How To Prevent Shoulder Pain While Driving

Do you have shoulder pain while driving ? Do you struggle to relax your shoulder ?

Does your shoulder pain distract you from driving ? Do you feel like you can no longer hold your hand into that steering wheel anymore? If so , you are not alone !

I am here to let you know how you can put an end to this . Now make sure you read this important blog to ensure you are not making it worse .

Shoulder pain is a very common problem . It basically affects everything that we do on our normal day and most importantly “driving “.

It could be very debilitating being in pain everyday when driving to work or one of those days you plan out for a long drive as a family trip and you are worried about the pain .It could be very frustrating to be in pain and discomfort  every time you drive . So let’s get into it and work it out !

Our shoulder is surrounded  by 4 different muscles that are called rotator cuff and we use them all the time , especially when holding our arm and forearm in the air.If your job requires you to constantly lift your hands or if you are using them frequently at home , these muscles tend to be inflamed causing shoulder pain  . If these muscles are overused they change their texture , become more hard and then eventually tear 

These groups of muscles when inflamed or injured need more rest to avoid further injury .So , let’s learn how not to make it worse and give them a break .

1 Do not slouch forward, while you are on the driving seat.

While you sit on the driving seat make sure , you relax your shoulder .Avoid the tension building up on your shoulders by bringing your shoulder slightly down and then pulling it gently back.This position helps to rotate your shoulder joint outward . Slouching makes your shoulder rotate inward which makes it uncomfortable and painful to hold your shoulder all a long while you drive.

 

2 Stop placing your both hands on the upper part of the steering wheel.

The steering wheel is the most important aspect here. It’s very important you keep your arm close to your body so that your shoulder does not have to work lifting the arm, placing your hand on the lower part of the steering wheel provides great relief to your shoulder . It’s important to know how your arm position affects your rotator cuff .You could choose to place the affected arm lower and the good side arm slightly higher on the wheel.

 

3 Stop reaching forward and holding your arm in awkward position.

Stop reaching forward while your arm is up in the air  and away from your trunk . You can easily do this while you try to grab car keys while getting out of the car or try doing and undoing the seat belt buckle .Use the good side hand while pulling those seat belts down. The important aspect here is to keep your arm down and let your rotator cuff rest while they are recovering.

You don’t have to put up with pain while driving . We hear from our patients that they have put up with the pain , changed their lives and relied on medication and injections for nothing more than short term relief if they are lucky .I have been successfully helping my patient out with shoulder pain and we get great results .Our patients are very happy to get back to work and enjoy recreation routine without having shoulder pain.

If you’d like to get these results too then click Click HERE to book an appointment or give us a call at 905-457-7475 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love. 

I honestly want you to get rid of this pain and back to doing the things you love.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

Click HERE to view our video on this topic on Facebook

* Blog post written by Bimala Odari

Why Virtual Appointments?

As we are aware of the significant impact this pandemic has brought in our regular lives. As  clinicians   we are working hard on creating new avenues to help our patients. As health care practitioners our goal is to be able to provide you the same levels of care even though we are restricted to be indoors most of the time isolating .

Staying home throughout the day is a new normal now . As a healthcare provider , it is so important to provide you the correct information about how you can still take care of yourself while you are home during this lockdown and new restriction . 

First of all let’s talk about  some of the secondary issues of staying home.

  • Less activity and being sedentary does increase the level of the pain physically and mentally .Working from home all day in front of the screen drains you out at the end of the day .
  • Decreased mobility, especially if you already have underlying musculoskeletal conditions . If you are parents and teacher we understand your situation how difficult this can be with online schools/classes.
  • Fear of unknown and fear of being at risk for infection does increase the level of stress, which in turn lowers our body’s immune system .

How can we manage our pain and dysfunction so that it does not get worse to the extent that it becomes unmanageable . We did see this scenario recently in our hospitals . There were lots of people who avoided going to emergency in  hospitals due to fear of pandemic and there came a point that symptoms were unmanageable and they had no other choice rather to attend the emergency  service to save life. What is that we learn here is , we need more clarity and right information so that we make right decisions for ourselves.

