Massage Therapy & Pain Management

The purpose of massage therapy is to target the source of the body’s pain via eliminating tense muscles, increasing flexibility, and providing relaxation to the affected muscles as well as the body as a whole. Massage also promotes circulation to the affected or injured muscles, which increases nutrients and oxygen to the damaged tissues. In turn, this increased activity to the affected sites reduces stiffness and edema (swelling) in the muscles and joints, as well as increases flexibility to help reduce pain. 

Moreover, this form of therapy also releases endorphins (pain-killing hormones), which boost the dopamine and serotonin levels in the body. These hormones assist the body in many ways–physically as well as emotionally. Case in point, they promote healing, pain management, and feelings of euphoria, as well as help to calm the nerves.

Guy Lacoursiere, RMT practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive. Call 403-347-3261 to book an appointment or visit us online.

Have you ever woke up with a kink in your neck or 'slept wrong'?

I woke up with a kink in my neck!

Many patients come into the office complaining they ‘slept’ wrong or have a ‘kink’ in their neck. This is often caused from sleeping in the wrong location- yes if you slept on the couch in a strange neck twisted position the bones can become mal-aligned or subluxated and you will need a chiropractic adjustment to alleviate the pain and realign the spine correctly thus reducing the neck pain. It won’t just ‘go away’ over time!

The next thing to evaluate is what kind of pillow are you sleeping on? Flat pillows do not have to correct support and do not support your neck and spine when laying in the best sleeping position -which is on the back.

Do you fingers are arms go numb? Then you are not getting the support correctly to your spine when you are sleeping. Molded pillows that support the proper curvature of the spine are the best for back sleeping. Side sleepers need a pillow that is the depth of your ear to shoulder to keep the neck in a neutral position and to prevent the nerves that go to the arm from getting impinged and your arms or hands going numb or asleep.

How should you then pick a pillow? We will show you what kind of pillow and how to use it for different sleeping issues in the office with you.

We have pillows for young children 2-5, 5-12 year olds, petite spines and regular spines.

Stomach sleepers are notorious for neck and arm pain when awakening; retraining yourself to sleep on you back and spine with enhance your sleep and reduce your pain and discomfort. No pillow in the world will make your spine better. Lying on your belly with your head rotated to one side all night is going to cause imbalances in your neck with one side of your neck muscles growing really contracted and the other side too stretched out.

As always, if you have neck pain when you wake up, you need to have yourself evaluated by a chiropractor. Good pillows are helpful but they don’t correct the bad movement patterns, imbalances and poor alignment causing the problem in the first place.

Dr. Joelle Johnson has been practicing for over 16 years and is located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer. www.family1stchiro.ca 403-347-3261 to book an appointment today.

The importance of Water

Water is  one of the most important substances on earth. 

All plants and animals must have water to survive. If there was no water there would be no life on earth. However most of us today do not realize the importance of water. True health cannot occur without proper hydration of the body.

Water makes up more than two thirds of human body weight, and without water, we would die in a few days. The human brain is made up of 75% water,  blood is made up of mostly water at 92 and lungs 90%. Your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide d the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. A mere 2% drop in our body's water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen. Are you having trouble reading this? Drink up! Mild dehydration is also one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue.

Dehydration can reduce the elimination of toxins. This can leave us vulnerable to skin disorders like psoriasis and dermatitis. In addition dehydration can lead to wrinkling and discoloration. Asthma and Allergies could be caused by the lack of water restricting airways to conserve water. Also the rate of histamine production increases exponentially as the body loses water.  This can also lead to bladder and kidney problems.

A shortage of water can lead to Constipation and Digestive disorders. The colon is one of the primary regions the body draws water from to provide fluids for critical body functions. Lack of water causes waste to move slowly through the large intestines or not at all leading to constipation.  Shortage of water and alkaline minerals (calcium and magnesium) can lead to ulcers, gastritis and acid reflux.

When chronically dehydrated, cells are depleted of energy. As a result people tend to eat more when in reality, the body is thirsty. Furthermore, joints have a cartilage padding that is composed of water. When the body is dehydrated cartilage is weakened and joint repair is hindered resulting in joint pain and stiffness.

A glass of water half an hour before a meal and then may be two glasses around three hours after. This will get you in the habit of drinking water throughout the day. On average we should be consuming eight-ounce, two liters or half a gallon of water a day. Get your kids into this essential healthy habit as well.  If you drink tap water ensure that a carbon filter is attached to produce chlorine and the solvent free water to drink. Plastic bottles can be contaminated with chemicals. So drink mineral water from glass bottles. If you live in a fluoride area, back wash filters should be used to remove the fluoride poisons.

Dr. Elton Clemence practices at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer, T4R 2C3 to book call 403-347-3261 or check out our website at www.family1stchiro.ca

Headaches and massage

Headaches:

Ending the chronic cycle of headaches is easier than you think. A deep muscle therapy session on the upper back and neck will lengthen the muscles that cause "tension headaches." 

 Remove the knots in the upper back neck, bye bye headaches.

The treatment is 30 minutes and the results are immediate. Call the clinic and let me take care of it. Its that easy.
 
Guy Lacoursiere is located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson drive, Red Deer 403-347-3261 call today to book an appointment.
www.family1stchiro.ca