How To Stay Injury Free This Running Season
HOW TO STAY INJURY FREE THIS RUNNING SEASON
By: Dr. Christine Meckamalil, DC
As the weather warms up outside, we begin to see more and more runners come out of their long winter hibernation. Running is one of the purest forms of human movement and the foundation of many sports and athletic pursuits. However, although running provides several cardiovascular benefits, it also comes with the risk of several injuries. Every time your foot strikes the ground during a run, the impact forces on your body are 4-8 times your body weight! This impact can happen over 800 times per kilometre of running, so it is easy to see how such a simple physical activity can pose the risk of injury. Therefore injury prevention is very important for any runner, whether you are a beginner or an elite athlete. To ensure that you stay safe and injury-free this running season, I’ve listed a few of my injury prevention tips!
1) Don’t do too much, too soon: Overuse injuries are very common amongst runners to do a sudden increase in training intensity or volume. This increased demand may be too much for your body to handle and can lead to injury. A simple way to avoid such injuries is to apply the 10% rule. Do not increase your weekly volume or intensity of runs by greater than 10%. Increasing the volume and intensity of your runs by only a modest amount, will allow your body to adapt to stress that you’re are putting on it.
2) Stretching: I can’t emphasis enough the importance of a proper warm up and cool down. Before you begin your run do some dynamic stretches that warm up your muscles and prime them for the activity they are about to do. After your run, take the time to show your body some love by doing static stretches for the muscles that have been working hard to keep you moving. If you need help with what kind of stretches to do pre and post run, shoot me an email! I’m more than happy to send some stretches your way!
3) R & R: Experts from various sport backgrounds can agree on one very important component of any fitness training program….REST AND RECOVERY! Your success with any training program is highly determined by your body’s ability to adapt to the demands of the activity and recover for the next session. To rest and recover properly means to allow yourself to get 7-9 hours of sleep per night, staying hydrated, proper nutrition and cross training to ensure you are correcting muscle imbalances.
4) Seek expert advice and take care of your body: I often tell my runners that “one does not plan to fail – they fail to plan.” It is essential that every runner have their own unique running plan that follows the tips I mentioned above. Seeking advice and care from a qualified healthcare practitioner when you are injured allows you to receive not only a treatment plan but also a return to running and future injury prevention plan. Ideally, you want to find a practitioner who has experience treating running injuries and/or is a runner themselves. Do not ignore the aches and pains that persist over several runs. The 5 most dangerous words for any runner are “ maybe it will go away?” Trying to run through the pain can lead to movement compensations and secondary injuries. A proper running assessment, by a trained professional, can help identify factors that may increase your risk of injuries and help to improve your running performance.
With these running tips I hope you stay safe and injury free this season and HAPPY RUNNING!
Dr. Christine Meckamalil – drmeckamalil@infinityhealthcentre.com
The 5 Most Dangerous Words....
The 5 Most Dangerous Words…
By: Dr. Christine Meckamalil, DC
“Maybe it will go away?” These are the 5 most dangerous words for any patient. You feel an ache or pain somewhere in your body either before, during or after an activity and you think to yourself….maybe it will go away. Being a runner and a health care provider, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had this thought many times myself. In some cases we get lucky and the pain does go away, but often times it doesn’t and we keep ignoring it until we fall victim to an injury.
Injury prevention is a topic I am very passionate about both personally and professionally as Chiropractor. I am a firm believer in not only treating injuries, but also empowering my patients with knowledge about their bodies to help manage current concerns and prevent future setbacks. As a chiropractor, it is critical for me to understand what caused your injury in the first place and figure out how to minimize your risk of reoccurrence.
Injury prevention is a huge topic, so I find it easiest to explain by breaking it down into what I call intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are elements within yourself such muscle strength, flexibility, range of motion, gait etc. Extrinsic factors include your environment, the frequency and duration of your activities, equipment, etc. Understanding the interplay of these factors is essential in keeping you injury and pain-free.
Every activity, whether it’s running, skiing or golfing, needs an adequate amount of strength, stability and flexibility of the structures that allow us to create movement. Let’s use running as an example. Although running is a very common activity, the area that a runner develops pain in their body is unique to the individual. Common areas that I address in treating runners are tight and/or weak calf, thigh and buttock muscles, ankle mobility and of course core stability. It is important to know your body well and more importantly, know what areas may be weak and begging for some TLC.