We definitely do not want to be in that situation . Prevention of secondary complications, avoiding flare ups and avoiding pain episodes is very important at this time when the whole world is battling and fighting to stay healthy .

Keeping  all these things in mind , here in Action physiotherapy we have explored a very different and unique avenue for our patients for virtual appointments  . We want to let you all know that , why you should be attending virtual appointments . There are few misconceptions about virtual appointments . Let see what they are :

  • They are not as good as in person appointment 
  • They are time consuming and my therapist cannot directly work with us , so why waste our time and effort .

Well if these reasons are stopping you from continuing your appointments with your therapist then please don’t miss out on what I am about to say .

Physiotherapy is not limited to just hands on therapy . During virtual sessions we provide you and guide you with many valuable ways to work on painful areas. This simple technique is also called active release techniques including correct way of stretching soft tissue which are easy to follow , counselling , guided video based exs that we email you and much more . We also use simple items like foam roller , tennis ball , roll pins and elastic bands that can be easily available at your homes . During our one to one session we provide you with specific treatment options that could be so essential for you .

Now let’s talk about how we can create a plan for you . We  have different options available. Based on our assessment we can  recommend you how to adhere to that plan  at the comfort of your home  . We have different options where we can blend virtual and few in-person visits( two virtual one in person, or whatever works with the patient ) throughout the plan , or based on your comfort level we can just provide the virtuals only . We provide you all the options so that you are very comfortable attending your treatment sessions . Every week we follow you and provide recommendations.

If you’d like to get these results too then click Click HERE to book an appointment or give us a call at 905-457-7475 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love. 

I honestly want you to get rid of this pain and back to doing the things you love.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

Click HERE to view our video on this topic on Facebook

* Blog post written by Bimala Odari

How to become less dependent on orthotics

Do you wear orthotics? Do you like having to switch them all the time between your different shoes? Do you have to buy multiple pairs or specialized shoes to accommodate them? Do you enjoy shelling out 100’s of dollars a year, hoping your insurance will cover them? Do you ever wonder if they’re even worthwhile? We’ve helped many of our patients get rid of their orthotics, and we can show you how to do the same. Contact us HERE to book a session with one of our professionals.

It is important to note that there are 2 main types of orthotics: Corrective orthotics and Supportive orthotics. Corrective orthotics are temporary orthotics worn generally for 6-24 months to correct a specific biomechanical deficiency. Your chiropodist or podiatrist may need to adjust the orthotics more than once as your feet adapt during this time, but after the correction is made you shouldn’t need them any further.

Supportive orthotics on the other hand, are designed to take over the work that the arch of your foot is designed to do. These are usually for easily correctable mechanical issues in the arch of your foot. What happens then, is that your body becomes reliant on the orthotics to provide the support that your foot should be providing. As a result, you need to be wearing your orthotics all the time, getting new ones every year or so. This is great for your clinic’s revenue, but not great for you.

Think about it: If you take a mould of a dysfunctional foot and hold it in a dysfunctional position, how are you going to get any better? We’re going to show you the most common issues that people are prescribed orthotics for, and what you can do to avoid them, or help wean yourself off of them.

Flat Feet

By far, the most common reason that we hear for people to get orthotics is flat feet. For the vast majority of these people, their ‘flat feet’ are simply weak feet. We are designed to be barefoot, but since we wear shoes all the time, the muscles that support the arch of our foot don’t have to work as hard, and get weak as a result. Orthotics are then often prescribed to help support and maintain the arch of your foot. Now even more of the work is not done by the muscles in your foot and the problem just gets worse! These kinds of orthotics are a guarantee that you will always need orthotics.

So how do we avoid this? The easiest way is to simply be barefoot more. Walking around the house on some nice carpet, and especially outside on the grass on a nice day feels wonderful on your feet, and allows the muscles in your feet to get a good workout too. If you aren’t used to it, just go for a few minutes at a time so you don’t overwork them too much. They’ll adapt pretty quickly though, and as they do, you’ll notice your arch start to come back up again. The easiest way to see this is to look at a wet footprint on the ground.

