by Carl Parnham RMT As I grow older (yes, I am only 25, but I feel like I’m getting older), I feel the stresses of life starting to take over. I’m working, and paying off my student loan, and my schedule is becoming filled with more resposiblities (my clients tell me it only gets worse when you take on more with family and as the career evolves). I notice now…
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“It was the last straw!” Have you ever used this saying? It is an ancient Arabic proverb dating back to a time when we used camels, or a similar animal like a horse or ox, for carrying our heavy loads.
The dictionary defines it as the very last thing one experiences in a long series of mishaps or disappointments that tips the balance to a final loss of patience, temper, trust, or hope. It is an apt metaphor I like to apply regarding our health, when a health problem emerges suddenly, or a sports injury occurs without any particular accident or trauma. Indeed, a cataclysmic failure of health can occur without clear warning. Oddly, the last correlated and reasonable cause – “last straw” – often seems relatively not potent enough to cause the problem on its own. Think of a woman who gets breast cancer after a stressful period in life; the stress is not enough to “cause” this is it? Or a guy gets back into soccer and his knee ligament gives out on a simple fall; it is not just that he is 40 and out of shape now? A 46 year old woman becomes clinically depressed after missing a promotion at work; she cannot blame menopause on her hypersensitivity, can she?
by Jennifer Kotowicz HHP, RAc – Facial acupuncture, rejuvenation and weight loss. We all know that the sense of smell evokes strong memories and emotions. Sometimes this can be an overpowering experience. Olfaction is a complex experience. My husband as a chef is particularly aware of this, and he really relies upon his sense of smell. He smells and tastes the ingredients of his creations, from start to finish, as…
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by Carl Parnham RMT As explained in another blog written this week by Dr. Alina Tousseeva of our ATP team, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is located primarily in your wrist at the carpel tunnel. This restricted bony/fibrous tunnel wraps around and contains the many tendons that control movement in the wrist and fingers. It also protects the nerves and blood vessels that supply your hand with blood, sensation and use…
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by Gord Grant PhD, RAc For thousands of years, acupuncture has been claimed to unblock Qi (“chi”). Qi is described as a universal energy flowing through meridian pathways up and down the limbs and interconnecting the internal organs. The original concepts of Qi or Yin and Yang powerfully and poetically describe the nature and ecology of the body and mind. In modern times, even though science can quantify energy in…
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by Carl Parnham RMT Frozen Shoulder is a condition where you lose range of motion (ROM) in the shoulder due to pain and tightening of the joint capsule. ROM is most commonly lost in abduction (raising your arm out to the side) and external rotation (arm at your side, elbow bent to 90 degrees and rotating out ward). Dr. E. Codman used the term “Frozen Shoulder” in 1934 calling it…
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by Jennifer Kotowicz HHP, RAc – Facial acupuncture, rejuvenation and weight loss. My specialty is facial rejuvenation at The Acupuncture Turning Point health clinic. I have always been reticent to do the stereotypical “before and after” pictures for many reasons – but I am reconsidering it. I ask myself, is my reluctance because my treatments do not produce dramatic enough results!? I calm first impulse knowing that the huge marketing…
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by Gord Grant PhD, RAc Acupuncture or counselling, provided alongside usual care, can benefit patients with depression, according to a large, well-designed study. Unfortunately, antidepressants alone don’t work for more than half of patients. There is a demand and a need for non-drug solutions for mental health issues like depression. “Until recently”, says Dr. Hugh MacPherson and his research team, “systematic reviews of acupuncture and counselling for depression in primary care have…
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by Carl Parnham RMT I am not a pillow expert, but I deal with people’s proverbial “pain-the-neck” every day. So, I did some research into pillows and here is what I found. I came across this scientific study published in a physiotherapy journal (Physiotherapy Canada, Volume 63, Number 2, Pages 183-190). Here they let people use their own pillow as well as other types. The participants (106 of them!) were…
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by Carl Parnham RMT What a lot of people don’t understand about massage, including some RMTs, is that going deep is usually not indicated on the first treatment. I’m not just talking about avoiding an acute injury showing up with inflammation or bruising. I’m talking “normal” states and the human body’s greatest ability – its ability to adapt to change. It takes time and repetition, like the stages of building up capacity in an exercise. Athletes in martial arts know this…
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