Here are a few considerations to reduce your risk of injury:

Too much of a good thing, is NOT good

• Everyone needs a down day in their schedule where you still move and be active, but at a lower level. For instance, runners should not be running daily. It puts too much stress on bones and joints, and can contribute to muscle overuse. A day where you walk, swim or take a yoga class instead of run is an essential part of any exercise program.

Mix up your activity

• By doing a variety of activities, our bodies use a variety of muscles and movements and in a variety of ways. Try mixing things up: running, cycling, swimming or playing ball hockey all use different muscles. These are all great activities to keep us healthy, and a mix of challenges is always the best for us.

Consider your surface

• Runners should always be aware of their surface for running. Sidewalks are concrete and therefore very hard and unforgiving and are hard on joints and muscles. Pavement is a little softer; grass is even better (but uneven, which is another type of challenge!)
• Many tracks are available specifically for running or walking but they tend to be banked on the corners (sloped so that the outside edge of the track is higher on a curve), and when running on a track, you must alternate directions of running to compensate for this banking.  If you always run in the same direction, one foot is on an angle and higher than the other, so it will overstress the joints and muscles of your foot and ankle.)

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Many families feel too busy to get out and be active: work, school, homework and life seem to get in the way. And the lure of electronic devices seems to draw our kids more and more into a sedentary lifestyle.

Let’s change that! Being active has countless mental and physical health benefits. Try these tips to find a path to a healthier active lifestyle for the whole family:

Be a good example! 

Park the car and walk or bicycle to do errands close by, visit friends or family or get kids to school.

Play like children. 

Young kids naturally run and jump and climb for fun and adults marvel at their energy. Moving yourself increases your energy as well as your fitness. So get the kids out and play with them. Do you dare run through the sprinkler? Try road hockey, soccer, hopscotch, tag, hide and seek, the possibilities are endless. Even just 20 minutes! At the park? Don’t just sit and watch them – get up!

Move that “video gamer”

If your child is very computer/video game oriented, try one of the many systems or games that use your body movements as the controller to drive the games.  The kids are more active, and still enjoying the experience, and, they can teach you to play with them. Have a family contest or game night.

Explore nature

Kids and adults alike can enjoy nature and learn about our trees, plants and wildlife with visits to local parks, conservation areas or waterfronts. Include some healthy snacks and a book on Ontario’s plants or wildlife and see what you can find when walking the trails, in the woods or on bicycles. Don’t forget your helmets.

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In Physical Therapy, we often use a modified version of the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion to help clients measure how hard they are working. It is a scale that puts a number to how much effort you feel you are putting into your exercise.

Ask yourself: “Using a scale from 0 to 10, how would I rate how hard I are working?” Imagine it like this: Zero means you aren’t working at all (I’m lying down watching TV). 10 is the absolute hardest you can work (I’m running as fast as possible up a hill away from a lion chasing me!).

1 and 2: very low to low amounts of exertion.

3 and 4: moderate to strong

5 and 6: strong amounts of effort

7 or greater is very strong up to maximum at 10.

A quick rule to follow: If you can’t talk while you are exercising because you are too out of breath, it is too much.  If you can easily carry on a conversation with someone about the Netflix you binged on last night, it is not challenging enough!

I recommend my clients begin with an effort of 3 or 4 out of 10 for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remember, as you begin to get tired, you’ll need more effort to keep moving at the same speed. So to maintain a 3 to 4 effort, you may need to slow down as you get fatigued (otherwise, you’ll start feeling like you are at a 10!).  As you continue, I would recommend that you increase your effort (up to a 5 or 6 out of 10) and the length of time gradually.

This is a nice way to measure your work as it is geared to how you feel, and as you improve your fitness you’ll have to work harder to achieve the same feel of effort. So it continues to be a good measure, regardless of fitness level.

Are you starting a new exercise routine? Good luck and stick with it! If you haven’t been active, talk to your health-care provider!

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Wear shoes or boots with good treads.

If slippery, spread sand/salt on your sidewalk or driveway to increase traction and minimize the risk of slipping.

Prepare your body for physical activity.

Warming up properly by walking and performing a few gentle stretches helps your muscles work better and prevent injury.

Use proper equipment – select a shovel that is right for you.

Shovels come in many shapes and sizes and are made from different materials. Consider a shovel with a small, plastic blade as it reduces the amount of weight that you are moving. Also the handle should be sufficiently long to help minimize the amount of forward bending.

Use proper body mechanics.

Whenever possible, push the snow rather than lifting. If lifting is necessary, keep this in mind:

• Hold the shovel close to you with your hands about 12 inches apart.
• Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and bend through the hips and knees.
• Lift with your legs to maintain the natural curve in your back.
• Minimize the amount/extent of reaching with your arms that is used to throw the snow.
• Use your legs to shift the weight and get closer to where snow is being deposited.
• Avoid twisting your back to throw the snow over your shoulders.
• Always move your feet to face the direction to where you are dumping the snow.

Pace yourself.

Keep your loads light. If possible, shovel early as fresh snow is lighter. Take lots of breaks to stretch your back and extremities.

We hope that these tips will help prevent any strains/sprains, slips or falls! Be safe out there.

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January is the month of new exercise programs, healthy eating and the difficulty of sticking to your healthy resolution to get active. But by this point in the month, many people have already lost the focus on their healthy goals for the New Year.

Here are a few tips to keep up (or restart) your focus on healthy activity in your life.

