Chiropractor kitchener discussing benefits of walk

Why Not Walk?!

Bring a friend, a dog, or both to help you enjoy the exercise benefits walking provides.

You’ve frequently heard about the health benefits of walking, but unfortunately, many of us see it as a boring activity that we do alone. However, there are a number of ways to make walking fun, lose weight and reap some wonderful health benefits!

Fun you say? Yes, fun! Consider these suggestions:

• Get a friend to join you – Exercise is always more fun when you have a friend along – and you may not even notice how far you’re gone or how long you’ve been walking when you’re engaged in conversation.
• What about Fido? Stop letting your dog out the back door and put him/her on a leash – then let him/her take the lead and just try to keep up! You’ll both get more fit.
• Make it a game – Take an uncharted path or walk until you see five “For Sale” signs. Play a new game every day.
• Walk to the music – Take along an MP3 player and walk to the music. Speed it up to a fast song and slow it down a bit to a ballad.
• Window shop while you walk – not only will you save money – you’ll get some great exercise as well!
• When it gets too cold or hot – head to an indoor shopping center to walk. Walk along each level and take the stairs – no escalators – that’s cheating!
• “Read” a book while you walk – get an audio book and you’ll be looking forward to each day’s chapter as you get in shape.
• Change the times when you walk so it’s not so routine – morning sunrise one day, lunch break another or after dinner.
• Give yourself a reward – monetary or other – to make walking rewarding as more than just exercise!

Walking can be fun and great exercise to relieve stress, to lose or maintain weight and to give yourself a feeling of accomplishment. And if you’re able – walk to our practice for your regular chiropractic appointments to stay healthy physically, mentally and emotionally.

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

Or

Visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

Silence Those Sinuses! - Chiropractor Kitchener, Ontario

Silence Those Sinuses!

While it’s not specifically a treatment for sinus headaches, many report improvement with chiropractic care.

You know the feeling…your head is congested and your face hurts. You press on your cheeks and there’s pain – the pain that can only come from an inflammation in your sinuses. And then…there’s the headache that usually accompanies the sinus congestion. Let’s face it – you feel downright miserable.

Sometimes the symptoms of a migraine and a sinus headache can be confused, however, sensitivity to light and sound and nausea generally accompany migraines.

Symptoms of a sinus headache may include:

• Pressure and pain in the areas of the forehead, eyes and cheeks
• Nasal congestion and stuffiness
• A yellow or green discharge from the nose
• Extreme tiredness
• Chills and fever
• Swelling in the face

Natural remedies that may alleviate some of these symptoms include using a nasal saline (salt) rinse or spray, breathing moist air to help drain nasal passages, avoiding cigarette smoke and drinking plenty of water.

A visit to our practice may also help. Many have reported improvement with chiropractic care. Restored nerve communications to the head and neck can often help reduce sinus pressure and improve sinus drainage. It is a safe and natural alternative to prescription and over-the-counter medications that may leave you feeling fuzzy-headed and tired, or that may produce additional side effects that only address symptoms, rather than the cause of your discomfort.

Fairway Chiropractic Centre -:

Dr. Steven Murdoch is the proud owner of Fairway Chiropractic Centre in Kitchener, Ontario. He offers family chiropractic care at his Chiropractic office.

For more information visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

The Right Kind of Pain by Chiropractor in Kitchener, Ontario

The Right Kind of Pain

Listen to your body!

How often have you heard the expression, “No pain, no gain”? It can apply to many life situations, including exercise to shape up, tone or drop weight. But when pain is severe or prolonged, you gain nothing and stand to lose a lot!

There are a number of tips to help you stay safe to avoid workout injuries. Some of them include:

• Warming up – Warm muscles are far less likely to tear than cold ones. So, if you’re going out for a run, walk a bit first, then trot before you go into full running mode. Stretching your muscles, especially the ones you’re going to be using, also helps you to avoid injury.
• Cooling down – The same is true when you end an exercise session. You can’t just automatically stop when you are finished with your workout because this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Using running as an example- slow down to a walk again before you just stop your exercise. It’s also important to stretch out those muscles again.
• Staying hydrated – Water, water, water! Drinking water before, during and after a workout replaces fluids lost from sweating and exertion, especially important in warm or hot weather.
• Taking it easy – You can’t expect to run a marathon your first day out. Start slowly and build in terms of time spent and exertion level for your workouts. For example, if you’re engaging in weight training, you don’t want to start with the heaviest weights; you want to start small and gradually increase weight levels.
• Listening to your body – Don’t continue your workout if suddenly you find yourself in pain. Your body is trying to tell you something. Ignoring it can only make it worse, so stop whatever you’re doing and give your body a few days to recover before starting up again.
• Making sure you’re wearing the right shoes for the exercise – This is really important to reduce the impact of the exercise on your body, particularly your ankles, shins, calves, knees and other joints.
• Learning the proper technique for the workout – Make sure you know the proper technique for any new workout routine you are attempting for the first time. Correct technique is as important as warming up to avoid injury.

