Ontario Hockey Federation Announces the World Sledge Hockey Challenge

Get ready hockey fans – you were denied your sport for the last few months, but the Ontario Hockey Federation announces the World Sledge Hockey Challenge.  Canada’s World Sledge Hockey Team is gearing up to defend their gold medal in this year’s World Sledge Hockey Challenge, scheduled for December 2^nd to 8^th, in Calgary, Alberta. There, Canada’s national team will fight against other teams from around the world and make Canadians proud. 

Keeping this exciting tournament in mind, it is also important to think about your own physical health and how to stay fit while you are playing hockey. Keep these things in mind before you get out there on the ice to enjoy some fun winter activity. 

One of the most important things before even stepping out onto the ice is to make sure that you are prepared. Training properly is important no matter what sport you participate in, and with a physically demanding sport such as hockey it is especially important. Making an appointment with a sports injury specialist who can assess your physical health is a great idea. They can tell you what types of training you should partake in to keep your body in top shape before entering the rink.

Stretching before the game and cooling down afterwards are just as important. Making sure that your body is loose and limber can help you perform at your best and avoid hockey injuries.  Once the game is over, taking a cool shower to help your body recover from the physical exertion can help you keep any future aches and pains at bay. A sports injury specialist can also give you tips about how to warm up and cool down.

So what if, even after all of this, you suffer a hockey injury? We all know that they can be hard to avoid when on the ice, so it is vital to address them as soon as they arise. Ignoring a hockey injury, no matter what it is, can lead to long term effects that you will definitely want to avoid.

Hockey pains and strains can be dealt with in a number of ways, but the best way to ensure a great recovery is to attend a sports injury clinic and speak with a sports injury specialist who is able to give you the directions on how to get back into peak physical shape.  Some of their suggestions may include different recovery techniques, such as a massage, to help ease muscle strains and pains, or various treatment options to get you back to enjoying your regular activities.

Even if you do not play at the same level as those athletes participating in the World Sledge Hockey Tournament, that is no reason not to take your physical health seriously. Make sure that you are following an effective training and exercise regimen in order to avoid hockey strains and sprains. And remember to properly deal with any injuries that may occur.

For more information about how to stay fit or how to deal with hockey pains and strains, please contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca

What is Active Release Technique?

Do you suffer from a sports related injury that negatively impacts your ability to participate in your normal tasks? Do you have osteoarthritis and are seeking a form of pain relief outside of invasive surgical procedures? Active Release Technique is an exciting form of physiotherapy that provides pain relief and injury prevention, addressing a number of different ailments at the same time.  

What is Active Release Technique?

Active Release Technique is a massage technique that targets soft tissue. It involves manual hand pressure being applied to the affected area, which works to break up the fibrous adhesions that cause pain. Active Release Technique involves the use of hundreds of different certified movements that address several different injuries or ailments. 

What does Active Release Technique treat?

Active Release Technique is often used to treat illnesses or injuries related to the build-up of scar tissue or overused muscles, as well as injured tendons, ligaments and nerves. Damage to these areas can often result in muscle weakness, decreased range of motion, or, most severely and frequently: acute or chronic pain. These areas of concern often include: 

-          Back, shoulder, or knee pain

-          Headaches

-          Plantar fasciitis

-          Carpal tunnel syndrome

-          Different types of tendonitis

-          Shin splints

-          Tennis elbow

-          Several different soft tissue or joint injuries or ailments 

Since the intended goal of Active Release Technique is to repair damaged tissues and release trapped blood vessels, it is useful for a host of different pain causing illnesses or injuries – all without surgery. 

Active ReleaseTechnique is most commonly administered by a professionally trained and registered chiropractor. This means that you are receiving treatment by someone experienced in dealing with these ailments.  A sports injury clinic chiropractor can be even more beneficial because of his/her experience working with both athletes and non-athletes alike. 

After a physical assessment analyzing your unique medical situation, a custom plan will be developed utilizing a roster of over 500 different Active Release Technique movements for a personalized and comprehensive massage. Rather than administering the same technique for every patient, Active Release Technique allows for a pain relief and recovery plan that is tailored to match your current and future needs.  

Instead of surgery, which can be incredibly painful and which often requires a lengthy recovery period, therapy through Active Release Technique allows you to stay at work, while still enjoying some exercise. These weekly sessions offer you the benefits of pain relief at the hands of a professional – while still living your life. 

