Seeing initials after a professional’s name can cause a little intimidation for some, “awe” or respect for others and plain old confusion for the rest! Here are some designations your physiotherapist might have after his or her name and what difference it might mean to you, the patient.

Physiotherapy Degrees:

Typically, the first (and essential) set of letters are those indicating the type of University degree that the therapist has obtained that allows them to practice physiotherapy. Usually, if the therapist graduated before 2007, it is a Bachelors degree. After that, most universities progressed to make the degree a Masters degree, meaning that the student had to have obtained a bachelor’s degree prior to entering the Master’s program.

The Masters degree is completed in a shorter period of time but the graduate leaves university having studied for a longer time OVERALL. What can be confusing still is that different universities sometimes have different names for the same “type” of degree- one school may label their Masters degree MPT and another labels is a MScPT translating to a Master in Science in Physical Therapy. Angela Newton, Maggie Phillips-Scarlett and Patrick McKinnon all have entry level Masters degrees.

Each registered physiotherapist will be a graduate of one of these programs. Those with “entry-level” Masters degrees will also have a Bachelors degree. At our clinic, some of our therapists have previous degrees in Science BSc (Karen Ogilvie & Mina), in Kinesiology BKin (Angela & Patrick) and even a Masters in Kinesiology MKin (Maggie). 

Advanced Degrees:

To add to the different “Masters” titles, a therapist who qualified as a Bachelor in Physical Therapy can then go on and complete a Masters which would be considered an “Advanced” degree and is done with a focus on clinical studies or research, typically, and is above and beyond the requirements of practice as a physiotherapist. There is only one school in Canada offering this option (University of Western Ontario) but physios may choose to study abroad to receive this advanced schooling, in Australia, for example, where these programs are more abundant. Physiotherapist Mina Kavia holds an (advanced) Masters from Queensland University in Australia (MPThy).

Acupuncture & IMS Designations:

For clients looking for various needling therapies, things get yet a little more complex. At our clinic, we offer two different styles of treatment…acupuncture and IMS (intramuscular stimulation).  The Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute offers acupuncture training & certification to medical practitioners (such as doctors, dentists, chiropractors, registered nurses and naturopaths to name some). The completion of their required courses and exams gives the therapist the letters CAFCI. Both Karen & Angela are trained through the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada and Maggie & Shelley Cottle are in the midst of completing the courses to be certified.

Physiotherapists who wish to specialize in IMS or dry needling (which is a technique focused on needling muscles instead of following meridian channels) can study with Dr. Chan Gunn (founder of iSTOP clinic in Vancouver) and receive the designation CGIMS (Sue, Karen & Mina have these credentials). Students who choose this route must by physiotherapists or physicians and have completed a certain level of post-graduate training prior to be admitted to the course.

A third route to obtain qualifications to use acupuncture needles in treatment is by getting a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine such as Mina has obtained from the University of Nanjing, China, which gives her dual certification as both a Registered Physiotherapist AND Registered Acupuncturist (RAc).

Manual Therapy Credentials:

Lastly, with regards to Canadian physiotherapists who want advancement in the field of manual therapy (hands on treatment), there is a governing body that regulates this special group of physiotherapists and grants them certain designations after they complete post-graduate education in their system. The highest designation is that of Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapy (FCAMPT) and represents years of study and a high level of skill. Mina has these initials FCAMPT after her name. Linda Belanger is currently completing requirements for this title. If an intermediate exam has been completed, a temporary designation of Registrant also exists and Sue  has the initials RCAMPT as part of her list.

I hope this helps clear up a few things. I am happy to answer any questions that may arise. Feel free to visit the section about our therapists by clicking here.

Sue Shalanski
 (BScPT RCAMPT CGIMS)

Osteoporosis

Plantar Fasciitis

Ankle Sprains

Repetitive Strain Injury

Knee Injuries

         

Spring is truly here …

 

Does your activity level need a boost before summer hits? Did you hunker down hard this past winter choosing the couch over getting outside for walks in the ice & snow?

Here is a spring remedy that will inject some energy and maybe a little more fun into your life. How’s that? With a 7-day plan of “fast breaks” of activity! A mere 30 minutes a day of active living has been documented to increase your energy levels by 65%, reduce fatigue, make you sleep better and improve your memory to name but a few perks.

