Let’s face it: the long hours spent sitting for class, hunched over a computer or bent over homework isn’t good for anyone. Whether you’re preparing your child for the new school year or you yourself are heading back to the classroom, there are some things you should keep in mind about two everyday items every student uses; backpacks and handheld devices. Backpacks and messenger bags have often been at the centre of student health conversations since they can easily contribute to injuries. Carrying an overweight backpack unevenly or improperly can result in a number of different issues, includ ..read more

This blog is brought to you by the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors, in partnership with the Arthritis Society. Cindy Stephen is a 61-year-old Calgarian, professional communicator, mother of six and grandmother of seven. Below is her experience as someone who suffers from arthritis and uses chiropractic treatments to help alleviate the symptoms. Many people my age have arthritis in a variety of joints. Folks over 60 who have led active lives find themselves with arthritis of the knee or hips, maybe a touch in the joint of the thumb or in the ankles. Professional athletes a ..read more

Chiropractors have a role to play in their patient’s general well being and self care. One way that chiropractors do this is through maintenance care. Most people associate a visit to the chiropractor with injuries like whiplash, thrown backs and other kinds of pain that require immediate treatment. That is only one part of a much bigger picture. What is maintenance care The goal of maintenance care is to maintain optimal function and movement, keep your body balanced and to prevent future injuries. “Think of it like when you go to the clinic for an annual check up.” Explains Dr. Taylor Cooksl ..read more

When most people think of the work a chiropractor does, their thoughts immediately go to correcting problems with the back, neck, spine, etc. Perhaps the last place you’d expect a chiropractor to relieve pain is in your jaw. Your chiropractor may be able to relieve pain in your jaw, specifically your temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which can be a common sore spot for many people. A study showed that specific adjustments of the TMJ may be appropriate for the conservative treatment of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD). What is the TMJ? The TMJ connects the lower jaw to the skull in fr ..read more

We all know nutrition is an essential part of a healthy, active lifestyle. It’s been ingrained in us. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” “You are what you eat.” What may seem foreign to you though is how nutrition and chiropractic go hand-in-hand.  The promotion of healthy lifestyles is an important goal of chiropractic care. Nutrition is a great example of this. Proper nutrition is essential in keeping your musculoskeletal (MSK) system operating to its full potential. If you are seeking chiropractic care to recover from an injury or just to maintain MSK health, nutrition becomes eve ..read more

Heat vs. Ice … It may sound like the title of an upcoming blockbuster movie, but it’s a question most active people have mulled over during their life after they’ve sustained an injury. Like most dilemmas, there isn’t really an easy answer to this question. Whether to treat an injury with a hot pad or an ice pack depends largely on the situation. Ice How cooling an injury works Applying ice or a cold pack works by reducing blood flow and pain sensation to a particular area. Cooling an injured area, especially a tendon or joint, can reduce inflammation and swelling that causes pain. When is it ..read more

It is hard to live in Canada and not be aware of Canada’s current Opioid Crisis. An estimated 2,000 Canadians are dying annually from prescription opioids. Our country is facing a national crisis. Currently, Canada is the second highest consumer of prescription opioids in the world. Evidence points to back pain and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions as one of the key drivers. Headlines related to chronic pain and fentanyl overdose are rising in frequency and urgency. Many chronic pain patients have been universally mismanaged by all health professions even with the best intent and the best ..read more

Can’t seem to find an answer as to why your back is aching? The answer might lie right below you … your feet. It’s easy to assume aches in pains in our backs are originating from where you are actually feeling it. So if your back hurts, it must be coming from an issue within your back, right? This is not necessarily the case. Everything in our bodies is connected through tissue and our nervous system. How are my feet inter-connected to my back and why does this cause me pain? Your body has three main shock absorbers: your feet, your knees and your spine. The shock of walking, running, jumping ..read more

You don’t have to be a chiropractor to know that our backbones are some of the most important bones in our bodies. They protect our spinal cord and for most people, they keep us walking straight and tall. For a person with scoliosis, however, the spine can also be the source of a number of challenges. While scoliosis is a common condition, affecting 1 in every 25 people, there is not a lot of awareness about the condition. In recognition of this month being Scoliosis Awareness Month, we are taking this opportunity to shed some light on scoliosis and how chiropractic can provide support an ..read more

Chiropractors see many patients who present with various forms of arthritis. Here are some things people don’t typically know about arthritis and how chiropractic may help relieve the associated pain they are experiencing. First off, let’s define arthritis ‘Arthritis’ can sometimes seem like a catch-all term. It literally translates to ‘arthro-‘, meaning ‘pertaining to the joints’, and ‘-itis’, meaning ‘inflammation of’. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is also referred to as degenerative joint disease. Osteoarthritis tends to be localized to individual joints, where ..read more