Stop living with – and trying to ignore - the pain caused by a sports related injury or ailments such as osteoarthritis. To find out more about how Active Release Technique works and all of the benefits of it, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca   

Custom Orthotics and Custom Bracing - Why is a Customized Product So Important?

Do you suffer from the kind of foot, knee and back pain that keeps you from enjoying daily activities? Do you find it challenging to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle? Do you miss and want to return to these activities but feel surgery isn’t an option you can accept? Being fitted for custom orthotics or custom bracing may be the very alternative that puts you back on the field – and keeps you off of the operating table. 

Sufferers of foot, knee or back pain, whether as a result of an injury or not, can end up confused and overwhelmed when trying to decide if surgery can reduce pain or prevent further injuries. What many don’t realize is how effective custom orthotics and custom bracing can be as an alternative to surgery. 

Custom Orthotics:

Custom orthotics are inserts that slide into the inside of your shoe, and are fitted to the shape of the bottom of your foot.  Because they are supportive, and help distribute your body weight in a balanced manner, they can relieve foot, back, or knee pain.  Although pre-made orthotics can sometimes provide some pain relief, pre-made orthotics are generic. Since everyone’s foot shape is different, without a proper analysis of your needs, pre-made orthotics will often fail to provide the complete support your feet and body need.  This is why generic orthotics won’t necessarily address all of your issues.

With custom orthotics, which includes a professionally administered gait analysis, you can be sure that your medical needs are met – meaning a much more effective system of support for your entire body.

Custom orthotics are not only great because they work to provide support and reduce pain, but also because they’re custom-made to fit your foot perfectly, thus making them incredibly comfortable. Wearing them every day is easy, and helps relieve foot fatigue.

Think about it this way: you wouldn’t expect your orthodontist to achieve much with a generic mouth retainer, so how could generic foot moulds compare to the custom-correction of foot and body support.

Custom Bracing:

Custom bracing, like custom orthotics, needs to be customized rather than pre-made. Custom bracing can be really effective when dealing with an ACL injury or with osteoarthritis of the knee. Sports related injuries to the knee greatly decrease a person’s mobility and comfort, and additional injuries sustained after an initial injury only compile problems. Custom bracing works to stabilize your knee while working to distribute your weight more evenly.  A custom brace will not only strengthen and rebuild damaged muscles, but also help to support the knee to prevent further injury.

Like custom orthotics, custom bracing is made to fit your leg. It’s built for comfort and support…for YOUR body.  And you don’t need to wear it all the time. When you’re chilling on the couch you can set it aside and just kick back.  Its true value lies when you are heading out to participate in an activity which would otherwise cause you pain or put you at risk for further injury.

Dealing with foot, knee, and back pain can be a constant struggle. Having surgery to correct the pain is often not the best – or only - choice to eliminate it. Instead, custom orthotics or custom bracing can provide much needed relief simply by continued wear.  Custom orthotics or custom bracing allow you to address the source of pain and create an easy alternative for reducing or eliminating pain completely.  

To find out more about custom orthotics or custom bracing and how they can help eliminate your foot, back or knee pain, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca   

 

Hyaluronic Acid Injections Provide Much Needed Relief to Osteoarthritis Sufferers

Do you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee? Are you unsure of what osteoarthritis of the knee is? Osteoarthritis is an ailment that affects thousands of people, severely limiting their ability to participate in the sports they love, turning everyday tasks a painful ordeal. If you have osteoarthritis, you know all about how painful it is, and how difficult it is to find treatments that eliminate the pain it causes.  

Surgery, therapy and daily oral medications may seem like your only route to combating osteoarthritis – but what if these options don’t appeal to you? There is another, quite amazing alternative: Hyaluronic acid injections. Hyaluronic acid injections are becoming a popular form of effective relief to osteoarthritis sufferers.

What are hyaluronic acid injections and what are the benefits of them?

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance found in the human body and central to the process of cell growth and renewal. It is a fluid found in your joints which helps to lubricate them, allowing them to move more smoothly.

Osteoarthritis sufferers find hyaluronic acid injections useful because their hyaluronic acid has become thinner, and there isn’t enough present to properly lubricate and protect joints.  By injecting hyaluronic acid right into the knee joint, the supplemental hyaluronic acid works to thicken the existing fluid, making movement easier and delivering much needed relief to osteoarthritis sufferers.