Once you understand the intrinsic factors, you can begin to address any extrinsic factors that may be affecting your performance. This can range anywhere from your training frequency/duration to the shoes you wear. You are probably starting to understand that there are many factors that can have a big influence on your risk of developing an injury. The next time you are doing a physical activity, take some time to analyze the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may be influencing your performance. Through my own running experiences and years of treating patients of all levels of physical activity (from weekend warriors to elite athletes), the most important thing I’ve learned in that humans have an innate need to move and be functional. My ultimate goal is give you the tools you need to keep you moving and get you back to doing the things you love!
Spinal Imaging and Symptoms
Spinal Imaging and Symptoms:
By: Dr. Karim Riskallah, DC
Let me be perfectly clear....SPINAL IMAGING FINDINGS AND SYMPTOMS OFTEN DO NOT CORRELATE. There is nothing more frustrating for me than seeing a young adult in their 20's or 30's restricting their lifestyle and worrying because their family doctor told them they have "degenerating discs" or arthritis in their spine. As seen in an important 2015 study by Brinjikji et al in The American Journal of Neuroradiology, it was essentially deemed very normal to have a multitude of "degenerative changes" in your spine, yet still be asymptomatic. In fact, should you be symptomatic, often times it many have nothing to do with your "degenerative changes". I have had many patients with severe low back pain, yet have "normal" imaging findings. Bottom line, your imaging findings and your symptoms generally don't often correlate. Their are so many other factors to consider when assessing your spine health and symptoms other than imaging findings, such as spinal mobility, motor control, strength/endurance...etc...all of which cannot be measured or assessed with imaging.
Moral of the story: Life is short, please stay active and do whatever it is you love to do despite your spine being labeled arthritic or degenerating.
To read the full article, click here
The Truth Behind Epsom Salts Baths
The Truth Behind Epsom Salts Baths
By: Dr. Karim Riskallah, DC
I often ask my patients daily what kind of self care they have applied when they have suffered either an acute injury or managing a chronic problem. Each time I would hope that they would inform me of an active rehab program they began, the application of the prototypical R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) protocol, or even starting a course of anti inflammatory medication when warranted. But more often than not, patients will instead inform me that they soaked in an epsom salt bath a few times per week with the belief that an epsom salt bath helped accelerate the healing of their injury, aided in muscle recovery, or my personal favourite, ‘detoxified’ their body. With that in mind, I wanted to write this quick post demystifying those myth. I apologize in advance for bursting anybody’s bubble.
Epsom salt baths are cheap and essentially harmless, but certainly do not have the healing power often believed and very heavily marketed. Most of the theories you hear are oversimplified and driven my marketing key words such as “detoxification” or “eliminates aches”. One thing to keep in mind that I believe is the primary reason epsom salts are not as potent as claimed is that epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate) cannot be absorbed through your skin by osmosis. Therefore, epsom salts can never be absorbed into your muscles and cause all the miraculous health claims labeled on the box. Also, as nice as it would be, the notion that epsom salts can be used for 'detoxification" is simply impossible. The human body has a natural system to eliminate toxic substances and often preventing them from even entering the blood system. Thank you Mr. Liver, Mr. Kidney, and GI System. The notion that epsom salts somehow get into the body and “suck” toxic substances out of your muscles, organs, and skin and perform a little "clean up" is laughable. This claim is simply false, impossible, and there is absolutely no scientific evidence supporting that rational to date.
The million dollar question then is: Is there any good reason to put epsom salts in your bath? Well, in my opinion, epsom salts will dissolve in your bath and will make your water feel nice and soothing. If putting some Epsom salts in your bath causes a positive and powerful placebo effect, nothing wrong with that either. But please don’t expect epsom salts to accelerate healing, improved muscle flexibility, sooth aches, improve circulation, decrease inflammation, accelerate muscle recovery, detox your body, release muscle cramps, restore energy levels, etc etc, etc, etc.……
Are Artificial Sweeteners Any Better Than Sugar?
Are Artificial Sweeteners Any Better Than Sugar?
