We are so proud to be recognized in CanadianFitnessAndHealth’s Top 25 Most Popular Health and Fitness Service Awards.
With your help, these are the awards we received:
Thank you to the community for putting us in the top 5 in the country!
We’ve been awarded a 2016 Platinum Award for Customer Service Excellence from the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce!
Michelle was honored to accept the award at the Platinum Awards gala, but we couldn’t have done it without all of you. We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to all of you for nominating New West Wellness Centre, voting for us, and continually supporting us.
Time is running out. 2016 is almost over and your Extended Health Benefits will soon run out so schedule your appointments with us now and you won’t be disappointed.
Appointment times are booking up quickly and you may want to schedule your appointments ahead so you are able to see your preferred practitioner for treatments.
Are suggestion is that for the year of 2017, you schedule your future monthly appointments and enjoy feeling great throughout the year.
Find a place that you can call your “home”, where you feel like you are being taken care of, not just once but through the year.
We at New West Wellness Centre Inc. work together as a team. We want you to be at your optimal Health year round.
We have 6 Registered Massage Therapists, an Acupuncturist, a Naturopathic Doctor and a Chiropractor that work together to make you feel your best from the inside out.
Call us now to book yourself to better health 604-777-1003 or book Online www.newwestwellness.ca
Studies say an average person spends about 4 hours on their feet and takes about 8,000-10,000 steps a day. No wonder we get pain!
Massage therapy can be beneficial in aiding pain relief and recovery for patients with Foot pain(Plantar fasciitis, aka plantar heel pain syndrome) helping them get back on their feet.
Plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that covers the bottom of the foot from the heel to front of foot. It provides support while standing, as well as absorbing shock during movement.
While plantar fasciitis is often caused by overexertion, you should also know that tight hamstring and gluteal muscles, overpronation and high arched feet may exacerbate foot pain. Improper footwear can also put undue strain on the plantar fascia, particularly in athletes.
The tissues can degenerate over time, causing varying degrees of pain. The muscles of the calf and ankle may shorten during sleep, making symptoms worse first thing in the morning.
Since shortening of the calf muscles can cause undue stress on the bottom of the foot (plantar fascia), you may find that deep tissue treatment of calf and ankle muscles can help reduce symptoms of foot pain. We are also able to massage, manipulate and stretch the bottom.
Against the wall, lean in while trying to get your back heel to the ground. This may not be possible if your calf muscles are extremely tight.
Remember never to force a stretch.
30 second hold on each leg, 2 times each leg, performed three times per day. (Even if pain is only in one foot do both sides)
If massage and stretching don’t help alleviate pain you could look at other options, such as but not limited to Orthotics, Acupuncture and Physiotherapy.
Fall is just around the corner which means more hours of darkness, cold and rainy weather which sometime makes us feeling unmotivated, tired and no energy.
Try these 5 tips and strategies to help boost your energy.
1)Keep Your body Moving
Increasing physical activity actually increases energy. The key is to focus on daily physical activity such as: House Work, Garden Work, Walking instead of driving, playing with your children, ride your bike to a friends house. Small steps equal big changes.
2)Sleeping Habits
Most people need at least seven or eight hours every night. Do you sleep too much or not enough? Try and get up and go to bed at the same time each day. If you go to bed late one night still set your alarm for the same wake up time. If you are tired the next night go to bed earlier but still get up at the same time. Ask yourself these following questions. Is your room fully dark? If you can’t physically make your room dark then wear a night eye mask . Regulate room temperature (between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit or 15-19 Celcius), and use white noise (a fan or quiet music) to help induce sleepiness.
3)Feed your body right
Meal timing is another important factor in maintaining energy levels. Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals can cause blood sugar swings, often resulting in fatigue. You should eat at least three nutritious meals each day with the last meal well before bedtime. Snacking is ok as long as its good choices.(Google- healthy snacks)
4) Decrease your stress
Stress will zap the life out of you! Stressors ( worry, fear, over loaded with work) can leave you mentally and physically exhausted. Add more relaxing activities such as exercise (decreases the chemical effects of stress and anger), listening to music thats up beat and fun, reading a great book, yoga or even just talking on the phone with a good friend.
5)Get Some Sun
The body produces vitamin D after exposure to sun. Try to get 10 minutes of unprotected exposure to the sun at least three times a week which can help with physical performance and improved mood. As we all know west coast weather in the winter is not the sunniest so you could try alternate ways of getting vitamin D ( Google -ways to get vitamin D).
80% of people experiencing back pain/problems at some point in their life.
Here are some myths and facts about back pain, we have added back care tips that can help prevent future problems.
Knowing what to do when you have back pain is important. A sedentary lifestyle, as well as injuries, arthritic changes and aging can all lead to future problems. What to do when if you have back pain? Have regular maintenance appointments with our Chiropractor Dr. Kalsi and practise self-care.
MYTH: Rest is a great treatment for back pain.
FACT: Bed rest may worsen your back pain unless it is so debilitating that you cannot move. See our chiropractor about chronic or new back pain and if debilitating take a visit to the Emergency room.
MYTH: Applying Heat for a sore back.
FACT: Heat may actually increase back pain by causing more swelling of the joint and muscles and ligaments. Ice gel packs on a sore back is recommended for the first 3 days of pain. We sell them at our New West Wellness Centre office. If you don’t have a gel pack then a bag of frozen vegetables, or ice in a dampened towel. Limit cold pack treatments to maximum of 15 minutes/per hour, and always place a damp towel or cloth between the sore area and the ice, unless the pack is covered in material of some sort.