Being barefoot is not very practical most of the time however. Here are some other things you can do to give those muscles a chance to work: When you are stuck at your desk for long periods of time, kick off your shoes! You can make fists with your feet, try to pick up

     pencils, crumple up paper, etc… If you happen to have one of those stress balls on your desk, your feet can play with them just as well as your hands can!

The muscles in the arch of your foot are just like any other muscle: If you don’t use it, you lose it. So use it, and get your foot muscles, and your arch, back in shape.

Leg Length Discrepancy

Has anyone told you that you have one leg longer than the other? Do you have an orthotic with a heel lift? This is something we see quite often in our clinic, and my response is always the same. Unless they have taken X-Rays and measured the length of the bone, or if you’ve had a hip replacement, and the surgeon did not believe in “Measure twice and cut once”, you can safely assume that you do NOT have a leg length discrepancy!

For the vast majority of people with leg length issues, the problem comes from the pelvis. The pelvis can get out of balance from injuries or postural issues, and give the appearance of having one leg longer than the other. If you add a heel lift into the equation, you are now forcing your pelvis to remain in a compromised position, which can lead to all kinds of leg and back issues.

If someone tells you that your legs are different lengths, always ask that they check to see if your pelvis is balanced. If they don’t know how to do that, or don’t understand why it’s important, make sure that you see a professional who does, because a heel lift is only going to make things worse for you.

High Arches

High arches arches are simply the opposite of fallen arches: The arch of your foot is stuck in a high position. A high arch is not a bad thing unto itself; your foot needs a strong high arch when you’re running and active for effective force transfer, much like it needs to be flat when standing for stability and support. Getting stuck in those positions is when we start to get into trouble.

High arches can often be a developmental issue, especially during growth spurts, where the bones grow faster than the soft tissue in your feet do. This will tend to hold the arch in a higher position, and not allow it to fully relax. If not addressed, the soft tissue in the arch can become chronically shortened. Tight footwear, especially high heels are another common cause of high fixed arches.

Once again, holding your foot in a fixed high arch position is not the answer, getting your foot moving is! Since we want to get the muscles loosened, soak your feet in hot water for a few minutes to warm them up. Then while sitting comfortably, use a tennis ball under your foot to massage the arch. You may have to fight the dog for it, but few things feel nicer than a good foot massage after a long day on your feet. You can even keep one at work to use at your desk.

Also, be sure to regularly stretch out your calves and your hamstrings too. The connective tissue under your feet is continuous with the muscles in the back of your legs, so stretching

    your legs will help take pressure off the bottom of your feet. And while you may love your high heels, they don’t love you back. If you need to wear heels for something, bring a second pair of comfortable shoes to wear to and from the event, then treat your feet to a good soak and tennis ball massage afterwards; they’ll need it!

While orthotics are very useful for certain conditions, you don’t have to rely on them forever. At Action Physiotherapy, we’ve helped many people regain the strength and mobility in their feet to not have to rely on orthotics anymore.

If you’d like to get these results too then click Click HERE to book an appointment or give us a call at 905-457-7475 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love. 

I honestly want you to get rid of this pain and back to doing the things you love.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

Click HERE to view our video on this topic on Facebook

Naturally improve your posture in 4 easy steps

 

Does your neck and back ache from working at home? Is your body stiff and sore from your daily commute? Are your hands always cold or fall asleep at night?  Make sure you read through this blog to find ways to make sure you aren’t making things worse by doing these common things.  If you want relief from your postural pain right now, click HERE to book your session today.

Postural pain is an extremely common problem affecting just about everyone.  Unfortunately COVID has magnified these problems for many of us with how much it has upended our lives.  Between working from home, helping our kids learn remotely, and the endless virtual meetings, our bodies have been stuck seated in front of a screen for far longer than they are used to.

While it’s important to try and get up and move regularly to give your body a break, that’s not always an option. Here are 4 simple tips for sitting at your desk (or couch, or kitchen table…) to help minimize stress on your body.