But what if exercise isn’t “your thing”, you might ask. I admit I’ve been an avid exerciser since elementary school. To this day, I find myself getting irritable when I haven’t exercised for a day or two. But I have subsequently learnt that not everyone feels the same way about exercise. My roommate is an example of someone who was happy with a fairly sedentary life. That is up until last week when he joined The 30 Day Exercise Challenge. He was previously quoted as saying “exercise kills”, jokingly of course. He’s now committed to riding his BMX around Brackendale whenever he needs to do local errands. We are 7 days into the Challenge and he’s doing well aside from some sore leg and neck muscles.  While I have lots of faith in his endeavor, it’s early on in the Challenge and like New Years Resolutions, “all or nothing” approaches are not often successful.

I offer you exercise is “small bite size” amounts that add up to a more energized and hopefully happier YOU!

Here’s a 7-day plan to enable you to move MORE. This will NOT turn you into an athlete, it will simply have you moving more on a daily basis, helping to create a healthy habit of exercise. Before you know it though, you may get hooked and actually take on more but for right now, it’s about starting small to avoid blowouts and throwing in the towel on day 2! 

Creating a new habit isn’t easy. It requires positive past experience and enough repetition that it becomes automatic. So let this be a jumping off point for you:

Sunday: This is from the RealAge.com website….do you know which hobby has probably added years to the longest-lived people in the world? It’s gardening. Okinawans — whose men typically live to age 78, women to age 86 — have a long tradition of working with soil. The benefits of gardening reach body and soul! Get out in your backyard, do ten minutes of raking, pull weeds of another ten minutes and then 10 minutes of stretching! The hard part about this? Stopping after the ten minutes of raking or pulling. Who can resist all the rest of the work needing doing? YOU. Pacing is important. Pass the rack on to your spouse, child, neighbor… Remember to be kind to your body, you’ll be grateful tomorrow. Don’t have a yard, do some spring cleaning: Pick a room, set a timer and stop after 20 minutes. Stretch for ten minutes. Voila! First day down, 6 to go.

Monday: Clear out the living room, pop in a DVD from the library or download something from iTunes or NetFlix and move in your own living room. Sparkpeople.com sells a Cardio Blast DVD that features 6 different 10-minute workout routines that can be done at home. Click here to find out more about it. Maybe you have a great playlist. Pull the curtains closed and dance to those hits of the 80’s that bring back fond memories. Or if there’s a good morning show to put in the background, get two plastic milk jugs out of the recycling bin, fill them with some water (1 litre is  roughly 2 pounds). After marching on the spot for 1-2 minutes to warm up, do a set of squats, maybe some biceps curls, lie down and pretend you are bench pressing, get up and do some lunges. Drop the water. March on the spot for another 1-2 minutes.  Repeat the four exercises. Stretch for 5 minutes and you’ve just done roughly 25 minutes of exercise. A study conducted at Boston Sports Clubs found that participants who did  20-30 minutes of exercise were more consistent than those who did workouts lasting 45-60 minutes. Congratulations!

Tuesday: Get outside with runners on and headphones plugged in- bring along a good upbeat soundtrack. Several websites create playlists that have beats conducive to getting a fast walking pace going. Find walking boring. Borrow someone’s GPS and go geo-caching. Squamish area has several of these, some will be under the 30 minutes to find. Adds an element of adventure to a “daily walk”. Check out an earlier post this week describing geocaching. There’s a map of the local caches at the bottom too. 

Wednesday: Clip a pedometer to your waist band and just aim for 10,000 steps in a day- this is the recommended amount for good health. It’s a great tool to see what an average day is like for you. Then you can make a small effort to increase the previous day’s number by 500 steps at a time. Be prepared to invest in new shoes shortly though, you may be hooked! Order yours through our online store and pick it up at either the Downtown or the Highlands locations.

Thursday: Meet a friend or co-worker who’s lunch hour coincides with yours and see how much of your local ‘hood you can cover in 20 minutes. Once back at your desk, take two 5 minute breaks, maybe while talking on the phone with a headset on, to stretch your wrists, shoulders, neck and facial muscles, especially if you work at a desk all day long! Visit this link for “office appropriate stretches”.

Friday: Pick up a yoga schedule at any one of the 4 studios (click here for Bodyvine Yoga’s current schedule) or 3 gyms in town and find a time you can attend. If you’re a complete beginner, choose a restorative class. Don’t let intimidation stop you from attending. While yogi’s are bendy, they don’t expect YOU to be. Honor your body, start slow. Pretend you are the only one in class aside from the instructor so that you don’t compare yourself to the person next to you.  Don’t want to be inside today? Take a dog from the Pound out for a walk.