The decision to exercise is an important one for your overall health – as important as diet/nutrition and regular chiropractic care – to keep your nervous system fit and healthy. Just remember to start out slowly, don’t overdo it and stop if you feel any type of pain, in order to avoid serious injury. And… if you do experience any pain, be sure to let us know.

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

Or

Visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

Hypertension Hope - Chiropractor Kitchener

Hypertension Hope

A new study shows chiropractic care can have a significant influence among those with high blood pressure.

Have you been diagnosed with hypertension, more commonly known as high blood pressure? If not, would you even know you had it? Do you know what the symptoms are? Usually there aren’t any – that’s why it’s called the “silent killer.” Many people discover they have it through some catastrophic, life threatening, and often fatal event, such as a stroke or heart attack.

Those who do have symptoms generally experience headaches, blurred vision, and dizziness – and these symptoms may lead them to their medical doctor where hypertension is diagnosed after a blood pressure check.

Since one in four adults are diagnosed with high blood pressure, this is a condition that requires careful and frequent monitoring, especially if there is a family history of the disease.

Causes of hypertension? The list is extensive – and emotional stress, obesity, genetics and kidney failure rank high on that list. However, other conditions such as substance abuse, smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, pregnancy, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders and certain prescription medications may also contribute to its onset.

Treatment for high blood pressure usually includes one or more of the following – medication, exercise, diet therapy, smoking cessation, reducing alcohol consumption and weight loss.

However, the results of a promising new study recently appeared in the Journal of Human Hypertension, WebMD, Science Daily and on a number of television news shows. The study was conducted by George Bakris, MD, director of the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center, and Marshall Dickholtz, Sr., DC, of the Chiropractic Health Center in Chicago.

Fifty participants with diagnosed high blood pressure participated in the study; 25 received specific adjustments to the first vertebra of the spine, known as the atlas. The other 25 received “sham” adjustments (placebo). Immediately after, the 25 who received the “real” adjustments experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure, while those who received the sham adjustments showed no change. The results remained the same eight weeks later.

It is also notable that although participants took no blood pressure medication during the eight-week study, the “real” atlas correction had the effect of two blood pressure medications taken in combination.

Finally, chiropractic is getting some notable press from the medical community and with good reason. When you address causes of illnesses, rather than just alleviate symptoms, through spinal corrections that “free” up the nervous system to work as it is intended, real miracles occur.

Fairway Chiropractic Centre -:

Dr. Steven Murdoch is the proud owner of Fairway Chiropractic Centre in Kitchener, Ontario. He offers family chiropractic care at his Chiropractic office.

For more information visit our Website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

Stretching Your Health - Chiropractor Kitchener

Stretch your muscles instead of stretching to reach the sugary snacks!

It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you’ve been sitting at your desk all day. You debate running to get yet another cup of coffee to stay alert, because what you really want to do is curl up in the corner of your cubicle and take a nap! This is the time to do some “desk stretches” to revive your energy. Without the caffeine!

We often find ourselves sitting tense at our desks in front of a computer monitor for hours. Our wrists start to hurt, our necks get sore, we slump over in our chairs and our shoulders and upper backs feel tight.

Here are some stretches to do at your desk to reduce tension. Try them now:

• Shoulder Stretch
  Lift your shoulders up to your ears until you feel a slight tension in your neck and shoulders. Hold for 3-5 seconds and relax shoulders. Do this 2-3 times at first sign of shoulder or neck tension.
• Neck Stretch
  Tilt your head to one side, trying to touch your ear to your shoulder. Hold the stretch for 10-20 seconds and then return to normal. Repeat the stretch on the other side.
• Spine Stretch
  Raise arms over head. Stretch your right hand to the ceiling and hold for 3-5 seconds, while you exhale. Relax. Repeat with the left hand.
• Lower Back Stretch
  Place your hands on the edge of your desk and roll your chair back. Lower your head between your outstretched arms and arch your back while you exhale. Inhale, raise your head and arch your back in the other direction.

