowing your “7 Numbers” – blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, TG/HDL ratio (cardiovascular health), Android-Gynoid ratio (or waist circumference), C-reactive protein (detects inflammation/infection), vitamin D level, and GGT (liver health). From these seven biomarkers, you will be able to understand your risk for common chronic diseases – heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia. Most importantly, you will be able to see if your current lifestyle behaviours are supporting optimal health.

Words to Live By

“There are only two ways to live your life, one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle.”
-Author unknown