Saturday:  Schedule an “exercise date” with someone special. Instead of dinner and a movie, pack a snack, hike to a beautiful viewpoint or out on the Spit and watch kiteboarders. Walk to Brennan Park to watch or join friends playing ball. Ride you bike along the myriad of local trails.

It may help to think of exercise as “me” time. Make ten minute appointments with yourself to nurture your spirit.  If you’re afraid you’ll get hurt, get some outside help from a personal trainer, physiotherapist or chiropractor but don’t let that be your excuse!

Still don’t think you can do it? Get support. Many communities exist online and offline. Be resourceful and reach out. You will be rewarded.

Sue Shalanski has been practicing physiotherapy in Squamish for over ten years. Her clinic, Reach Physio Solutions, runs 30 Day Exercise Challenges to support people who want to create a healthy habit of daily exercise, just 30 minutes a day. Visit reachphysio.com or join our fan page on Facebook by looking up “Reach Physio” to find out about future events.

Add Adventure to Your Walks with Geocaching

Everyone, let's go for a HIKE!

Turns your hikes into a Hunt for a Hidden Treasure 

There are thousands of little buried treasure boxes stashed in parks and outdoor areas you may have walked by many times and have no idea existed. All it takes to find one is a little hiking, a little know-how, and a cool gadget that’s now added to new cars and iPhones to name but a few of the latest uses. Sound like a fun way to stay in shape?

If you haven’t heard of it already, it’s called Geocaching. Geocaching is deceptively simple. Somebody hides a “treasure” and gives you a few clues along with the approximate coordinates (longitude and latitude) needed to find it. Clues can be riddles to solve or landmarks to identify. Getting you close and keeping you on track is a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS).

Without going into all the techno mumbo, GPS uses satellites to pinpoint an exact location with great accuracy. You can pick up a GPS receiver at most electronics stores for about $100. Finding the treasure (called a cache) can be tricky, but the real challenge often lies in reaching the area. To help you prepare, hikes are ranked in difficulty on a 1 to 5 star scale. A one-star, for example, might lead to a cache hidden just off a well-marked footpath and tucked inside a hollow tree (reachable while pushing a stroller). Meanwhile, a five-star can require rock-climbing equipment. That’s pretty extreme and uncommon, but the difficulty level is limited only by one’s imagination. There are caches on islands reachable by kayak or canoe and then only during a full moon. There is even an underwater cache that requires scuba equipment.

What’s in a cache?

Most caches include a logbook so you can leave the date and time of your visit. Common items are key chains, maps, books, pictures, money, jewelry, tickets, games and other inexpensive items. You’re usually asked to take an item and leave an item, so the contents are always changing. Most cache containers can handle the elements but it is a good idea to place items in a plastic bag for extra protection.

What are the rules?

1. Take something from the cache

2. Leave something in the cache

3. Write about it in the logbook

That’s it. Avoid leaving any food item. Remember the wildlife. Also, Remember geocaching is often a family/young person’s activity so don’t leave anything inappropriate for children.

There is a ton of information about the hobby at www.geocaching.com. At the site you will learn everything you need to get started. I searched Squamish and the link to the map with all our local geocaches is just below!

Squamish Geocaches

Cheers!

Nicklas Ehrlich BA, BSW, MSW, RCC

“HOW WE BECOME PROGRAMMED”

AND HOW YOU CAN PROGRAM FOR SUCCESS

 How your mind stores unconscious information

& beliefs from your past and how this can sabotage your life today!

Scientists have found that conditioning, beliefs, perceptions and stress play a large role in your emotional and physical makeup.  Your body releases chemicals and hormones that cause you stress when you have conscious and subconscious negative thoughts and the cells in your body save the negative information like a computer.  It is saved in the cells of the body like the hard disc on a computer.  It is also stored in a part of your brain called the Amygdala where the nervous system can retrieve past memories and cause you to react in the present as if the past is happening all over again.

The cells within your body have a membrane that functions in a similar fashion as your brain does.  This cellular membrane acts as a kind of nervous system.  The cell’s surface can see, hear, feel and interpret messages that come to it in a chemical form.  Your cell’s membrane has a form of intelligence and the ability to make decisions about how it will function.