Do these exercises whenever you first notice the tension or stress from impending deadlines or long periods of sitting. While they’ll never take the place of your chiropractic adjustments, they’ll help keep you alert without resorting to caffeine or a sugar fix.

Dr. Steven Murdoch is the proud owner of Fairway Chiropractic Centre in Kitchener, Ontario. He offers family chiropractic care at his chiropractic office.

For more information visit our Website: http://www.fairwaychiropractic.net

No Need For a Referral - Chiropractor Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge Ontario

No referral necessary.

You don’t need a referral or permission from anyone to see a chiropractor in Kitchener.

However, if you expect financial assistance from certain insurance plans, some policies dictate that certain approval steps be taken before commencing care. Sometimes these are granted freely and sometimes it’s virtually impossible.

Be careful that you don’t allow your health to be compromised by the profit motives of an insurance company or the petty bias or jealousy of a gatekeeper who doesn’t understand chiropractic!

It’s your body, your health and your future.

Questions? Concerns? Give us a call at (519) 748-5535 and put your mind at ease.

Or

Visit our website: www.fairwaychiropractic.net

Stop yo-yo dieting for good! - Chiropractor Kitchener

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I’m not talking about yo-yo tricks like “Walk the Dog” or “Rock the Baby.” I mean, does your weight go up and down?

We’ve been led to believe that maintaining our weight, fitness and spine is a once-in-a-while thing, rather than a lifestyle habit.

Some of our patients even take this approach with their chiropractic care, stopping as soon as they feel better. Since their soft tissues and muscles never strengthen, they relapse. And the process begins again.

Proper nutrition, rest and exercise, plenty of water and an interference-free nervous system are lifestyle choices.

True health is a journey, not a destination; a process, not an event; a habit, not a diet.

Is meat good or bad? Who's right? - Chiropractor Kitchener, ON

Is meat good or bad? Who's right?

It seems a week doesn’t pass that we don’t hear something in the media about the dangers of eating, drinking or coming into contact with one substance or another. Even more confusing is that if you wait long enough, someone else comes out with another study extolling its health benefits!

Consider some of things that the “authorities” have flip-flopped about concerning their safety:

Sushi, Red meat, NutraSweet, Sucralose, Saccharin, Dyes, Perfumes, High fat foods, Eggs, Decaffeinated coffee, White bread, Hot dogs, Sugar, White flour, Coffee, Carbohydrates, Tap water, Margarine, Butter, Wheat, GM corn, Fluoride, Silver fillings, Tuna, Bacon.

Consider this. For every person who has had an adverse effect, millions have not. In fact, we’ve all heard of those in their 80s, 90s or older claiming their secret to longevity was the result of eating or drinking something we’ve been told is bad for us.

Hmmm. Maybe it’s not just the substances. Maybe it’s our attitude, stress level, ability to adapt (nervous system integrity), the toxicity of our environment and a constellation of countless other issues at play. What do you think?

Dr. Steven Murdoch Chiropractor -:

Dr. Steven Murdoch Chiropractor in Kitchener, ON is the proud owner of Fairway Chiropractic Centre in Kitchener, Ontario. He offers family chiropractic care at his Chiropractic office.

For more information visit our Website: http://www.fairwaychiropractic.net

Spinal Curves!

Spinal curves allow the spine to support 10 times more weight than it could if it were straight.

Your spine is made up of interconnected bones that provide numerous benefits to the body including:

• Shock absorption
• Balance
• Flexibility
• Movement

The spine delivers these benefits through its spinal curves.
During embryonic development, the spine has only one curve, called a kyphotic curve. Later, as a baby begins to experience significant motor development, such as sitting, crawling and walking, muscles begin to develop. As these muscles strengthen, they cause the formation of secondary curves, called lordotic curves.

Four types of spinal curves:

• Cervical Lordosis
• Thoracic Kyphosis
• Lumbar Lordosis
• Sacral Kyphosis

These curves are important because they allow the spine to support 10 times more weight than it could if it were straight. This is why it is important to follow the procedures for proper lifting. If you bend at the waist to pick something up, the spine straightens, putting you at far greater risk for injury than if you bend at the knees, maintaining the spinal curves, when lifting.

If you don’t have a chiropractor, we’d like to be yours. Contact us to schedule a no-obligation consultation today. For more details visit our website http://www.fairwaychiropractic.net