Welcome to Moveo’s February Newsletter!

We Are Winter: Sochi Olympics 2014

If you’re like us, you were riveted by the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It was inspiring to see Canada’s men and women compete after lifetimes of hardwork and dedication in the sports they love. 

We were especially paying attention to the Canadian Bobsled Team and Justin Kripps who had an emotional Olympic experience. After a tough crash in one event, Kripps led the 3-man team to an incredible run, proving Canadians are true Olympians. (video) Kripps, who also competed in the 2010 Olympics, sees us at Moveo and had this to say:

“Dr. Turner and Moveo Sport and Rehab Centre have been great help for me since the beginning of my bobsleigh career. My first international trip on the National Development Team was accompanied by Dr. Turner and she did a great job adapting to the demanding bobsleigh environment. Now years later after competing in the Olympics and preparing for another I can still go back to Moveo to get work done by Dr. Turner and the team whenever I can. Thanks for keeping me together, Moveo!”

Learn more about Justin Kripps a www.justinkripps.ca or www.facebook.com/justinkripps

Good luck to all the athletes over there competing!

Let It Snow! But Take Care of Yourself

Winter is here! You are probably finding yourself removing snow from your driveways and sidewalks, an activity that can easily lead to injury.  Hypothermia, back and shoulder injuries, slips and falls, and even heart attacks can all occur because of improper shoveling.  The danger is not confined to the driveway either; falls while clearing snow from the roof also account for injuries such as spinal fractures, extremity fractures and head injury.

There are several things you can do to minimize the risk of injuries while clearing your home of snow.

  • Stay covered – You might get hot and sweaty while shoveling, but your body is still susceptible to the cold. Keep your gloves on to prevent your fingers from getting frostbite.
  • Don’t drink coffee to warm up – The caffeine in it can increase your heart rate. Stick to hot cocoa (this has some caffeine too) or decaffeinated tea. An elevated heart rate interferes with the normal function of the heart and can be very dangerous.  The biggest risk of an elevated heart rate occurs if a person already has a weakened heart.  People with any type of cardiovascular disease, older adults or sedentary individuals need to take extra care that their heart rate does not get dangerously elevated.
  • Keep hydrated – Take a water break every 20-30 minutes.
  • Avoid back strain by following these steps:
    • Warm up first. Shoveling can be an intense exercise so warming up your muscles and getting your heart pumping before you start will reduce your risk of muscle strain.
    • Shovel smaller loads. Over the course of a driveway you can shovel a ton of snow (literally).  By making each load smaller, you can avoid strain on your back.
    • Lift with your knees, not your back.
    • Step in the direction you are throwing the snow and avoid twisting.
    • Don’t keep your hands together on the shovel. Spacing your hands apart will make it easier to lift.
    • Use a smaller shovel. This will force you to pick up smaller loads and the decrease in weight can save your back and other muscles.
    • Don’t wait until the snow stops and then try to get rid of all of it at once.  Go out a few times during breaks in the storm to clear the driveway of a smaller amount of snow.
    • Take breaks.  (Grab a drink of water at the same time.)
    • If possible, push the snow to the side instead of lifting it.
    • And for a shoveling home remedy: if wet snow is sticking to your shovel, cooking spray will allow the snow to slide off more easily.

Heart attacks that occur during winter months are most frequently attributed to shoveling snow, if there has been a snow storm. If you know you will be dealing with snow this winter, visit your doctor or %physiotherapist% first for a checkup.

For more tips on how to shovel safely and reduce your risk of injury, talk to the trained, licensed chiropractors, massage therapists and acupuncturists at *client_company*. They will let you know if you are healthy enough for the activity and give you more steps to take to further minimize any damage that might occur. If you have already suffered an injury because of shoveling or any other activity, one of our practitioners would be happy to assess your injury and create a program tailored specifically to your needs and goals. Call *client_company* to make an appointment or to ask any questions you may have.

References

1: Pipas L, Schaefer N, Brown LH. Falls from rooftops after heavy snowfalls: the
risks of snow clearing activities. Am J Emerg Med. 2002 Nov;20(7):635-7.
2.  http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/shovel.html#_1_3
3.  Persinger MA, Ballance SE, Moland M. Snow fall and heart attacks. J Psychol.
1993 Mar;127(2):243-52.

Acupuncture Demystified

Dr. Kim Graham recently shed some light as to what acupuncture is for some confused and curious trail runners. She’s written a great article for Trail Running Canada:

“Acupuncture: The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of traditional Chinese medicine. It’s mission: to explore meridians, to seek out new life and new ways of healing, to bodly go where you’ll wish you had gone before.

You’ll have to excuse the Star Trek reference, but really, this is how I sometimes feel when explaining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupunture to someone for the first time. Why? Because the medicine I practice is often the medicine of last resort. When illness and/or injury persist beyond what is “normal” or “endurable”, that’s when most make their appointment of desperation to finally try acupuncture. After their first appointment, most often they ask themselves why they waited so long to do so.”

You can read the rest of the article on page 37 of Issue 7 of Trail Running Canada HERE.

Moveo at the Races! 

Speaking of trail running, Moveo has a busy season ahead of us. We are a proud sponsor of two North Shore trail race series: Coast Mountain Trail Races and Mountain Madness. You can expect to find us at almost every finish line of these events providing free massages to all participants, which gives us a pretty full calendar.

Kicking off the season is Mountain Madness’s Dirty Duo on March 8th and Coast Mountain Trail Series’s Cap Crusher on March 23rd.

Check out each link to learn more about the races and sign up soon! We hope to see you out there!

www.coastmountaintrailseries.com

www.mountainmadness.com

Foam Rolling Sessions 

We have two more Foam Rolling Sessions coming up soon! Our last sessions were so successful that we wanted to open up to opportunity again for people to learn foam rolling techniques that will help them ease those aching muscles and joint and loosen those tendons. See below for dates and times and call 604-984-8731 to register. Hurry! Space is limited.