One important note before we get started.  Most people tend to think of good posture as tensing up and holding your body as straight as possible.  This is 100% WRONG!  Good posture is all about your body having to do the LEAST amount of work to keep you upright.  While some effort will be required to get used to some of these tips, this is easier and less work for your body than your ‘comfortable’ sitting position now.

Pelvis

Your pelvis is what supports all of your weight when we’re sitting, so it’s essential that we keep it in a good position.  Do you feel the large bones in your bum?  If you’re getting funny looks, wait until no one is watching.  People often refer to these as your Sit Bones.  These are the bones that are supporting your upper body when you’re sitting.  

The thing you’ll notice though is that these bones are rounded, and rounded surfaces aren’t very stable.  If you’re sitting on the rounded part of the bone, your muscles have to work hard to maintain the balance of your upper body.  To keep your pelvis stable when you are sitting, you need to roll your hips forward, so you are sitting on the flat part of the bone.  If you’re having trouble picturing that, take the round part of the bone that you can feel, and try to push them into the gap between the seat and the back of the chair.

At this point, you’ll probably feel like you’re falling forward into the table.  Don’t worry, this is very normal the first time you try this.  That sensation will go away as we add the next steps.

Torso

Now that our pelvis is nice and stable, the next thing we need to do is balance our rib cage over our pelvis.  The way we do that is to make sure that our spine is as straight as possible.

Wait a minute!  Didn’t I say earlier that good posture was NOT about holding yourself as straight as possible?  That’s true, but it’s because we want our muscles to do the least amount of work to keep our bones straight.  If we look at our spines from the side, you’ll notice they curve back and forth as go up from our hips to our head.  This allows the spine to be flexible and absorb forces easier.  

What we want to do, is to try and balance the spine on itself the best we can.  This way, the muscles don’t have to work hard to keep you upright.  The further unbalanced the spine is, the harder the muscles have to work, and the more sore they become!

To balance your spine, I first want you to follow your ribs up until they meet in the centre of your body.  Put your thumb there, and imagine that you are grabbing a handle sticking straight out from your body.  Now picture a handle coming out of your back at the same place.  From here try and lift your body from those handles as high as you can.  Once you’ve lifted yourself as far as you can, exhale slowly and relax your muscles while trying to keep your ribs from tilting from to back or side to side.

As a bonus, you can use this same exercise to help with your standing posture as well!.  Just move your imaginary handles from the angle of your ribs to a point about 2 inches below your belly button.  This is because these points are where our centre of gravity is when we are sitting and standing respectively.

Shoulders

Forward shoulders.  We all have them, and from typing, texting, driving, and general slouching, and they’ve all been getting worse.  The usual thought is to try and hold them back, but we know that holding things in place is not what good posture is about.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just hit a reset button to get our shoulders back in place?  Since we don’t have one, I’m going to give you the next best thing.

First thing I’d like you to do is try to make a big circle with your shoulders, and just your shoulders.  Your arms won’t be moving at all for this.  Start by bringing your shoulders forward then rolling them up and then back as far as you can before rolling them down and relaxing again.  Now that you have a feel for how your shoulders move, let’s try it again.

Start by rolling them forward, then up and back, just like before.  This time though, once they’re up and back, instead of rolling them back down, I want you to forcibly drop them.  Try this a couple of times, and notice where your shoulders end up.  This is going to be your reset button!  Every time your shoulders feel tight, or you notice them creeping forward, just roll and drop a couple of times.  It’s so easy, it quickly becomes second nature after a while, and that’s what good posture should be:  EASY!

Head

Just like with our shoulders, our heads often creep forward, especially when we’re in front of a screen or get stressed in general.  And just like with our rib cage, the further off balance our neck is, the more work our upper back muscles have to do to hold our head up.

How we’re going to set our head is similar to what we did with our rib cage.  To start, imagine that there is a string tied to the very top of your head, and that someone is pulling you straight up.  That’s going to help lengthen your neck.  Now to balance it, I want you to try and pull your head straight back as far as you can while keeping it level.  Don’t let your chin drop down or let your nose point up!.  