Once your cells receive their information from chemical sources within the body through the circulatory system, this information is then deposited into receptors on the surface of the cells.  Once this has been accomplished, there are substances that are created that travel to the nucleus of the cell.  The genes lying inside the nucleus of the cells are given directions to synthesize proteins in the body to perform various functions within the cell.  These proteins then control and regulate the function of the cells with the rest of the body.

The cells of your body are affected and controlled by their interaction with the internal physical environment, which is affected by your mind and emotions, and not solely by the genetic program you carry within the nucleus of the cells.

The cells of your body can only follow one direction at a time, either to be in a negative survival response, or a positive, open and relaxed response.  A negative survival response causes you to react and cope any way you can to a perceived negative situation or a perceived threat.  A positive, open and relaxed response causes you to respond appropriately and be proactive in ways that support a healthy outcome and growth.

You have perceptions of our environment that are stored in your cellular memory.  If you have experienced repeated stressful situations in childhood or any time in your life, the nervous system and the other organs within your body experience hormonal and chemical messages that support a negative internal reality.  From this experience subconscious negative perceptions and beliefs are born, stored in the cells of your body.

These subconscious beliefs at the cellular level affect your behavior and compete with your conscious beliefs and desires.  Some of the subconscious negative beliefs can be:

It isn’t ok to have negative feelings like anger, sadness and fear.  It isn’t ok to feel vulnerable.  If I have feelings that other people aren’t comfortable with, they may judge me and leave me, or not like me.  I have to work to be liked, loved, and accepted.  I am not good enough.  I am not smart enough.  I am not attractive enough.  I am responsible for things when they go wrong.  I am responsible for meeting others people’s needs, while not expecting that my needs will be met.

There are many more negative irrational beliefs that you may carry, and they all are accepted as reality – unless you challenge them in a relaxed way while having a different experience within.

Your subconscious mind runs your body and your responses to your environment on a twenty four hour basis – without you even having to consciously think about it.  This part of your mind does not know the difference between things that are true and things that are false, nor between things that are good for you and things that are not.  The stored information may be triggered by an outside stimulus or one from within.  Sometimes there is simply a mandate by the subconscious to respond according to its program and fulfill the beliefs in your physical reality.

Your conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg, with 90% hidden under water or run by the subconscious mind. Some of your expectations are conscious and positive and some are negative and subconscious.  When you set goals or expectations for yourself, your intention may be from a conscious perspective, but they may be sabotaged by your subconscious program.

It is therefore important to have a healthy subconscious program of expectations, thoughts and beliefs from which to respond to.  It is not necessary to relive or even remember all of the information stored in your subconscious data bank.  You can delete and replace any negative program stored in the body and brain when deeply relaxed, while taking in a new and healthier reality.  When you do this you are releasing new and healthier chemical messages and replacing the old negative ones.  Repeated listening to a transformational recording accomplishes this change, as well as using the various other techniques and tools that are called Energy Psychology and Energy Medicine techniques.  These additional tools can be easily taught in a workshop, seminar or in a private session. 

When your subconscious mind is in balance and agreement with your conscious mind, then you have appropriate expectations and beliefs with no inner conflict and healthy outcomes.

May 2009 Stress Reduction Course

About Nicklas….

Nicklas is a highly educated and trained Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Counsellor, Consultant, Seminar leader for corporations – organizations – community, and Recording Artist. She is President and Founder of Ehrlich and Associates Counselling and Consulting Inc.  Nicklas was born in the US and attended UCLA in the United States, and continued her studies at Simon Fraser University and Antioch University in Canada, where she received her B.A. degree. She received her B.S.W. and M.S.W. from The University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Nicklas is a member of The Hypnotherapy Association of B.C., and has obtained her Registered Clinical Counsellor (R.C.C.) designation.

Nicklas has been working with individuals, couples, families, businesses and organizations for over 28 years.  She has a private practice in North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. Nicklas has business and private clients all over Canada and the United States, offering telephone consultations as well as in office consultations.  She travels with The Performance Enhancement Seminars offering training and consulting to companies and organizations. She offers a variety of techniques in her coaching and counseling and seminars, including those that help to delete old or even recent negative programming, clearing the way for health and success.

The pre-recorded CD’s and Exercise Booklets she has written and recorded have been created with the knowledge gained of working with people since 1980 and knowing what has worked for people to delete old negative programming and help to establish healthier more success full programs.

