Sport Fans' Favourite Time of Year
The Healthy View
For sport fans, this is the best time of year. We’re able to watch incredible feats of strength night in and night out, seeing our heroes reaching new heights. As fans and practitioners, our team often watches these games a little differently - whether they’re considering potential injuries that could come from a hit or looking a little closer at someone’s pre-game warm-up routine. Learn more about some of our team’s sport heroes in this week’s Healthy View.
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A Boyhood Hero
It is not often in life that one gets to meet their "Boyhood Hero" never mind having the honour to rehabilitate them. My Boyhood Hero was the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Mike Palmateer who I emulated in our local road hockey games and cheered for every game. I cheered his every win and literally "cried" at every loss during the 1979 NHL playoffs. In fact, one night after a loss to the Montreal Canadiens, my mother asked why I was crying and I responded "Mom you just don't understand the importance."
During my time as the Head Athletic Therapist with the Leafs, I received a call from a friend that his colleague had received a knee replacement and was still in the hospital ten days post-operative. He asked if I would call him to see if there was anything we could do to assist the progress of his knee. I agreed and called the number and realized that the person was Mike Palmateer and he asked if we could help with his knee rehab. He spent the next eight weeks daily at the Sport Medicine Clinic for hours, working tirelessly to improve his knee mobility and strength. He was determined to return to an active lifestyle which included golf, fishing, and even skiing with his family.
It is not often you get to meet your Boyhood Hero and they live up to your image of who they are as a person. Mike holds my personal record of over twenty surgeries over his career and over the past year he reached out again to rehabilitate his shoulder after surgery. I am so grateful to be working in a Sport Medicine Clinic environment that assists clients and athletes in staying active and pursuing their passions daily.
Photo by: Mike Parolini / Shutterstock.com
FYI, the last time the Leafs played the Canadiens in the 1979 NHL playoffs, the winner went on to win the Stanley Cup. Leafs Nation can believe that this time, the script will be in our favour!!
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Chris Broadhurst
Clinic Manager
Adelaide Clinic & Sport Medicine Clinic
416-865-0903
Email me
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How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture Work?
You may be curious to try acupuncture having heard from friends or family about the benefits. Or you may have experienced acupuncture as a part of your physiotherapy, chiropractic, or athletic therapy treatment. Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture is a bit different, as it involves a different assessment process and selection of acupuncture points.
TCM is a centuries old practice that has evolved with time and is practiced in various ways by different practitioners. We may have met at a cycle, yoga, or strength class at the Adelaide Club or TAC, so you know that I am a physical educator. In my experience, as a somewhat reluctant believer (I’m afraid of needles!), acupuncture is hugely beneficial for the active athletic population. I was amazed at how quickly minor issues such as a skin rash cleared up with treatment. The reason being the basis of TCM acupuncture is to restore the free flow, circulation of qi (life energy) through the body, and the active person works their circulatory system regularly making it efficient, so treatment to ease any restrictions in circulation to balance the body works very well.
What can you expect when you come to the Adelaide Health Clinic for a TCM acupuncture treatment? First, we do a thorough intake of your health concerns, health history, and lifestyle, then we look at your tongue and pulse, which gives an indication of what is happening in your body at the moment. Next, you can relax on the table while I palpate acupuncture points on your back as a form of diagnostic massage. There’s further palpation of various points on your body and we come to an agreement on what points will be needled to give you the most effective treatment. If you are nervous about the needles, I completely understand, and I’ve made it my mission to make the needles as painless as possible to great success with patients being able to relax and feel refreshed after their treatment.
Once a patient has experienced the positive effects of a few fine needles, the most common question is how does this work? On a basic level, the needles stimulate the nervous system and ideally induces a healing response. There is a real art to choosing the acupuncture points with the most impact for your condition. For musculoskeletal conditions, I find points around the musculotendinous junction to be highly effective for relieving pain and speeding recovery from an injury, plus these points can be relatively painless. There are other points where you might feel sensations like numbness, heaviness, hot/cold/warm, tingling, and this indicates the point was located well while you feel the effect of the needle on the nervous system.
I have had great experiences in treating allergies, headaches, neck/shoulder issues, low back pain, knee pain, calf, ankle and foot issues, wrist/elbow pain, skin conditions, insomnia, menstrual issues, gastrointestinal issues, stress, overwork, fatigue, cosmetic/facial acupuncture, and mental/emotional/physical strain. Having coped with various ankle/calf/foot injuries myself, I have special interest and expertise in this area. TCM acupuncture is a modality to address many health concerns, as well as a great form of self-care to maintain optimal health through the aging process, and is complimentary to other therapies you are engaged in.
Vivian can do a virtual meeting or call for a complimentary 15 minute consultation to learn more on how TCM acupuncture could benefit you. If you’d like to hold your consultation in-person, please call the Clinic (416-367-5200) to book your appointment.
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Vivian Law
Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture
Adelaide Health Clinic
416-367-5200
Email me
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50 is the new 40 on the PGA tour!
Looks like the theme on the PGA tour the past couple of months has been as much about turning back the clock as it has been looking toward the potential of the youth movement on tour. Watching the leaderboard this past weekend for the PGA Championships yet again revealed the dramatic impact that golf specific fitness has had on allowing the more senior touring professionals to continue to compete against those seemingly half their age. What Phil Mickelson accomplished by winning his 6th major golf championship this weekend at the age of 50 (he’ll be 51 in 3 weeks) may be considered one of the greatest individual golfing accomplishments of all time. The other names on the leaderboard that might jump out at you include Louis Oosthuizen (38), Padraig Harrington (49), and Paul Casey (44), all still competing at a very high level due to their golf fitness commitments.
Photo by: L.E.MORMILE / Shutterstock.com
But looking specifically at Phil’s fitness level over the past 5-8 years, it has been nothing short of amazing. Phil has transformed his overall health and fitness and is currently playing at a level comparable to any point in his illustrious career to date. Maybe the most jaw dropping stat from this weekend was that Phil was credited with hitting the longest drive all weekend at 366 yards. So much for the theory of adding 40 pounds of muscle to hit the ball further. Phil credits his work with TPI trained strength coach Sean Cochran for helping prolong his career...
...and specifically to TPI for changing the global game of golf’s approach to fitness.
Understanding your physical limitations and how to overcome them is part of the assessment process that we utilize at the Clinic when working with golfers who are looking to improve. But we also utilize a very similar assessment process for those that are injured and unable to play or live pain free.
If you would like more information on how you can find the answers to any of these obstacles, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Micheli directly.
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Dr. Lawrence Micheli
Clinic Manager & Chiropractor
Adelaide Clinic & Sport Medicine Clinic
416-865-0903
Email me
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