Author: New West Wellness Centre

By using TELUS Health eClaims, you can eliminate your insurance paperwork while reducing your out-of-pocket expenses. It is as easy as that!

During your next massage therapy, chiropractic, acupunture, or naturopathic appointment, don’t forget to ask us to submit your claim for you with eClaims.

Whether you need a massage, acupuncture, naturopathic, or chiropractic appointment, you can eliminate your nearly all of your insurance paperwork when booking with New West Wellness. eClaims covers 85% of privately insured Canadians, and offers direct billing to 10 major insurers.

How can eClaims make your visit easier?

• Reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.
• Eliminate insurance paperwork.

Ask us to submit your claim at your next visit to New West Wellness Centre!

The Registered Massage Therapists’ Association of British Columbia (RMTBC) has released a fantastic video covering everything you can expect on your first visit with a registered massage therapist (RMT).

Topics covered include:

• Evaluation of your needs
• Our training standards
• Dealing with insurance providers
• The medical history form
• Discussing your condition prior to treatment
• Privacy
• Treatment and recommendations

Click here to view the video!

So, when exactly should you use hot packs and when is ice better? It’s a common enough question we get in class. The easy answer is:

Use ice now, use heat later.

Well, not right now, we hope. “Now” meaning ‘immediately after the injury’. Heat later, 3+ days after the injury.

Ice: reduces pain, swelling, inflammation and helps to reduce bruising. It’s useful as soon as an injury has occurred (or also in acute flares of chronic conditions like arthritis). Keep your hot/cold gel pack in the freezer and its ready to go. Ice the affected area for 10 minutes each hour for the first 24 hours. Then for the next 2 days, ice for 10-15 minutes three times a day. Perhaps before school/work, after school/work and before bed.

Heat: can help with chronic pain, like low back pain. It can also promote healing after an acute injury. (E.g.: from a triathlon) has had a few days of ice treatment, by encouraging blood flow to the area and relaxing muscles that are in spasm. Follow the instructions on your hot/cold pack to warm it up. Apply heat to the injured area for 15-20 minutes at a time. Again, try for three times a day. Do not apply heat in the hours immediately after an acute injury, it will increase inflammation and may slow down healing.

• To use, wrap your hot/cold gel pack in a towel or cloth. Do not apply directly to skin.
• Don’t let the injured person fall asleep with heat or ice on their body.
• If you reach 5 days after the injury and there is still pain despite your best treatments, it’s time to find professional help.
• And of course, if either ice or heat seems to be making things worse, then stop!

We offer direct billing to 10 major insurers, covering 85% of privately insured Canadians.

• Reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.
• Eliminate insurance paperwork.

Ask us to submit your claim at your next visit.

Foam rolling is a way to help smooth out your fascia, the connective tissue that stretches over your muscles. “Inactivity, repetitive motion, and injuries can cause the fascia and the underlying muscle tissue to bind together. This causes or ‘trigger points,’ or “knots” that lead to tightness. When you roll out, you release these knots, and this helps reduce muscle tightness and improve joint mobility.

This process is typically accomplished with a foam roller which is a cylindrical tool typically made of dense foam plastic.

If your muscles are tight and sore, foam rolling could be a little painful when you first start.

Relieving muscle tightness can directly improve the quality of your workouts.

Foam roll then work out. When muscles are not restricted by tightness, the bodies joints have more Range of Motion (how much you can move around a limb) and muscles can fire at peak efficiency during exercise.

By doing exercises correctly, and through your full range of motion the moves become more effective which helps build lean muscle mass. Reducing tightness can also help minimize muscular imbalances in opposing muscle groups (the ones that work together to help you move in everyday life and in the gym, like your chest and back and biceps and triceps). Tightness in one of these muscle groups can interfere with your ability to engage the other—for example, if your quads are super tight, you’ll have a tough time engaging your glutes during a squat, which can lead to overdeveloped quads and underdeveloped glutes. Less tightness also cuts down on your risk for muscle and ligament strains, as well as general discomfort.

Think of foam rolling as an essential building block to your regular workout.

In the short term, foam rolling can provide immediate relief from body pain due to tightness. You may notice that your legs start to feel light and tingly because foam rolling also increases circulation. It will also help you feel more connected to your body, and when your body and mind are in sync, your workout tends to be on point.
And there’s an obvious long-term payoff, too. Strength training is an essential part of a balanced workout program—and foam rolling plays a major part in making sure that tightness and knots don’t get in your way and kill your workout vibe. Reducing tightness can also help you perform your best during non-strength workouts, too, as mobility is essential for runners, bikers, dancers, and swimmers, too.

Ultimately, foam rolling can help make the time you spend training more efficient and effective.

First purchase your high quality Foam roller from us for $45. Get in the habit of rolling out before every workout for 5 to 10 minutes and focus on the muscles you are using in that particular workout.

Check in with your body and think about what needs attention—if you’re feeling a little sore or tight that’s a sign you might want to spend time foam rolling that muscle area. (Note, if you’re experiencing sharp pains or recovering from surgery, consult a doctor, not a foam roller).