As an alternative to surgery, hyaluronic acid injections are a liberating option. Relatively pain free, hyaluronic acid injections provide fast pain relief to osteoarthritis sufferers without a lengthy recovery period.  Who wants to face surgery, book valuable weeks off work (if they’re even available) and miss taking part in regular activities when one injection treatment can ease the pain and stiffness caused by osteoarthritis almost immediately?

Hyaluronic acid injections are also often more effective in terms of pain relief compared to oral medicines, decreasing the need for inconvenient daily doses which also cause a host of side effects. Hyaluronic acid injections can also provide pain relief for longer periods of time – keeping pain at bay for 6 months to a year.

What’s even better news is that hyaluronic acid injections are not only useful for osteoarthritis of the knee, but can also relieve pain caused by several other joint related ailments, including cartilage damage, fractures, and fibromyalgia.  In addition, they assist with ligament and wound healing. While surgery is an option for many of these illnesses, a valuable alternative to consider is the use of hyaluronic acid injections.

Hyaluronic acid injections are also very beneficial because they can be combined with other non-surgical treatments like therapy. Treatment from a sports injury or physiotherapy clinic while receiving hyaluronic acid injections, will not only rid you of joint pain and stiffness, but can rebuild muscle and  protect you from future injuries.

Don’t let joint pain and stiffness hold you back from enjoying the things you love. To find out more about hyaluronic acid injection treatments, or how they can offer relief to osteoarthritis sufferers, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca  

What is Osteopathy?

Pain that stems from a sports related injury can be close to unbearable, and knowing how to treat it feels nothing less than a daunting battle.  One highly beneficial treatment option is osteopathy, an important type of manual pain management that brings relief to the sufferer. So exactly what is osteopathy and how does it work to relieve pain?  

What is osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a holistic, non-invasive, medical technique that focuses on a total body approach to healing.  Its gentle massaging techniques not only treat and strengthen the site of the body that is experiencing pain, but reach the entire body. An osteopath will use a variety of massaging techniques, including the stretching of the soft tissue, deep tactile pressure, and the manipulation of joints.  These applications promote enhanced circulatory, lymphatic and nervous systems.

What is osteopathy beneficial for?

Osteopathy is beneficial in the following ways:

1.       Non-surgical

2.       Whole body healing

3.       Stress relief

Since osteopathy is a non-surgical procedure, it offers pain management without the worry of taking time off work or avoiding regular activities you enjoy. Repeat osteopathy sessions allow for pain relief without the need for lengthy recovery times.

Osteopathy provides whole-body healing. This is because the philosophy behind osteopathy is that if one part of the body is suffering, the rest of the body works harder to compensate for it. Like a weak link in a chain, a weakness in one part of the body means an overall weakness of the entire body.  When one body part suffers and the other parts work harder to compensate, the end result can be inflammation, stiffness, tension, and most significantly, pain. Providing care to the whole body works to balance the whole body, eliminating the need for compensation by dealing with the problematic root issues.

In addition to providing whole-body healing, what is osteopathy useful for?

Stress relief. Although osteopathy is not preventative, it is an invaluable stress reliever that promotes better mental and physical health.

So what is osteopathy and what are the benefits of osteopathic therapy?

Ridding yourself of the chronic pain caused by a sports related injury is important, and choosing osteopathy is choosing a non-surgical, worry-free and effective method of whole-body pain relief.

For more answers to the ‘what is osteopathy’ question, and for consultation about how it is beneficial to you, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca  

Chiropractic Treatment Used to Treat Chronic Pain

If you have suffered an injury to your back or neck, you’re well aware how greatly your ability to participate in daily activities is reduced. Suffering from chronic pain can severely and negatively impact your way of life, turning the simplest tasks into dramatic, if not daunting ordeals.  If you have found yourself in this situation, it’s important to remember that there are options available for dealing with back and neck related chronic pain.   One of the most common and most popular is chiropractic treatment. 

Chiropractic treatment involves the manipulation of the neuromusculoskeletal system – focusing mainly on the spine, soft tissues, and other joints – by a medically trained professional. A doctor of chiropractic therapy, or chiropractor, uses a form of hands-on therapy called “adjustment” to promote the body’s ability to heal itself without surgery or medication. This is achieved through the proper alignment of the body’s musculoskeletal structure, more specifically the spine.

Many chiropractors will use various other methods as part of their chiropractic therapy procedure.  These can include the Graston Technique, a therapy that uses tools to break down scar tissue and promote healing, or the Active Release Technique, which uses different massage methods to relieve tension and loosen muscles.