These programs are a very effective addition to any counselling or life coaching sessions. They are also very effective on their own.  There are 3 CD’s in the series: “Balancing Your Emotions: Being Present and at Peace” (the first CD to listen to or alternate with the others), “Enhancing Your Couple Relationship”, and “Finding a Balanced Relationship” (for singles and new couples).

For more information and testimonials on Counselling, Life Coaching, Seminars, and the CD’s go to:                                      

www.EhrlichAndAssociates.com

Contact Nicklas at: 604-990-1584

THE SUPER 7 EXERCISES

These days, we’re more focused than usual on stretching our dollar and our time. Maximize! So when it comes to getting FIT, here are the 7 exercises that don’t cost much and cover lots of bases. They cover the main goals of fitness- cardiovascular, strength building and flexibility. 17000 personal trainers were surveyed by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) to compile these 7 key exercises.

First, I’d like to say, there’s nothing NEW here, consider it just a friendly reminder that you needn’t spend tons of cash or jump on the latest product or trend (although that can be pretty FUN). The list is:

WALKING

RUNNING

YOGA

SQUATS

LUNGES

PUSHUPS

CRUNCHES

Yah, no big surprise. So the question is, why aren’t we doing these exercises. Why do we keep searching for something ELSE, like the Holy Grail of exercise- there must be some MAGIC exercise we haven’t discovered yet that will make me fit, overnight, effortlessly…I’m sorry to say, this is the list. So get on with it now!

Let’s break it down a little:

WALKING:  Why it’s so great? FREE and NO technical skills required. Grab a four-legged furry friend and they’ll show you how amazing walking is. Take note of things you’ve never seen. Take a moment to fill your lungs (hopefully you are in a low smog environment when you do that last part). put one foot in front of the other, again and again and again and again.Voila. 30 minutes just went by! Way to go. Got an iPod or other portable music device? Plug in a good beat- information abounds that a high energy piece of music boosts calories burnt. Cautions. Watch for traffic as you’re rocking out to your tunes, wear something with extra traction if you’re on the (still icy) trails right now and vary the terrain- it prevents injury and challenges your joint receptors! Oh yah. Want a firmer tush, walk tall and tighten your glutes (butt muscles) a little, especially as you go up hill. Walk fast enough or you’ll have to walk longer to get a calorie burn worth mentioning.

RUNNING:  Regarding the calorie burn factor, this is the BIG DADDY! 1 km of running is about 60 calories. Cautions: there’s lots….while we were “designed” to run, it’s a natural movement and all, no everyone is IDEALLY built for running. Pick softer terrain. Start slowly. Build gradually. Get assessed by a physiotherapist, body worker or chiropractor if you’ve had lower body sprains in your life time- these joints are vulnerable to the loads imposed by running (running is 4 to 5 times more load on your joints than walking). 

YOGA: Hmmm. How to sum up yoga adequately. It’s absolutely amazing, life changing, complex, multifaceted. There are books in abundance on the benefits and intricacies of yoga. Too much for me to mention in this blog posting. As a physio, what I can advise is start slow, ask lots of question. Take a class, or even better a private session so that exercises can be modified or tailored just for you. Consider doing restorative yoga first, if you’ve been injured or are feeling timid about the whole thing- “Pillow Yoga” as I call it is absolutely wonderful. You will be likely be in such a good mood people will be suspicious what you were up to during that hour….Don’t compare yourself to the others in the class- they may have been practicing for years. P.S. Take advantage of the wonderful mental aspect of yoga, ie. the meditation. From what I understand, the postures were designed so that the yogis could sit in meditation for hours…

SQUATS:  Great for all the lower body muscles. Lots of variations available. Good bang for your exercise minutes! Need coaching  on alignment, talk to a personal trainer, physiotherapist or other  physical rehabilitation specialist!

LUNGES: Another great lower body strength-builder. Offer s bit of a balance component that is absent in the squat. Add a milk jug full of water ( a liter of water is roughly two pounds) in each hand, you’ll add resistance and the sloshing of the water challenges the joint receptors- again, this is good rehab for lower body sprains & strains by improving your proprioception (balance & coordination).

PUSHUPS:  Gets muscles of the chest, shoulders and arms working  while also forcing you to engage your abdominal muscles- when done well. Have someone watch you from the side view- you shouldn’t resemble and canoe shape or have your butt sticking up higher than your shoulder blades. Don’t feel bad about resorting to pushups from your knees. It’s better than giving yourself shoulder tendonitis of a sore lower back!

