For a great start to the day, try this delicious, gluten- and dairy-free breakfast sandwich.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gluten-free, Brown Rice Bagel
• 2 Sunworks Farms Organic Free-Range Eggs (Blush Market)
• 1 Woodstown Farms Nitrate-Free Bacon (Blush Market)
• Sugar-free Salsa
• Organic Avocado (Blush Market)

Sciatic nerve irritation is one of the most common of the injuries treated at Riverside Sports Therapy.  Often, patients with sciatic issues experience pain in the lower back and along the lateral edge of the buttocks.  Some experience sensation changes down the leg reaching to the foot, and others report a difficulty moving or controlling the legs.

The sciatic nerve is composed of 5 nerve roots that exit the lumbar (L4-L5) and sacral (S1-S3) spine.  Because irritation to this nerve can be caused by several conditions, sciatic pain is a general description of the symptoms experienced – not a diagnosis of the injury.

For example, a patient may experience sciatic pain caused by the compression of a single or multiple nerve root(s), a condition called radiculitis.  This nerve root inflammation may indicate an underlying problem such as disc herniation, degenerative disc or joint disease, or a change in the structure of the vertebrae.

Sciatic pain may also be caused by the irritation of the piriformis muscle.  This muscle allows the lower limbs to rotate and it is located closely to – often directly above – the sciatic nerve.  In approximately 15% of cases of sciatic pain, the sciatic nerve pierces the piriformis muscle.  If the piriformis muscle is subjected to trauma or extreme tightness due to overuse, it can put direct pressure on the nerve and cause sciatic pain.

After careful assessment, a chiropractor will be able to determine the cause for the sciatic pain and treat the symptoms, thereby helping a patient to return to proper functioning and a pain-free lifestyle.  An effective treatment plan for the symptoms associated with sciatic nerve irritation will be determined at the time of diagnosis.  In many cases, effective techniques such as Active Release, Graston Soft Tissue Mobilization, and Chiropractic Manipulation can provide great relief for patients who suffer from low back pain.  If you experience low back pain, see your chiropractor for more information on sciatic nerve irritation.

Riverside Sports Therapy is proud to announce Dr. Jeff Holliday as the newest member to the team.

Dr. Holliday’s extensive training in neuromuscular and musculoskeletal conditions, chiropractic expertise, and warm demeanour make him a perfect addition to Riverside. He specializes in strength and conditioning, functional movement, and manipulative and soft-tissue therapies, including Graston and Active Release Techniques.

Dr. Holliday graduated with honours in 2003 and, since then, he has maintained a sport- and family-based practice in Calgary. Throughout his career, he has worked with athletic programs on both local and national levels and helped many people to achieve their fitness goals by providing careful assessment and detailed, sport-specific treatment plans.

Dr. Holliday plays a key role in Calgary’s Running Community; he’s often seen hosting seminars at Running Room locations throughout the city and participating in races and triathlons. For more information, see Dr. Holliday’s biography on our website.

This product is available at Riverside Sports Therapy; ask our friendly front end staff for further details.

The start of the new school year marks not only a return to books, but also to physical education and extracurricular sports. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the learning process and the more serious the injury, the more important it is to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms.
A study lead by Lisa L. Bakhos at the Rhode Island Children’s Hospital found that approximately 58% of all concussions diagnosed in patients 8-13 years of age occurred during organized sporting events. The researchers also noted that even though youth participation in sport is decreasing, concussion injuries become more and more common among young athletes.

In this article, we aim to shed some light on this topic and help parents, coaches, therapists, and teammates to recognize concussion injuries.

What is a Concussion?

Concussion is a common type of head injury that can occur during contact sport. In the “Summary and Agreement Statement of the First International Symposium on Concussion in Sport, Vienna 2001,” a concussion is defined as a “complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces.”

