Bedside Exercise
No time for the gym? Try these!
No time for the gym? Try these!
Our recent article published in SuperPARENTS in Chinese with our Osteopath, Elaine Ward.
What is Scoliosis?
Scoliosis is a side-to-side curvature of the spine. It can develop during childhood, teenage years, or adulthood, but is most common noticed during the years of rapid growth in girls nine to fourteen years of age and boys eleven to sixteen years of age. This is most common type of scoliosis, known as Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. “Idiopathic” means “of unknown cause” however there can be genetic factors as scoliosis tends to run in families, therefore anyone who has scoliosis should send their children for screening and any adolescent who is found to have scoliosis should send their siblings for screening. Diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring are important as spinal deformity can cause pain and dysfunction in the musculoskeletal system as well as dysfunction of the heart and lungs.
Yes it’s another post on gut health!
More and more research has been conducted on the importance of the human microbiome, essentially the study of the complex relationship between the bacteria in our gut and our health. The bacteria in our gut can affect the amount and type of vitamins being produced. They have the potential to influence conditions from autoimmune diseases, immune function, anxiety, mood disorders, obesity to allergies.
Watch the great video at the bottom of this post to get a quick reminder on the important relationship between our gut and health.
Creative Commons: Miroslav Vajdic
The human body is a complex organism yet its needs are simple.
It is an efficient well designed engine of life which requires very little tinkering on our part majority of the time.
It has the ability to self regulate, maintain and repair itself. As long as we provide it with a variety of nourishment, a reasonable amount of rest and amusement. Our modern lifestyle takes our body into extremes: long stressful work hours, nutrition-less or over rich foods, too little or too much exercise, sleep deprivation and emotional turmoil.
All these factors have a deleterious effect on the overall body function and its ability to self regulate. After all, this is the key question:
“Does our body have the ability to adapt to ‘stresses’ in our environment?”
Stresses refer to any external or internal stimuli which your body may be exposed to, from temperature changes, noise, perceived threats, work deadlines, traumatic experiences, emotions to an overcommitted schedule.
If you think that breast feeding your baby is good for you and your baby, you are not wrong. You bond with your baby; feeding helps you lose weight and gives protection to the baby from many diseases like allergies, gastrointestinal complaints; it also contributes to better neurological development. Feeding your baby is helpful to you, too. Mothers who breast feed are at lowered risk of suffering from various cancers, osteoporosis, hip fractures, arthritis, diabetes and post-natal depression.
For the newborn, the mother’s milk or colostrum is thinner but packed with leukocytes that confer immunity to the newborn against many illnesses. This has been proven by research. What is startling is that mother’s milk may actually change in response to the physical needs of the baby.
You may have a headache every day or you may have an occasional headache. A headache is annoying, painful, reduces concentration and interferes with all your activities. It also makes you short-tempered and affects you in many physical and physiological ways. While you may pop a pill to deal with the headache, it is important to understand why you get a headache and how you can better deal with it using alternative remedies like Chinese Medicine like acupuncture, osteopathy and massage therapy.
Who does not have stress? You may have big stresses like job or relationship or health related or minor daily stresses like reaching somewhere on time, meeting deadlines or disciplining your kids. Whether your issues are big or small, stress has a cumulative and negative impact on your health.
Did you know that stress affects you in many different ways? Forget about your physical appearance, the frown lines, the clenched jaws, the forehead furrows and more, stress is so harmful that it can cause
Osteopathy focuses on treating patients through a unique philosophy of understanding what makes people unwell. It places a strong emphasis on the interconnectedness of the various systems of our body and how this determines our health. Health is not static but is a minute to minute, day to day dynamic expression of a well functioning organism.
The world of food nutrition and dietary science is one that is full of contradiction and misinformation.
Here is a guideline we work with to help our patients make better food choices.
It can be daunting at first when we first begin questioning our modern food culture.