What are the benefits of chiropractic therapy?

There are several, and each is extremely valuable. Firstly, many doctors recommend chiropractic therapy as an alternative to surgery to treat back pain of two categories; mild acute-lasting less that 3 months; or chronic – lasting longer than 3 months.  The latter is especially so if back surgery is the ultimate last resort (also bear in mind: the classification of back pain as acute or chronic is based on the length of time you have experienced pain, not the severity of the pain itself). Instead of dealing with the symptom (the pain), chiropractic therapy treats the cause and allows you to get back to enjoying the things you love, without having to go through the extensive recovery period that can accompany back surgery.

Chiropractic therapy can also be used to relieve tension and migraine headaches. If you suffer from these, you know how dreadfully debilitating they can be.  They can ruin both special occasions and every day routines without warning, robbing you of fulfilling the plans you make.  Some people are so plagued by migraines that they are leery of making any plans at all for fear a migraine will keep them from their commitments.  Chiropractic therapy commonly helps relieve migraines and can greatly increase your ability to enjoy each day without having to worry about the pain and inconvenience of a monster-headache!

In addition to relieving back pain, chiropractic therapy is also used to restore your body’s ability to function fully, normally and without injury.

Suffering through acute or chronic back pain can be nothing less than torture, but being aware of existing solutions can be liberating. An aligned spine and flexible muscles are crucial to the prevention of serious injuries which can grind your pursuit of the sports you love to an abrupt halt.  Chiropractic therapy is an important and viable option to consider whether you’re dealing with chronic pain, or if you just want to protect your body for pain and injury-free longevity.

To find out more about chiropractic therapy, or to make an appointment with a trained chiropractor, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca

It Sounds Like it Feels Good, But Exactly What is Massage Therapy?

These days there are so many different treatments that claim to help you deal with pain that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to determine which methods are most likely to deliver the results you want. One of the most popular, and most effective treatments for relieving pain, has a centuries-old proven track record: massage therapy. 

What is massage therapy?

Massage therapy is a form of massage that uses a variation of massaging techniques, including kneading, compression, and vibration of the soft tissue of the body. Massage therapy is typically done using the hands, but may also involve the elbows and forearms or even the feet.  Massage therapists work to assess any tissue damage you have sustained as the result of an injury while decreasing the pain that accompanies it. What’s more is that inflamed muscles can inhibit your ability to perform at your highest level. Massage therapy works to relieve inflammation while alleviating chronic pain. 

What is massage therapy beneficial for?

Even the two words in themselves sound relieving….massage therapy…Beyond how wonderful it can feel, there are many benefits, both mental and physical, to massage therapy.

Massage therapy’s physical benefits include:

-          The loosening of tight muscles

-          Relief for tired, aching muscles

-          Increased flexibility and motion range

-          Chronic pain that is diminished

-          Lowered heart rate and lowered blood pressure

-          A stronger immune system 

Massage therapy’s mental benefits include: 

-          A calmer nervous system

-          Stress relief

-          Improved concentration

-          Better sleep

-          Mental relaxation 

When contemplating the definition of ‘massage therapy,’ it’s important to consider what it offers and achieves.  While the short term effects of massage therapy relieve aching and tired muscles and chronic pain, the long term benefit is returning you to peak physical health to take part in the activities that bring you joy. 

Another important component to massage therapy is its role in the prevention of future injuries. Because massage therapy helps loosen muscles, lowers heart rate and reduces blood pressure, it can help you remain flexible. Flexibility of muscles helps decrease the chances of experiencing an injury when your body tense, wound up like a top, ready to snap – as bodies can – in response to the most innocuous little movement. Keeping your body healthy and avoiding injury is an important reason to consider regular, ongoing massage therapy. 

Often, individuals who have suffered a sports related injury, or any type of soft tissue injury, are confused about how to deal with the associated pain.  Alternative remedies such as massage therapy can conquer pain without evasive treatments such as surgery, meaning a greatly reduced (or non-existent) recovery period, and a greater chance of preventing injury in the future. 

So, in summary, massage therapy and how it can help you is multi-faceted.  As a form of massage, while it treats recurring pain from a sports related injury, it also helps you deal with the stress that often accompanies injury; address the issues preventing you from participating in your regular activities; and enjoy maintaining a healthy, active, pain-free lifestyle. 

For further details on what massage therapy is and the benefits it offers, contact Athletic Edge Sports Medicine by calling 416 800 0800, or visit www.aesm.ca