Welcome New Physio Clyde Smith, B.Sc.
Clyde brings with him an extensive, elite level of patient care experience, having worked for several decades with some of Canada's leading Olympic and professional athletes.
From the NHL and NBA to the Pan America Games, Clyde's experience and expertise, having been part of a wide range of medical teams serving a broad diversity of sport disciplines will be a tremendous asset to our Richmond Olympic Oval clinic.
Read Clyde's extensive bio here.
Pool Therapy Making Waves
There's no denying the fact that while sometimes gravity can be our friend, at other times, gravity can be an obstacle that limits our ability to function at optimum efficiency.
For example, after suffering an injury, rehabilitation can be tough enough without gravity getting in the way and making the road to recovery even harder.
Here at our LifeMark Richmond Olympic Oval clinic, we treat all kinds of injuries and ailments. Guiding a patient through recovery requires an ongoing regimen of treatment, including exercise.
On dry land, exercises like a simple squat can be an almost overwhelming endeavour for a patient rehabbing from something like hip surgery. Even walking without the aid of a cane or other stabilizing device, can be a real challenge.
But there is a way to beat gravity and help patients recover more easily, without fear and with a lot less pain... pool therapy!
Without the same degree of gravity pulling on our body, a patient's ability to gradually extend range of motion and perform walking and other exercises is greatly increased. And without the same resistance, patients suffer less pain and no longer fear losing balance and falling.
Our partners at LifeMark Esquimalt have produced this short video, featuring LifeMark Kinesiologist Jen Spaans illustrating how pool therapy with a patient recovering from a serious hip injury.
Pillow Talk - Choosing the right pillow
Pillow Selection
Sometimes, it's the simple things that help keep our bodies performing efficiently and help prevent strains and injuries.
Last month, with the Summer heat bringing on warmer nights and making getting a good night's sleep a challenge at times, our LifeMark Richmond Oval blog featured a video on techniques for helping you sleep better.
This week, we've uploaded tips for selecting the right pillow.
Something as simple as choosing the right pillow can make all the difference in the world to the quality of sleep you get and can even help rid your body of back and neck pain.
If you wake up tired in the morning, with a stiff or sore neck or back, maybe give consideration to some of the tips in our 'pillow talk' white paper.
We'll Make You A 'Rock' Star!
It's called Fascial Movement Taping and in the field of taping, there's no brand more cutting edge than Rocktape!
September 15th, LifeMark's Richmond Olympic Oval clinic will host a workshop, in partnership with Rocktape, to instruct clinicians on all aspects of the Fascial Movement Taping process, the theory behind taping, its common and advanced applications, and more.
For more information, click to enlarge the picture at the top of this story or contact us at the LifeMark Richmond Oval clinic. You can also register online for the seminar at www.shop.rocktapecanada.com.
Oooooh, Feel the Burn! Tips for Avoiding Sunburns.
It's inevitable. Summer brings those days of endless sunshine, simply too irresistible to ignore. And this Summer on the Lower Mainland, it couldn't be a hotter one!
When those sizzling rays pour down from blue skies above, while we take to nearby beaches, lakes and pools, hiking trails or maybe out to a local golf course here in Richmond for a several hour stroll along a pristine fairway, the threat of skin damaging sunburns follows right along with us.
A nasty sunburn doesn't just cause short term pain. The long term damaging effects of the skin's over exposure to the sun's harmful rays can stay with you for life and even become life-threatening!
This paper on sunburns provides great tips for relieving and preventing sunburns! This is a great guide to pass along to anyone you know who may be spending time in the sun this Summer!
Download the Sunburn Guide here
Sleep Tight!
In Richmond, as with much of BC, we've been enjoying some glorious Summer heat lately!
And while we enjoy those hot Summer days, sometimes the warmer nights can make getting a good night's sleep tough.
Well, we can't do much about the heat, but we can bring you some great tips on better sleep posture, to ensure your body gets a more restful sleep and prevent you from suffering unwanted stiffness and soreness that results from a poor sleeping position.