By: Dr. James Yoon
If you think that drinking zero-calorie diet sodas are a healthy alternative to sugar containing drinks, you may be misinformed. The results of a first-in-human study in healthy volunteers demonstrated that regular consumption of diet drinks alter the gut response to glucose, leading to altered blood sugar regulation, and can therefore predispose people to developing type 2 diabetes.
In a 2 week, double-blind, randomized parallel-group clinical study, healthy volunteers were assessed on the effects of diet supplementation with artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and acesulfame-K, often found in diet sodas and beverages. Taken in the form of capsules, three times daily before meals, blinded participants received either the artificial sweeteners, equivalent to drinking 1.2 to 1.5 L of diet beverage per day or an inactive placebo. After the 2 week period, participants ingested glucose (a simple sugar) and were assessed on how their bodies absorbed glucose, the amount of glucose in the blood, as well as the levels of insulin and gut peptides.
Despite showing similar absorption patterns in response to glucose between the two groups at the start of the study, after 2 weeks of supplementation, the group supplemented with artificial sweeteners demonstrated the following when compared to placebo:
- 20% increase in glucose absorption
- 24% increase of plasma glucose
- 34% decreased production of the hormone, GLP-1. GLP-1 supports blood sugar control by stimulating the release of insulin, blocking the production of glucagon, and slowing down the absorption of blood sugar in the body.
These findings highlight, "the potential for these responses in habitual consumers of artificial sweeteners and support the concept that artificial sweeteners could reduce the body's control of blood sugar levels, exaggerating post-meal glucose levels, which could predispose them to developing type 2 diabetes.”
Integrative Medicine for the Prevention of Diabetes and Heart Disease
At Infinity Health Centre, our Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. James Yoon, often works closely with our Medical Physicians to aid in the management of patients suffering from diabetes or heart disease. With a combination of improved diet and lifestyle recommendations, combined with and nutritional supplementation and herbal medicines, blood sugar levels can be effectively stabilized. Even those taking regular pharmaceutical medications can be effectively treated and make significant improvements, in some cases, even reduce or discontinue their medications (with proper medical supervision).
To book an appointment with Dr. James Yoon, please contact the clinic, or simply request an appointment on-line.
*FREE 10min consults also available to meet with Dr. Yoon to learn more about how Naturopathic Medicine can you help you.
Reference:
European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2016 Annual Meeting. September 14, 2017, Lisbon, Portugal. Abstract 193. https://www.easd.org/virtualmeeting/home.html#!resources/impact-of-artificial-sweeteners-on-glycaemic-control-in-healthy-humans
Why Do I Always get That 'Afternoon Crash' ?
Why Do I Always Get That 'Afternoon Crash' ?
By: Dr. James Yoon ND
Do you find it difficult to concentrate in the afternoon? Feeling tired, anxious, nervous, or depressed? Chances are your lunch may have something to do with it! When you eat a large lunch that is high in carbohydrates like pasta, breads, or sugars like in juice and pop, your body quickly digests and absorbs these foods very quickly, leading to a sharp spike in your blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. A sudden spike in blood sugar will give you instant energy and make you feel energetic and almost hyper. In response to this influx, your body will signal the pancreas to release insulin. Insulin's acts as a chemical messenger that tells the body's cells to take in the extra glucose from your bloodstream. The problem, however, is that your pancreas almost always overestimates how much insulin to release, and the result is that too much glucose is removed from your blood. This results in a blood sugar crash, or very low blood sugar levels.
When you eat whole grains rich in fibre, the digestion of the carbs will be slowed down. This means that your blood sugar will rise slowly as a result of eating these foods. Replacing all refined carbs with whole grains and incorporating protein and other fibre-rich food sources will make your blood sugar rise and fall slowly, which is the way nature intended, and leading to more consistent energy levels.
Using Naturopathic Medicine to Support Your Energy:
To learn more about supporting your energy levels and preventing that daily afternoon crash, you are encouraged to book an appointment with our Naturpathic Doctor, Dr. James Yoon. Dr. Yoon specializes in providing diet and lifestyle recommendations combined with nutritional supplementation and herbal medicines to effectively manage your health and energy levels.
Please contact the clinic to book your appointment today, or simply request an appointment on-line.
FREE 10min consults also available with Dr. Yoon to learn more about how Naturopathic Medicine can you help you.