Again, we won’t be able to return to normal office procedures.  We will have a “new normal” for the forseeable future.  Here is what our “new normal” will look like:

First all appointments must be made over the phone or through email, we will unfortunately not be able to see walk-ins until the restrictions have been lifted.  All patients will have to be screened before an appointment to help reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19.  The screening process will include the following questions:

1. Do you have a fever, new onset cough, worsening chronic cough or shortness of breath?
2. Have you had contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19?
3. Have you travelled outside of Canada in the following 14 days?

During an actual appointment it has been recommended that Chiropractors wear masks.  It was also recommended by our association that patients wear masks.  We will be making appointments so patients have as little contact with other patients as possible.  After each patient leaves the office, we will disinfect all surfaces.  As such we will have to schedule more time between patients which will reduce the overall number of patients we will be able treat on any given day.

We will do our best to book everyone in a timely manner but we ask for some patience as we get used to a new system.

Compression stockings are a safe and effective method of managing several conditions including;

• Tired, Achy Legs
• Swelling
• Varicose Veins
• Venous Insufficiency
• Ulcers
• Diabetic Complications

Also, compression stockings are available in several different gradient levels ranging from light to heavy compression. The gradients levels aid in managing your specific condition and tailoring a custom stocking for you alone.

Compression stockings are also useful as an aide to various athletic activities, and are used by athletes around the world to maximize performance.

Feel free to drop in to phone 905-623-9297 or drop in to Queen Street Chiropractic Centre today to ask about compression stockings!

Below is an article published by Molly Shea of Yahoo Health on April 8, 2015 which describes how and why cosmetic acupuncture has become a “go to” for looking younger.

The ancient practice of acupuncture meets the modern desire for youthful skin.

Let me get this out of the way first: Needles are my worst nightmare. I shiver at the sight of syringes, and once hyperventilated so intensely at the prospect of getting my blood drawn that I had to lie down and drink a juice box — before my skin had even been swabbed with alcohol.

Which makes my visit to the New York City office of Shellie Goldstein, celebrity acupuncturist and pioneer of the AcuFacial Facelift, nothing short of a monumental personal feat. There, in a quest for smoother, brighter skin, I consented to getting a dozen thin, silver needles inserted into my face, arms, and legs during an acupuncture facelift. The procedure, a specialty of Goldstein’s and other cosmetic acupuncturists, combines the Eastern practice of acupuncture — revered for its pain-relieving abilities — with modern, science-driven dermatological treatments.

While acupuncture has been around for centuries — it originated in China and slowly made its way to the Western world — acupuncture facials are relatively new. They first cropped up in Hollywood as a hush-hush plastic surgery alternative after directors complained that both Botox and plastic surgery left actresses unable to move their faces. By inserting small, sterile needles into specific points along the face and body, practitioners say they are able to lessen wrinkles, firm sagging skin and muscles, and bring back a youthful glow — all without the risk of a frozen, unemotive face.

One of the most common reasons that a person fails at a given workout program is that we tend to place more emphasis on the physical aspect of health and fitness, at the expense of the mental aspect.

Fitness programs are physical by nature, and in general are physically demanding, this is a self-evident and obvious statement.  However, in my experience the major reason a workout program fails is the mental stress and fatigue that it entails.

Let’s face it, most among us do not relish the idea of waking up early to haul ourselves to a gym (be it down the road or in our basements) and spend several hours of our week sweating and cursing at kettle bells and free weights.

Although initiated with the most noble of intentions, workout programs inevitably lead to a crisis point at which the individual is torn between two potentialities; success and failure.  Failure begins with excuses (I am too tired, I do not have the time, I missed one workout so I cannot keep up with my workout schedule etc.).  Do these sound familiar?  Here are a few tips to prevent these excuses from leading you down a road to failure in your fitness journey.

TIP #1 – Take a weekly approach

Maybe you had to work late today, maybe the kids had a soccer practice tonight, or perhaps you were just feeling lousy today.  You are going to miss workouts on any given day during your fitness journey, it is inevitable.  Everyone is entitled to have a bad day, however the challenge is to not ruin an entire week because of one bad day.  Instead, take a weekly approach to your assessment of your success.  This includes only taking measurements (weight, inches lost etc.) once per week rather than every day.  Monitoring on a weekly basis will enable you to take a more complete picture of your relative success, and allow you to tweak your program accordingly.

TIP #2 – Make a Calendar

Do yourself a huge favour and pick up a large calendar from your local office supply store.  Post the calendar either wherever in your house you do your workouts, or beside your bed if you work out at a gym.  At the start of each month, use a black permanent marker and jot down which workouts you are going to do on each day of the upcoming month.  Whenever you complete a workout for one particular day, cross out that day on the calendar with a green marker.  If you fail to complete your daily workout, cross out that day with a red marker.  Your challenge is to ensure that at least 60% of the month contains green marker days.

Employing a calendar is a powerful tool to track your progress.  One aspect of the calendar is that you can tailor the workout to the demands of a particular day.  For example, I work out at night and I know that I tend to work later on a Thursday as opposed to other days, thus I know to schedule a workout that takes less time and is less stressful on my body.  By scheduling a more manageable and “easy” workout I can ensure that I will not get home and find an excuse not to do the workout, which is a simple trick that has led to lasting success.

In the future we will be posting more tips and advice on this website, we hope that you will use them to find success in your own health and fitness goals.