In this video, LifeMark Richmond Olympic Oval Clinic Director, Melina Kurtakis, demonstrates some techniques you can use to better position your body for a good night's sleep.
And while we enjoy those hot Summer days, sometimes the warmer nights can make getting a good night's sleep tough.
Well, we can't do much about the heat, but we can bring you some great tips on better sleep posture, to ensure your body gets a more restful sleep and prevent you from suffering unwanted stiffness and soreness that results from a poor sleeping position.
In this video, LifeMark Richmond Olympic Oval Clinic Director, Melina Kurtakis, demonstrates some techniques you can use to better position your body for a good night's sleep.
LifeMark Covers National Judo Championships
LifeMark was there too, providing full physio care to competing athletes.
The event was an enormous success, and the local Steveston Judo Club even combined for a pair of gold medals!
Congratulations to Steveston's Sam Kim and Lisa Nakajima, as well as all the other athletes from across the country who took part in the national championships!
More for The Core
Recently we brought you a great core exercise you can do to strengthen your core muscles. Increasing core muscle strength is one of the best ways to help reduce back pain and recover from back pain.
Here is another great core exercise you can do, courtesy of our LifeMark Victoria's Dr. Derek Vinge.
Here is another great core exercise you can do, courtesy of our LifeMark Victoria's Dr. Derek Vinge.
Functional Movement Screen
You may never have heard of it before, but once you understand what it is, what it can detect and how it can vastly improve performance and help prevent injury, you'll understand why it's been widely adopted by some of the leading sports and athletic bodies in the world, including the NHL and NFL.
Put simply, the Functional Movement Screen is a ranking and grading system that documents movement patterns that are key to normal function.
So, why's that important?
Because, by screening these patterns, the FMS identifies functional limitations and asymmetries. These are issues that can reduce the effects of functional training and physical conditioning and distort body awareness.
In other words, an athlete training for example, without correction to a specific functional movement limitation he or she may have, and may not even realize exists, isn't getting the maximum benefit from training and may even be at risk for injury.
The FMS generates the Functional Movement Screen Score, which is used to target problems and track progress. This scoring system is directly linked to the most beneficial corrective exercises to restore mechanically sound movement patterns.
Exercise professionals monitor the FMS score to track progress and to identify those exercises that will be most effective to restore proper movement and build strength in each individual.
It may sound complicated, but as you'll see by the video below, the 7 step FMS process is well defined and can easily detect imbalances and asymmetries for correction.
Ice Or Heat?
It's a question you hear asked all the time.
Someone suffers and injury or a strain and the inevitable question is posed, "Should I use heat or ice?" on the site of the injury.
Take a look at these tips to help answer that question.
Core Exercises
Strengthening your body's core muscles is key to preventing and resolving so many disorders and sources of pain.
Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be bringing you a number of key exercises you can easily follow in the comfort of your own home. They only take minutes but can go a long way to helping build core muscle stability and strength.
In this first video, below, Dr. Derek Vinge, LifeMark Chiropractor working out of our Victoria area clinics, demonstrates a simple to follow core exercise you can do daily.
For more video tips, click the video tab at the top of our blog or for textual information you can download, click on our resources tab.
Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be bringing you a number of key exercises you can easily follow in the comfort of your own home. They only take minutes but can go a long way to helping build core muscle stability and strength.
In this first video, below, Dr. Derek Vinge, LifeMark Chiropractor working out of our Victoria area clinics, demonstrates a simple to follow core exercise you can do daily.
For more video tips, click the video tab at the top of our blog or for textual information you can download, click on our resources tab.
When Centric Health CEO, David Cutler showed up at several BC clinics this week, he came armed with treats.
Clearly David recognizes that nothing warms a clinician's heart more than ice cream, and that's just what he served up, from a mobile ice cream truck no less!
Above, Centric Health Vice President of BC Operations, Kristine Heckman, looks cool receiving her ice cream treat.
Now if we could just convince David to come back with a mobile poutine truck for Grey Cup Sunday, we'd have it made!