CRUNCHES: A blog is not a good venue for teaching “all about crunches” except to say that flattening your back into the floor is no longer the blanket instruction for crunches- maintaining a neutral spine is! As your personal trainer or physiotherapist what that means!

Hope you have fun implementing these into your fitness routine. Since this is a blog, and of course, just my humble & sometimes quirky opinion on things, I welcome your thoughts & comments. Never take ANYTHING you read on the internet or anywhere as the complete gospel truth. I hope, if anything, this has been slightly amusing, if nothing else!

Cheers,

Sue Shalanski BScPT

Sue was an avid exerciser starting the day she could beat most of the boys in the school at running. OK, she kept enjoying an active life, even when she could no longer beat the boys. Now, most of the girls are faster than her too because she spends too much time writing about getting FIT…sigh. I digress.

When I was growing up, video games held NO appeal, at least to my girlfriends and I, who were the “sporty girls” in school. For the boys at my junior high school though, Pac Man & Donkey Kong kept them busy through many a lunch hour at the local arcade! Besides the exercise involved in actually WALKING to the nearby “Happy Pop” store to play, not much fitness was ever acquired. That was sometime back in the 80‘s…Can today’s video games offer play time with fitness combined? The short answer is YES. 

The long answer requires some explanation of HOW you could use a fun tool like Wii Fit to help you achieve your fitness goals. We first need to break down fitness into it’s components: cardio, strength, flexibility, balance & body composition. As with other types of exercise- to build fitness, you need enough intensity (or challenge), for enough time on a regular basis (3-5 times a week at least) to get fit.

So, to evaluate this tool for it’s fitness building potential, it needs those three elements:

1. A “Butt-Kicking Element” ie. enough intensity or challenge

2. A Cardio Effect. This means enough time spent on the tool long enough (minimum 30 minutes of cardio exercise where heart rate is elevated to a point where it is a bit difficult to both talk & exercise simultaneously)

3. Play. Rest. Repeat. A willingness to do this form of exercise on a regular basis (ie. a minimum of 3-5 times a week), or at least combine it with some other forms to keep you motivated & keen.

Nintendo’s Wii Fit provides all of these. Here’s how.

Enough intensity? Activities like jogging, boxing, hula hooping & the strength training offer enough intensity to give you the required intensity to build fitness. My roommate, who is a self-professed non-exerciser, was more than willing to RACE me in our own living room (running on the spot with the Wii Remote in your hand or back pocket), which attests to the fact that the FUN component could fool some into actually exercising and enjoying it!

Cardio? It’s quite easy to do 30 minutes of cardio on this equipment by combining a variety of the above listed activities. I’m told, from a client who’s son was far more “savvy” at using this tool, that he could jog while watching his favorite TV show simultaneously! Isn’t that cool? If only I could figure out HOW to make my system do that…You may even find yourself going beyond the 30 minutes because of the variety of games available!

But does it get boring after a while? There are many features of Wii Fit that encourage regular play. First and foremost- it’s entertaining and leads to giggles, every once in a while! The music gets a little repetitive after a while but the scores, occasional commentary and accumulating fitness credits which “open up further activities” keep you going. Once you’ve set up your Mii (your game persona) your values are stored for return visits. It generates a “Body Age” for you based on your agility & BMI among a few other things. A friend’s teenager son spent 3 hours playing Wii in our living room one night, determined to improve his age from 34 to a respective 15.  Word is, he was quite sore the following morning when he got out of bed.  Beware, this exercise form can be addictive as well as promote injuries in particularly in shoulders from bowling, batting and boxing activities. Use common sense & moderation. Oh, and move your furniture out of the way, another casualty I know of broke a toe playing Wii….

From a physiotherapy perspective, the balance games & the coordination sports like boxing may have the added bonus of assisting clients with rehabilitation.  The Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta was one the first facilities to announce they were using Wii to help clients recovering from head injuries. I imagine motivation to play Wii rather than do “traditional physiotherapy” exercises would be off the charts!

The down-side…if you already very fit (ie. an athlete), this may be more difficult- the product is designed more for the “average joe” exerciser.  You will need to spend longer on the Wii Fit or push yourself a bit harder to get a cardio effect.