A common misconception is that concussions only occur after a blow to the head. Concussion injury is caused by a direct blow to the head, face, neck, or elsewhere on the body that transmits an impulsive force to the head and causes the brain to make contact with the inside of the skull.

Concussion injuries typically result in the rapid onset of a short-lived impairment of neurological function. The injury may result in neuropathological changes, but the acute clinical symptoms reflect a functional disturbance rather than a structural injury.

Another common misconception is that concussion injuries are always accompanied by a loss of consciousness. On the contrary, most people who are diagnosed with a concussion do not lose consciousness.

The signs and symptoms of concussion are listed below:

Please note that not all of the listed indicators are always present in a concussion, but if one is present, a concussion should be considered as a possible diagnosis. If these symptoms appear in yourself or your children, please contact our office for further assessment.

Every couple of years, many of us spend time glued to our television sets to watch one of the most amazing examples of athletic prowess in the world; the Olympics. We will watch in awe as elite athletes perform seemingly impossible feats and we’ll wonder, how the heck do they DO that? Maybe it’s too late for us to become Olympic skiers or figure skaters, but there’s no reason we can’t train like them.

Train Like an Olympian

No, I’m not saying you should wake up every morning and run 12 miles or swim for three hours in preparation for your day. If you are too ambitious, you will need the help of the best Athletic Sports Therapist in Calgary. However, even if you’re not training for the Olympics, you can emulate the best athletes in the world to get the most out of your exercise:

• Train every day. Many people fall victim to the weekend warrior syndrome: after sitting on a couch all week, you try to make up for it by killing yourself with a hardcore Saturday workout. Instead of setting yourself up for injury, think like Olympic athletes who train every day in order to compete with the best. Exercising regularly will help you achieve endurance and strength that carries over into your every day life. Exercising sporadically can cause injury, soreness and the urge to never exercise again.

Canada’s Womens Biathlon Team in Olympic Training in Banff

• Keep your eyes on the prize. Olympic athletes have a specific goal; to compete with the best athletes in the world and win. Us regular exercisers need goals too, something to get us out of bed each day to exercise. When setting a goal, keep it simple, specific and, most importantly, reachable. Remind yourself every single day what your goal is and how you’re going to achieve it.
• Be specific in your training. An Olympic marathon runner has to have incredible endurance and strength in order to complete a marathon. To compete, he will have to incorporate specific training such as long runs, speed work and strength training. Whatever your goal, make sure your training fits. If you’re trying to build muscle, eat more calories and lift heavy weights. If you’re goal is to run faster you should practice running fast. See how easy this is?
• Fuel your body for peak performance. We all worry about food and whether we’re eating too much fat, or too many calories. An Olympian, however, worries about getting the right nutrients and calories to fuel an incredible race. Instead of looking at food like its the enemy, turn your thinking around and ask yourself, what is the best thing I could eat right now for my workout? What will put my body at it’s very best? Its probably not that donut you’re holding so put it down and go get some fruit.
• Know when to rest. Olympians walk a fine line between peak performance and burnout and they know when to throw in a few extra recovery days. Overtraining for an Olympian can mean the difference between winning and losing; for the rest of us it means the difference between a great day and a crappy one. Know the signs of overtraining and when to take a break.
• Have perfect form. Have you ever seen Carl Lewis run? He ran like a thoroughbred with long, loose strides and a tall body. In whatever activity you do, make sure your form is perfect. If you’re running, stand tall and relax your upper body. If you’re lifting weights, do each exercise slowly to reduce momentum and don’t swing your weights. Having perfect forms requires you to focus on what your body is doing, rather than trying to distract yourself from the pain. Note: if you’re in pain, you’re working too hard!Whatever you’re training for, thinking like an Olympian can help you get the most out of each and every workout. When you find yourself losing momentum or motivation, just remind yourself how much discipline it takes for an athlete to make it to the Olympics. Just a fraction of that discipline can help keep you going every day.

Calgary Chiropractic Services
RiverSide Sports Therapy

Source: about.com