Brace Yourself! Football Season's back!
A week from today The BC Lions will open their 2013 season in Calgary. Yes, football season is upon us once more.
Throughout Richmond and the rest of the Lower Mainland, young athletes and future CFL hopefuls are already on fields, spiralling their way through minor football seasons.
Football is a sport that puts your knee joints through their paces. Constant changes in direction requiring continual twisting and jarring of the joints can often cause injuries.
For those who've suffered knee injuries, even if those injuries came from more passive pursuits than advancing a pigskin across a gridiron field against an army of padded warriors, knee braces are probably no stranger.
For those who've suffered a knee injury and are now wading through all the information out there there to try to determine how to select a knee brace, check out this great white paper we've put together on knee braces.
Congrats To All CCV Competitors!
Congrats to all Corporate Champions Vancouver competitors, wrapping up their annual competition at the Richmond Oval this past weekend!
As always, being one of the event's major sponsors and providing services to the athletes competing, our LifeMark The Richmond Olympic Oval team had a blast and was pleased to support all the athletes, keeping them on top of their game!
Thanks again to event organizers for doing such a great job!
We're already looking forward to next year!
For more on the Corporate Champions Vancouver, click here.
Summer's Coming - Hydrate!
According to Meteorologist Christ Scott, of The Weather Network, BC's in for a warmer than usual Summer! For those of us here in Richmond, that could mean some serious mercury rising, come July.
Whether you're playing soccer at Minoru, cycling or jogging around Steveston or just puttering around in the garden, one of the most important regimens you can observe to keep your body functioning at its best and avoid doing yourself harm, is proper hydration.
Our bodies rely on water and when it gets hot, even passive pursuits like gardening can drain our body of much needed fluids.
Check out this great paper on how to properly hydrate, especially in preparation for exercise!
Exercises for Volleyball Players
This coming weekend the Vancouver Corporate Champions games culminate at The Richmond Olympic Oval and one of the big highlights is the volleyball competition.
Bursts of lateral movement, jumping, stretching, high impact... a volleyball game certainly puts the body through its paces.
Before hitting the court, here are some great volleyball warm up exercises every player should do!
Good look to all Corporate Champions athletes!
Fight The Good Fight
This weekend, some of the Province's best martial artists descend on Richmond, BC to compete in the 2013 Karate BC Provincial Championships at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Few competitive activities push the body to it's limit more than physically demanding sports like karate, boxing and other forms of organized, competitive fighting.
While injuries are often an accepted risk when it comes to fighting sports, to fight the good fight, you need to take whatever preventative measures you can to reduce your risk of injury.
Obviously excellent training and preparation are a must. But don't forget before competition to warm up right.
Click Here for some great exercises you can use to optimize your performance and reduce your risk of injury.
Golf Season Is Here - Warm Up Right!
We all know golf is a passive game, certainly when compared to sports like football and hockey. But don't be fooled, without the correct warm ups, golfers can suffer any number of injuries to their arms, legs, back and neck.
Before teeing off, check out these pre-game warm ups that should become part of your golf game regimen!
Children's Sport Concussion Assessment
There was a time, not too many years ago when a child in sport, suspected of having sustained a concussion, was given a few minutes rest on 'the bench' before being sent back out into the heat of competition.And that, of course, was if signs of concussion had even been detected in the first place.
Concussion injuries are serious things to prevent, to diagnose and treat. These 'brain injuries', especially in children, require diligent assessment and proper treatment, both of which should be trusted only to a medical professional.
From children playing full contact sports like hockey and football, to less full contact activities, while parents and coaches need to be not only aware of the dangers of concussion injuries but it's also helpful to understand how these injuries are assessed.
The Sport Consussion Assessment Tool (SCAT3) is a document, that, while designed for use only by medical professionals, provides interesting insight into the professional assessment of concussion injuries in children aged 5 - 12.
The Pocket Concussion Recognition Tool is also a great compact tool that can easily be kept handy for qualified coaches and trainers.
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