One final comment on the plus side, it’s cheaper than a gym membership and almost void of excuses unless your power is out!

A Wii Fit Video Review by the Times UK

I couldn’t WAIT to offer this modality to my clients! I was so stoked. To this day, I get teased about how I seem to “enjoy” needling patients, as if I am cruelly taking “pleasure” in causing pain but I ASSURE you, I get excited about the potential healing that’s available with these little needles.

Compared to acupuncture which has been around for hundreds of years, IMS is a relatively recent “invention”. The needles used are the same in both treatments but the application combines conventional (or Western) physiological and anatomical knowledge  with traditional (Eastern) techniques to produce a fusion, of sorts. I personally believe it’s a beautiful union of old with new, offering relief for clients who can not find any with regular physiotherapy or other body work, for example.

It’s application and success has been noted mostly in the reduction of chronic musculo-skeletal pain. Some examples of “conditions” treated with IMS are tennis elbow, low back pain,  fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel or frozen shoulders, to name but a few.

IMS involves the insertion of needles into muscles who’ve shortened or contracted. Creating a tiny “wound” in the muscle encourages blood and healing materials into the area of the overly tight muscle. While tight, it doesn’t heal properly which leads to the chronicity of the condition. The muscle being needled “grabs” onto the needle and after a while, relaxes. This continues for some time after the needling is complete. By “twiddling” the needle, a greater response can take place.

Patients who have heard of IMS after having had acupuncture sometimes refer to is as the “painful” kind of acupuncture. It’s true that the treatment isn’t exactly pleasant, whereas traditional acupuncture can be quite calming and soothing. What I tell these patients is that the “intention” of IMS is STIMULATION- ie. to trigger a spinal cord reaction. Insertion of a needling into a “healthy” muscles does not produce the same reaction as into a tightened or contracted muscle. Many of my clients are actually relieved when the needle re-creates or “accesses” they pain, which until that point had seemed elusive or untouchable. The reasons for this may be that the muscle is deeper than can be easily reached with other techniques (such as deep hip muscles or paraspinal muscles) or because the needling unleashes a REFERRED pain that is what the patient experiences.

Note: a referred pain is one that is felt in a distant location from it’s source, and can seem to be unrelated. When some cardiac patients have left arm pain, this is sometimes a referral from the heart muscle itself.

So, in the end, the main difference in the techniques, I always say, is the “theory behind the application”. Here’s an analogy for you:

A friend was telling me the other day about alternate uses for coffee filters…from covering food being cooked in a microwave from splattering to protecting carpets when kids are eating popsicles…in IMS treatment, an acupuncture needle is being used alternatively to it’s traditional designation in treating meridians (or channels of energy flow in the body). IMS uses knowledge of anatomy and a western type medical exam to choose the appropriate needle points.

I am in no position to say that one is BETTER than the other nor am I implying one is better than the other. It’s simply a different application of an ancient tool!

Dr. C. Chan Gunn

Sue Shalanski BScPT has been trained in CGIMS by Chan Gunn and his associate instructors, completing her training in 2003 and enjoying helping her clients move freer and with less pain since then!

Sue Shalanski

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If you do a Google search for “benefits of exercise”, the results are in the hundreds of millions. When you Google the results for “effects of too much exercise”, the numbers are exponentially lower…why? Because outside of the Sea to Sky corridor, and other pockets of this planet with exercise or outdoors obsessed folks, people DON’T MOVE much. Around here though, I’ve learnt that a little caution in required regarding the additional benefits of exercise when you’ve either had several previous injuries, are  a bit cardio-obsessed or start up a little too much too fast…

For people who are extreme  bikers, paddlers, boarders, skiers, kiters, climbers….insert other sport here)

As a physiotherapist working in Squamish for over 10 years, I am no longer surprised when a new patient, typically an active, outdoorsy person in their 30’s or 40’s, comes in with a long list of old injuries including major joint sprains, or fractures and/or years of general aches and pains. 

Most of these clients come in with an immediate issue to deal with- “it hurts in my ankle such that I can’t snowboard well anymore without it swelling up afterwards”.  Once we delve into the “life story” of injuries and heavy activity, it becomes apparent that an old issue that apparently mended long ago has left behind a trail of muscle imbalances that has possibly creating a mechanical “glitch” in the system. I am not an expert on vehicles, but imagine that your not-new-anymore car hits a pothole on the Sea to Sky leaving your car sadly misaligned because you were unaware that the shocks had tanked  a few months/years back. The unassuming pothole causes more damage overall to the vehicle with the poor shocks by decimating the forces throughout the rest of the vehicle’s frame, to settle, quite likely, on any weak link that it finds.