From this position let your head come back forward about 10%.  As awkward as this may feel right now, your head is now balanced on your shoulders!  If you want proof, let your head go back to your normal position, and feel the muscles under your head at the back of your neck. Notice how tense they are?  That’s because they are working to keep your head from falling forward.  Now rebalance your head and check them again.  Do you feel the difference?  If good posture is all about your muscles doing the least amount of work, we have a clear winner here.  

Now let’s put it all together:  Push your sit bones into the gap in your chair, lift your ribs up from the handles in your chest and back, roll and drop your shoulders, and balance your head.  Don’t worry about trying to hold this position, or get mad at yourself if you fall out of it.  Your body took years to develop the posture that it has, so it will take some time to correct.  The more often you do this though, the easier it will become, and will soon just be natural for you.

You don’t have to put up with pain due to posture.  We hear from many patients that they have put up with the pain, changed their lives and relied on medication and injections for nothing more than short term relief if they are lucky. Our patients are often amazed by how easy it is to get relief and feel empowered when they learn some simple tricks to quickly and easily settle down pain on their own.

If you’d like to get these results too then click Click HERE to book an appointment or give us a call at 905-457-7475 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love. 

I honestly want you to get rid of this pain and back to doing the things you love.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

Click HERE to view our video on this topic on Facebook

Stop Doing These 3 Things NOW If You Have Hip Pain

 

Do you have hip bursitis? Is it keeping you up at night? Makes it a struggle to get out of the chair?

Then make sure you read this incredibly important blog to ensure you aren’t making it worse by doing these 3 common things. If you want relief from your hip pain right now click HERE to book your session today.

Hip bursitis is a massive problem and affects lots of people from the eldery, someone who’s trying to get fit, or even just after having a massive binge session on Netflix.

All of a sudden it’s hard to get comfortable in bed at night, you are tossing and turning and can’t lie on your side. It becomes a struggle to get out of bed or even just to get out of a chair after you’ve been sitting for a while.

Now let’s get into it.

Hip bursitis is not fun for anyone but often we tend to make these common mistakes which actually make your pain worse and make the bursitis last longer. I’m sure you all really don’t want to do that to yourself so make sure you aren’t doing this.

Never Stand with your hip popped

Always stand on 2 feet with even weight. NEVER stand with all your hip popped out to the side or your legs crossed over. These positions squish the bursa and gluteal tendon hard into your hip bones which causes more damage and more pain. Standing on two feet slightly apart is the best option but you will find it hard to remember so make sure you tell your family to let you know when you aren’t standing properly.

Don’t Cross Your Legs 

Don’t cross your legs when sitting. I know it might feel more ladylike but crossing your legs over the top of each other, or even having your knees together and feet apart, isn’t great. These positions again cause increased pressure of the bursa and tendon on the bone and will cause further pain which will ultimately make you weaker.

Don’t Stretch It Out

Don’t stretch it out. The enemy of hip bursa and tendon pain is anything that squishes them harder into the bone. This is exactly what stretching does. At the practice we get great pain settling results by doing some simple glutes activation work plus some hands on massage to relieve pressure between the bursa, tendon and the bone. This is way more effective than having all the negative effects of stretching.

You don’t have to put up with hip pain. We get great results all the time with hip bursitis. We hear from many patients that they have put up with the pain, changed their lives and relied on medication and injections for nothing more than short term relief if they are lucky. Our patients are often amazed by how easy it is to get relief and feel empowered when they learn some simple tricks to quickly and easily settle down pain on their own.

If you’d like to get these results too then click Click HERE to book an appointment or give us a call at 905-457-7475 so we can get you back to doing what you want to do and what you love. 

I honestly want you to get rid of this pain and back to doing the things you love.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

Click HERE to view our video on this topic on Facebook

3 Exercises For Knee Pain

Is knee pain stopping you from doing your day to day activities?