MYTH: Pain is the proof that something is not right.
FACT: Pain in your back is telling you something is wrong, especially if the pain is long term and/or stops you from doing normal daily activities. But You may not always feel pain in your back when there is a problem so be aware of limited movement or discomfort in your arms, legs and shoulders which could also indicate that something is going on with your back.
FACT: Good posture and a properly aligned spine, can help prevent back and neck pain. Exercise to help keep your back fit and healthy too. Stretching helps keep your muscles loose while core exercises (involving balance, Pilates, yoga, stability ball) will help to strengthen your back.
Backpacks are the better option BUT only if worn properly by evenly disturbing weight across your shoulders and body and not overloaded.
One shoulder bags may cause alignment issue in our backs because the weight of the bag is unevenly distributed across your body.
Heavy backpacks may cause you to lean forward. Over time this can cause the shoulders to become rounded and the upper back to hunch which causes neck and back pain.
If you wear your backpack over just one shoulder, or carry your books in a messenger/shoulder bag, you may end up leaning to one side to offset the extra weight which may cause lower and upper back pain and strain your shoulders and neck.
Also tight, narrow straps that dig into your shoulders can pinch nerves and interfere with circulation, and you might develop tingling, numbness, and weakness in your arms and hands.
You may need to put less in your pack or carry it differently if:
If you adjust the weight or the way you carry your pack but still have back pain or numbness or weakness in your arms or legs, talk to your massage therapist or chiropractor.
Watching random people these days, I notice how they are walking or sitting with their head cranked all the way forward, shoulders hunched and looking down at their phone, causing very bad posture.
Practitioners at New West Wellness Centre Inc. have noticed an increased number of patients (all ages) with neck pain, shoulder pain and signs of early disk degeneration in their neck. The trend is worrying, since mobile-device usage continues to increase.
Iphone and Android use cause a lot of problems over time, including neck and shoulder pain, headaches, and premature disk degeneration that can lead to arthritis, and a hunched back.
A good neutral spine should be your ears in line with shoulders which are pulled back and eyes looking forward.
Practice perfect posture.
Stand or sit with a neutral spine, with ears over shoulder and shoulders over hips. Pretend like someone is pulling a string from top of your head and its making you taller.
Vary postures, set limits and take breaks.
Take breaks often. Set timers on your phone. Find exercises to stretch out. Bring Devices up to eye level. You can use things to prop up devices. Hold up your phone to eye level giving your self a shoulder work out.
Make Technology work for you.
Use the talk-to- text function. Use Siri on IOS or Voice Search on Android devices.
Strengthen your neck muscles.
Chin tuck (tuck your chin back as if you are trying to give yourself a double chin). Do 2 sets of 10 reps randomly through the day and tilt your head sideways by bringing your ear to your shoulder, Hold 30 seconds, 2 times each side.
Cupping is becoming well know since a lot of the Rio Olympic athletes have been seen with these mysterious circles on their skin.
Cupping is the term applied to a technique that uses suction devices that are placed on the skin. The way our Acupuncturist can create the suction in the cups involves a pump that creates a vacuum seal against the skin.
Once the suction has occurred, the cups can be gently moved across the skin or stay stationary. The suction in the cups causes the skin and superficial muscle layer to be lightly drawn into the cup. Cupping is much like the inverse of massage – rather than applying pressure to muscles, it uses gentle pressure to pull them upward. Once suctioned, the cups are generally left in place for about ten minutes while the patient relaxes.
Generally, cupping is combined with acupuncture in one treatment, but it can also be used alone. The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, and sedate the nervous system (which makes it an excellent treatment for high blood pressure). Cupping is used to relieve back and neck pains, stiff muscles, anxiety, fatigue, migraines, rheumatism, and even cellulite. For weight loss and cellulite treatments, oil is first applied to the skin, and then the cups are moved up and down the surrounding area.
Similar to acupuncture, cupping follows the lines of the meridians. By following the meridians, cupping helps to open the paths through which life energy flows freely throughout the body, thus providing a smoother and more free-flowing qi. Cupping is one of the best deep-tissue therapies available with the least discomfort. It is said to affect tissues up to four inches deep.
Toxins can be released, blockages can be cleared, and veins and arteries flow can be cleared. Besides the bigger areas of the body, hands, wrists, legs, and ankles can be ‘cupped,’ thus applying the healing to specific organs that correlate with these points.
This treatment is also valuable for lungs, and can help clear congestion from a common cold or help to control a person’s asthma. In fact, respiratory conditions are one of the most common maladies that cupping is used to relieve.
Summer equals flip-flops but for may of us this may not be so good for your back. Especially if you already suffer a current and/or previous back injury.
Walking in flip-flops offers NO foot and ankle support, minimal cushioning, puts you at greater risk of trips and falls, and alters the way we walk, which may result in pain from the feet up legs, into the hips and lower back.
Not only do you have to pinch or curl your toes to keep the shoes from flying off while walking, but you also actually shorten your stride for this purpose, which puts strain on your feet, hips and lower back muscles. Your foot contacts the ground differently in flip-flops, too, with more pressure put on the outside edges and less on the heel. This causes a slight rotation of the lower portion of your leg, which in turn changes the angle of your pelvis and prompts increased torsion of the lower spine. Such changes to your body mechanics can cause stiffness and pain in the lumbar region, which may worsen over time.
Although most cases of back pain resulting from flip-flop wear can be decreased or ended by simply wearing more supportive footwear,