I have been receiving many questions regarding combining acupuncture treatment and chiropractic adjustments.  While they have different origins, and are administered through very different techniques, chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture are both complementary treatments used for improving and maintaining your health.  Both chiropractic and acupuncture treatments work in ways that empower the body to heal without the use of drugs or surgery.  Both are also designed to correct imbalances, promote natural healing and restore a state of health that was formerly impeded.  Each treatment accomplishes these goals in its own unique way.

Acupuncture stimulates the healing process which in turn reduces pain whereas chiropractic adjustments fix the mechanics affected by an injury.  Acupuncture is based on the flow of biological energy through the body via meridians.  Fine needles or pressure is used to manipulate specific points along the meridians to restore balance and remove any blockages that are interfering with the body’s ability to perform at peak efficiency.  A chiropractic adjustment is the use of an impulse to a specific joint to correct, or manipulate, a subluxation.  The basis is that these subluxations compromise the nervous system.  By correcting these subluxations the body is able to perform at its peak efficiency.  Both treatments have the same goal of causing the body to return to its peak level of efficiency.

What may work for one person may not work for the next.  Every person and the way they heal is different.  The best thing about acupuncture is that you will know within the first few treatments if it will work for you.  In many difficult to treat cases the use of acupuncture and chiropractic care together may be the most efficient treatment method resulting in the fastest results.

By Dr. Erica Hakes

One example of such an injury is Lateral Epicondylitis or Tennis Elbow. Symptoms of this condition include a painful burning sensation and tenderness on the outside of the affected elbow along with weakness of the wrist and forearm, difficulty extending the elbow fully and sharp pain experienced when lifting, gripping or carrying items. The condition is caused by an inflammation of the tendon that connects muscles from the hand and wrist to the outside of the elbow.

Although Tennis Elbow can be caused by racquet sports as the name implies, most cases seen in this office are due to work demands or through every day activities such as painting or cooking. Untreated pain can last months as the inflammation is aggravated by continuing to perform the activities which initially caused the condition.

Chiropractic offers a drug-free approach for the treatment of Tennis Elbow. Cross-friction massage of the affected tendon along with release of the muscles of the forearm help to ease the pain and promote healing and strengthening. Ultrasound is also used to further reduce inflammation and promote healing of the affected muscle tissue and tendon. A brace may also be provided to rest the elbow and allow healing to occur.

As the pain of Tennis Elbow decreases, exercises can be prescribed to strengthen the muscles of the affected elbow and forearm and also increase flexibility of the elbow and wrist.

One example of such an injury is Lateral Epicondylitis or Tennis Elbow. Symptoms of this condition include a painful burning sensation and tenderness on the outside of the affected elbow along with weakness of the wrist and forearm, difficulty extending the elbow fully and sharp pain experienced when lifting, gripping or carrying items. The condition is caused by an inflammation of the tendon that connects muscles from the hand and wrist to the outside of the elbow.

Although Tennis Elbow can be caused by racquet sports as the name implies, most cases seen in this office are due to work demands or through every day activities such as painting or cooking. Untreated pain can last months as the inflammation is aggravated by continuing to perform the activities which initially caused the condition.

Chiropractic offers a drug-free approach for the treatment of Tennis Elbow. Cross-friction massage of the affected tendon along with release of the muscles of the forearm help to ease the pain and promote healing and strengthening. Ultrasound is also used to further reduce inflammation and promote healing of the affected muscle tissue and tendon. A brace may also be provided to rest the elbow and allow healing to occur.

As the pain of Tennis Elbow decreases, exercises can be prescribed to strengthen the muscles of the affected elbow and forearm and also increase flexibility of the elbow and wrist.

picture courtesy of peakhealthcalgary.com

One of the most common causes of foot pain or burning is Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar Fasciitis is a common and persistent injury which can be experienced by anyone at anytime (most commonly in the morning). Plantar Fasciitis can affect runners, hikers and walkers as well as pregnant woman and people that stand for a living, such as cashiers.

Plantar Fasciitis in its basic form is a tendinitis of the plantar aponeurosis, which is basically a thick ligament. The plantar aponeurosis begins at the heel extends under the arch of the foot and connects to the toes. Plantar Fasciitis occurs when this aponeurosis becomes inflamed or begins to degrade. Plantar Fasciitis is caused by constant irritation of the foot and arch through extreme strain (such as running or prolonged standing).

Foot arch-ery
The arch of the foot functions like a bow (as in a bow and arrow), and the plantar fascia is like the string of the bow. The tension in the “bow string” holds the shape of the arch. But every time you step, the “bow string” stretches… and when stretched too hard and too often, it gets irritated, and then it’s like a bow shooting you in the foot!

   There are many different types of treatments for Plantar Fasciitis. Ultrasound is useful tool in helping Plantar Fasciitis as it increases the blood flow to the aponeurosis, which has very little blood flow, thereby increasing the amount of healing occurring and reducing the time needed to alleviate the pain. Another useful tool in helping Plantar Fasciitis is “Aponeurosis Stripping”. Aponeurosis stripping is basically pushing on the aponeurosis at certain points which helps to relax the aponeurosis allowing it to resume its normal shape and length which helps to alleviate the pain. Finally, adjustments of the foot, ankle and knee also alleviate pain as they promote normal foot, ankle and knee motion which reduces the strain placed on the plantar aponeurosis.

If you suffer from Plantar Fasciitis or would like more information on Plantar Fasciitis please call and book an appointment at Queen Street Chiropractic Centre.