Click the above photo to watch my latest video on how you can improve your knee cap pain with 3 simple exercises.

Need more help?  Click HERE to book an appointment

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

How To Engage Your Core

Thank you for watching my videos.  Please take a look at the above video which will walk you through how to engage your core properly.  If you need additional help then please feel free to book an appointment with me by clicking HERE.

COVID-19 Appointment Protocols

 

CHANGES TO OUR CLINIC POLICIES

We would first like to thank each and every one of our patients for your ongoing support during this time.  We are excited that we have been allowed to reopen our doors to continue to support you.  Action Physiotherapy is committed to your safety and the safety of our staff.  As this is a priority for us, we have made some changes to our policies.  Should you have any questions or witness an area that we can improve upon at the clinic please let us know immediately so we can take action to help keep us all safe. Let’s work together to keep each other safe.  Here are some of our changes.

Virtual Physiotherapy 

Virtual Physiotherapy has been a huge success!  As we resume in-clinic appointments we will continue to offer virtual appointments for those who prefer to do Physiotherapy from home, just want to update their plan or for those who do not require hands on treatment.

Physical distancing 

  • We are actively practicing physical distancing, where possible, and have our floor clearly marked with orange tape.
  • We have installed a plexiglass barrier our front desk and have updated our payment methods to include tap, email transfer or we can charge your credit card on file.

Personal Protective Equipment

  • We are asking patients to bring a mask to wear during their appointments.  If you don’t have a mask, they will be available for purchase (at cost) for $1.50 at the front desk. 
  • Please do not wear gloves to your appointment as we will be asking all patients to sanitize their hands upon entry. 
  • All therapists will be required to wear masks and appropriate protective equipment when treating you.

Waiting Room/Self Check In 

  • We have removed our waiting area to comply with physical distancing. 
  • We have an updated system to allow you to self check in.  When you arrive at our clinic you can scan the QR code on our front door or just enter this website https://actionphysiotherapy.janeapp.com/checkin then return to your car.  You will then be notified by phone when it is safe to enter.

Infection and prevention measures 

  • All staff are participating in increased infection and prevention measures such as disinfecting treatment beds and items patients use after each use as well as hand washing between every patient. 
  • We are disinfecting commonly touched surfaces on a regular basis.

Front Desk Procedures 

  • We are emailing receipts to avoid any unnecessary paperwork.
  • We have updated our merchant machine to include tap payment, but are also recommending patients to keep credit card on file or email transfer money prior to appointment to info@actionphysiotherapy.com.  We are not accepting cash at this time.
  • We are encouraging patients to book online or over the phone, rather than in person.

Daily Screening Protocols For Patients and Staff

  • Everyone entering our facility including staff will be required to take part in our active screening process.  For your convenience we will send you the screening to be completed one hour before your appointment. 
  • Patients temperature will be checked upon arrival

Smiling Eyes

  • Even though you can’t see our smile, you can see it in our eyes.  We are happy to support you during this unprecedented time and want to ensure experience at Action Physiotherapy is a positive one.

How to setup your workstation

Are you working from home and starting to notice more stiffness and pain in your back and neck. You’re not really sure what to do about it.

Well keep reading as I will be showing you my top three things that you can do at home to improve your work station. Set up. Let’s get started.

Hi, my name is Robert Kappes from Action Physiotherapy here in Brampton.  I want to welcome you to part one of four on how to manage neck and back pain when working from home.

So I want to know. Have you guys noticed any more stiffness in your neck and back now, after working from home, do you find that at the end of the day you feel more tired and drained of your energy?

Are you aware that your workstation is not ideal but don’t really know what changes to make? Well you are not alone and I am here to help.

All right, so let’s help you set up your workstation. So we are going to look at three main things here to help you have a better workstation set up.

One is the chair and how we’re sitting in it.

Two is the desk,

and number three is the monitor.

So first, before we begin, let’s grab a couple books, make sure they are pretty thick.  I would also like you to get a towel as well.  So the number one thing I want you to work on is how we’re sitting in the chair. Doesn’t matter what chair you’re sitting in. I unfortunately have been dealing with a lovely folding chair, which is pretty much the worst chair in history.