So, perhaps your weak link is an old ankle sprain that now hurts when you hit the bumps on the hill because your “shock absorbers” (aka your muscles) are wound up tightly or wound up unevenly somewhere in the chain. This is the puzzle for your physical therapist, massage therapist, chiropractor etc etc to sort out!  But, I’m sure you can imagine that working on the problem at the ankle is hardly going to deal with the lack of shocks elsewhere that are leading to your swelling, pain and inability to play! Which leads me to

TIP #1- If your injury history takes more than fifteen minutes to recount to the person next to you on the chairlift, consider having a complete “bio-mechanical” exam done by a health practitioner who can help you determine where balance is needed and some rehabilitative exercises might help prevent further damage and PROLONG play time!

For Cardio-Addicts (especially runners…)

Stepping out of  my physiotherapist hat into my recreational exerciser hat, I have great sympathy for this group. I suffered from this addiction well into my late 20’s. I started running at the age of 9 because I could “beat the boys” fairly easily. I have some level of natural ability for cardio sports and went from running 800m to a marathon at the age of 19.

I started to learn early that a variety of sports was healthier on the body and drifted towards training for triathlons to fulfill my cardio “obsession”  so I hopped on that wagon too.  It has become apparent now, as my running career slows down considerable that the sport I used to love, for leaving me feeling light and powerful, now has me plodding along, well, not so smooth and graceful as I once was.

What happened, you ask??? A number of things including…

1. Too much too soon when I started back at it ( More on this below in the “over-zealous starter” section)
2. Old injuries with leftover muscle imbalances (see above section on “extreme” athletes)
3. The (real) concern that I’m not treating my joints very well by running on them now.

There is growing support for the idea that continuing to run when the body has sustained lower body ligament injuries (ie. sprains) leads to early joint damage. Ouch!

Here’s what happens- we have fairly dense slippery, smooth-like-marble shock absorber surfaces in our joints- aka “the joint cartilage” that help cushion loads. With age it begins to thin. With joint injury it thins more quickly, or in a focused area, or even cracks a little. When this happens, it’s bit like walking in shoes without socks. While socks help provide cushioning, they also prevent the slipping/sliding inside the shoe that would lead to redness and pain from the rubbing and eventually to  some blisters! Same happens in joints as they lose their cushion, they get inflamed, especially under LOADS. Because running is 5 times more loading on the lower body joints than walking is, the effect on the joints is higher. The most common joints to see this wear and tear are the hands, hips, spine & knees. While 85% of us will have some signs of osteoarthritis when we’re 85,  expect this to occur much earlier on joints that have had injuries and have not been unloaded or well-rehabilitated.

So, I am not encouraging being a couch potato! I am encouraging smart choices. Pick repetitive activities that don’t load the joints, if you’ve had some previous injuries in your life (even if it was an ACL tear or meniscus injury in your teens). Which leans me to…

TIP #2-Make sure you address muscles balance in the body, from front side to back side, left to right, core to extremities. Your worth it. Be smart now and your be able to play for many years to come!

The Over-zealous Starter You know who you are. You make a commitment to getting fit and you have just the plan to get there, by next week!!! You buy the gear and start right a way, full ON! You can’t fathom why one would go for a 30 minute walk or run when hiking the Chief is what you used to do (everyday, sometimes twice on Saturdays)! Maybe it’s because it makes you feel vital & young to crank out the first half of the Test of Metal on your 2nd ride of the season…

News flash! Fitness takes time to build. Rest days are just as important as workout days because you need some recovery. A good benchmark is to increase by 10% a week. If you did nothing last week, 10% of nothing is well….just a little bit. Which leads to…

TIP #3- The Sea to Sky Highways wasn’t widened in a week- it takes planning and discipline to get fit. NO point in starting strong only to finish two weeks later because you’ve caused an overuse injury! Make sure your goals have a long enough range to allow for the body to adapt, aka if you run 5-10kms regularly (pain free), you need 4-6 months to condition your body for a marathon.

If you have questions or comments about these topics, please don’t hesitate to leave me a message.

Thanks for reading,

Sue Shalanski