1. Start with something manageable.  Lofty goals of exercising an hour or more every day to start a new program tend to set you up to fail.  Even 15 to 20 minutes regularly will improve your fitness and you can increase your time to exercise as you settle into a routine that works with your life

2. Choose activities you enjoy. A gym is not the only answer to fitness.  Power walking with a friend or your dog, exercising at home to a fitness DVD, swimming, hiking, skiing, dancing, Aquafit, the choices are almost endless.

3. Tell someone your goal, and let them know how you are doing.  Reporting your successes (or challenges) can help you stick with your goals. What is your goal? How are you doing? Let me know in the comments below! (We can support each other!)

4. It’s OK to schedule a “workout day off”.  We do not have to workout every day to get benefit.  I work out 4 to 5 hours per week on a schedule that matches my work and home life.

5. If you get sidetracked with life and your exercise program suffers, don’t let that stop you permanently. Exercise when you can, and gradually work back to your routine.

Good luck!

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How does the inner ear work?

The inner ear has two parts, the hearing centre called the cochlea, and the balance and movement centre called the vestibular system. The vestibular system is a movement sensor, it feels movement of the head in all three dimensions and sends signals to the brain about the direction, amount and speed of movement. It also feels the pull of gravity, and allows us to know what direction is up (even when our eyes are closed, like when swimming under water).

Each of your ears has five sensors in the vestibular system. Movement of the head is picked up by the sensors and the sensors send signals to the brain which are used to balance, to stay upright and move easily from one spot to another in space. The brain also sends out a feel of our movement (for example, we can feel when we lean over versus stand upright).

How does it go wrong?

If there is damage to the vestibular sensors, (in either or both ears), the signals that they send are changed. Those new signals are not identified correctly by the brain, and we feel movement that does not match what we are actually doing. This incorrect feel is dizziness. Dizziness can take many forms — lightheadedness, floating feeling, spinning, swaying inside the head, and many others. It may be accompanied by nausea or vomiting as well.

In short, if you have a vestibular problem, your “feel of your own movement” may be slightly off (or more than slightly) and that can cause dizziness, nausea, balance problems, and some very specific type of vision problems. But the good news is that you can recover, and often without having any specific help and if you need help, vestibular rehabilitation is available.

Check back soon for more info on the vestibular system, specific types of disorders and some rehab ideas to help with the dizziness.

The post How can my inner ear make me dizzy? appeared first on Your Health Matters.

Do you experience dizziness or loss of balance?

There are a few things you can do to help improve your balance and dizziness if you are having issues with your vestibular system, the  “balance system” in your inner ear.

•  Take a walk every day — this is the only exercise that I give all of my clients and it has been proven to have a significant benefit to recovery
• Try to move as normally as possible
• Rest is important but too much rest is not good for recovery, “a happy medium” between activity and rest is the aim.

If you are experiencing dizziness or loss of balance, there is a specialized physiotherapy treatment that may help you: Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT). VRT is specialized to help people recover from problems with dizziness or balance from inner ear disorders. It is a series of exercises that can be done at home to help the client re-learn the “feel” of their movement after an illness, injury or surgery has damaged their vestibular system. These exercises are created for the needs of each individual, based on the results of a detailed assessment.

Vestibular Rehab has been proven to assist in improving / resolving the symptoms from:

• Vestibular system loss in one or both ears
• Vestibular Neuronitis, Labyrinthitis
• Gentamicin ototoxicity
• Post-surgical issues (symptoms after tumour removal, etc)
• Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Head Injury with vestibular involvement
• Meniere’s Disease after surgery / gentamycin treatment
• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)

VRT can be a path to return to your normal life activities. Ask your health-care provider about VRT to learn more.

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• • Use proper body mechanics – If you need to lift soil bags or bushes, bend at the knees and bring the items close to your body to reduce the carrying load. Try and keep good posture of your back and neck when planting and weeding. Slouching can put a strain on the muscles and irritate the joints. Keep your work close to you and avoid excessive reaching and twisting. A stool or knee pads may help you positioning properly to avoid irritating joints. Try and vary the tasks to prevent fatigue. If you have pre-existing issues with any part of your body, you may want to visit a Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist to assess the issues and create a care plan and exercises for you.
  • Stretch before you work – Stretching your joints and soft tissues before strenuous activities applies to gardening as it would to sports. Especially if you are stiff, it is important to warm up and stretch to prepare your body. A therapist can show you appropriate exercises for various activities in your life.
  • Splints may help – Some people may experience joint pain due to arthritis and/or inflammation from overuse of certain joints and tendons. Thumb splints can protect your joints, especially the joint closest to your wrist. A wrist splint can provide rest to the wrist and keep it in the best position for loading. A combination splint can protect both thumb and wrist. An occupational therapist can create custom splints and/or fit you with a pre-fabricated splint properly and provide education on use of the splint.
  • Use ergonomic equipment – You have probably noticed a change in the design of many gardening tools over the years. Larger handles and lighter equipment have proven to be beneficial for our joints. The larger the surface area of grip, the less pressure or force is put through your joints. With gardening, one big issue is the constant bending of the lower back. Long-handled weeders and shovels and rakes on angles that reduce stress are helpful to avoid poor postures. Pick your devices wisely: buying everything in the store may not be the best (though tempting) option! Try out equipment to make sure it is doing what they say it should and ensure it is right for you.
  • Pace yourself – Spending time digging, planting or weeding in the garden counts toward your 30 minutes of daily activity. But we all have the tendency to set time aside to garden on the weekend, and we try to get everything done all at once. This could mean being in the garden from 4-8 hours. Our bodies need rest breaks, especially if we are not used to this kind of work. Gardening is great for the soul, but it can be quite repetitive, so try and vary your tasks to avoid too much repetition.

Enjoy making your garden beautiful!

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