CHAIR

But I am going show you how to use this chair effectively. So the number one thing I want to focus on, is making sure that your knees are not higher than your hip because what that does it causes a compression in the hip and causes us to around our back, causing more discomfort and pain.

So what we’re going to do to fix that is going to use your two books and wrap them up in your towel that we’ve got and then you’re going to place them on your chair.

Now, when you sit down on your chair, you can see that your hips are actually a little bit higher than your knee. Just a slight slope going down is going to help you prevent any rounding at the back and compression of your hips.

DESK

So step number two. You want to make sure your forearms are sitting flat in a 90 degree angle? What that’s going to do is prevent us from reaching, because when we reach using the mouse that causes a significant amount of tension in our neck and shoulder and that’s where a lot of our tension and pain is.

So you’re going to bring that chair closer to the desk so that you can have your forearms resting nicely on the table so you don’t have to reach for your mouse.

MONITOR

So the next thing we’re going to do is make sure that our monitor is at a slight angle here. So that we are looking just down slightly at it. So we’re not looking too far down or too far up just slightly below eye level.

And what that does is make sure that we’re not getting our heads looking forward and causing tension. If you’re working from a laptop. You’re gonna find it very difficult to obtain this position.

So what you’re gonna do is make sure you get a book and your going to elevate the laptop on the book. But to do that, you’re gonna need then a wireless keyboard, and that is the key to working from home.

Using a laptop, you’re going to need a wireless keyboard. Otherwise you are going to be crunched over at your desk. That’s going to cause you more pain and discomfort.

So again, just to recap, you want to make sure that your hips are higher than your knees, make sure your forearms are resting at 90 degrees and you want to make sure the screen level is slightly below eye level.

So why is having a workstation set up properly important?

Well, chances are when you were at work,  you probably already had some muscle aches and pains. Now transfer your workstation to home. You’re probably going to notice 10 times the amount of that pain.   We have been successfully helping our clients on virtual physiotherapy set up their workstations and I want to be able to share this information with you. In our next blog, we are going be covering how to manage your stiffness and pain during your work day, which is an important aspect of pain control.

So if you would like some help setting up your workstation, click here to book a virtual appointment where I can help you set up your own workstation.  I hope you found this information helpful and I look forward to continuing this conversation with you.

Robert Kappes, Registered Physiotherapist

P.S please check out our video we performed on this topic here on Facebook.

 

What we CAN do!: Art Therapy

Welcome to “What we CAN do”. This post is inspired by the “What you CAN do!” video posted below  from The Pain Truth Program depicting what Stephen Hawking and W. Mitchell were able to do despite having a disability.

I will be posting fun and pleasurable activities we can do to keep our sanity and enjoy social distancing through this covid-19 pandemic.  “Don’t allow our pain, disability, or situation to define us. We must focus on the activities that we are able to do.”- Bahram Jam

Art Therapy

Art Therapy can be a great tool to help with chronic pain.  If you have pain that is lasting more than 3 months, then your nervous system may have become overly sensitive because it perceives it is still in danger even when there is no longer actual damage to your tissue.  Pain is crucial for our survival because it is our body alarm system to danger and stress.  However, our body cannot distinguish between physical and emotional stress.  To effectively treat the pain, we must remove the feeling of danger or stress by focusing on enjoyable things in life.  There are numerous scientific studies which conclude that art therapy can improve one’s quality of life by reducing pain, suffering, depression, and anxiety.

Incorporate art into your daily routine to build up your resilience to danger and stress or do it the next time you feel that the pain is coming on.  Sometimes you may need to take your pain medication and that is ok as well.  

OPTION A: Learn to draw (from a book, youtube, or phone application) and decorate your office or window.

OPTION B: Learn to paint virtually with “YAYMAKER” or from a Youtube channel, such as “WOW Art”. 

“Don’t allow our pain, disability, or situation to define us. We must focus on the activities that we are able to do.”– Bahram Jam