When it gets cold outside, we tend to spend more time indoors doing sedentary activities and it can be difficult to stay active. It’s helpful to plan ahead and set some time aside in your schedule a few days a week to make sure you’re getting the activity you need.
To have health benefits from exercise, adults need a total of 2.5 hours of activity spread across the week, in bouts of ten minutes or more. These activities need to be moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activities. Moderate-intensity physical activities include brisk walking or bike riding. Generally, you know your activity is moderate-intensity if you sweat a little and breathe harder than when you’re moving about day-to-day. Vigorous-intensity activities include jogging or cross-country skiing, and you’re likely to find yourself sweating and feeling out of breath.1
Here are a few tips to help keep you motivated to stay active during the winter months2:

• Plan activities ahead. When activities are in your calendar, you’re less likely to forget them. Preparedness also helps set good habits.
• Find a fun local activity, like snow shoeing, skiing, skating, or cross-country skiing.
• Dress in layers. Insulate your body. When you can keep your body warm, it’s easier to continue being active outside.
• Use your daylight hours. It’s easier to stay outside while it’s still light out. It’s easy to miss out on activities when you start them too late in the day.
• Find indoor activities at your local community centre. This could be aerobics classes, badminton, basketball, or yoga classes.
• Climb stairs. Deliberately add more steps to your day. Consider going up and down a flight in your home, the mall, or an office building more than once over the course of your regular daily activities. As little as five minutes can make a huge difference for your health.
• Visit a library to find more motivation. There are plenty of free exercise DVDs you can borrow, including dance, step, aerobics, or Pilates. You can use the return date as a deadline to pick up another one!
• Sign up for a fun run. You can often find non-competitive “fun runs” in your community that are usually between 5 and 10 kilometers. You can invite friends and family to join in!
• Find an activity buddy. Find someone willing to commit to being active as often as you are, and set a plan. That could be planning to meet for morning walks or afternoon workouts. Having a friend keeps you accountable.

For help on setting activity goals based on your specific musculoskeletal needs, you can always ask your chiropractor about what activities are right for you.
Whatever your activity level is, remember to stay hydrated. It is easy to forget to drink water when it’s cold out, but your body needs just as much hydration in a snowstorm as it does in a heatwave.2
Most importantly, stay motivated. Revisit your goals (or look for tips to set new ones) to make sure you’re still on track. Plan ahead and make sure you can envision your goal as you look ahead towards the finish line.

Canadian Chiropractic Association

Your feet play an important role in your overall health—they serve as a strong base to your body when you’re standing and walking. However, at times, your feet and body may benefit from extra support by wearing custom orthotics. An orthosis is an externally applied device that is designed and fitted to the body that can help:

• Control biomechanical alignment
• Correct or accommodate deformity
• Protect and support an injury
• Assist in rehabilitation
• Reduce pain
• Increase mobility

There are varieties of prefabricated and custom-made orthoses that can help manage a number of MSK problems. Commonly, we understand that orthotics can provide arch support and realign the structures of the foot and leg, as well as prevent muscle and tendon fatigue. Orthotics may also be used to correct structural deformities2.
Chiropractors are trained to assess if and when custom orthotics may benefit a patient. As part of the assessment, a chiropractor’s evaluation may include observation, gait analysis, functional analysis and neurological and orthopedic testing among others. This will help the chiropractor determine if custom orthotics are appropriate for a patient. In some cases, off-the-shelf orthotics may be best suited to meet the needs and goals of the patient. However, in cases where structural deformities exist and correction may be required, chiropractors will typically refer to a colleague, like a podiatrist, to co-manage the condition.
Chiropractors consider the body as a whole. For example, when assessing knee pain they will also look at the function of the back, hip, ankle and foot. Interestingly, patients who benefit the most from orthotics may not present with only foot pain, but rather pain in the ankle, knee, hip or low back, and a comprehensive look at all these biomechanics are reflected in chiropractic training3.
The underlying problem doesn’t always stem from the source of pain—a foot dysfunction (e.g., over pronation) can cause pain in other parts of the body. The value of chiropractic training in the field of orthotics, when considering all therapeutic options, involves assessing the entire lower kinetic chain for patients presenting with non-foot pain.
Next time you visit your chiropractor, ask whether orthotics may be appropriate for you.

Canadian Chiropractic Association

Every year in August, as children prepare to return to school, we are reminded of the importance of choosing and wearing a proper backpack. Believe it or not, backpacks can have an important health impact on the growing and developing bodies of children. More so, a heavy or poorly fitted backpack can affect a child’s musculoskeletal (MSK) health—both today and in the future. It’s time to review a few guiding principles to prepare your child for school, keeping their MSK health in mind.
It is not uncommon to see children trotting along to school, back hunched forward to balance a heavy or over-sized bag. Unfortunately, carrying such heavy loads long-term can cause problems to a child’s MSK system, and result in back pain—among other things. For example, children may condition their bodies to lean forward, arch their backs, and lean to one side. Creep can settle in the spine, and muscle can become fatigued and strained. This type of physical stress can also alter the posture and gait of children.
So how can these health consequences be prevented? It’s simple—help your child choose the correct backpack which will fit their body and is adjustable as they grow. Follow these tips:

1. The backpack should be between 10 to 15 percent of the body weight of the child.
2. Distribute the weight of the bag evenly across the back. The more spread out the load is, the less strain there is on the body.
3. Make sure the child wears both shoulder straps. Wearing a backpack over just one shoulder can cause leaning to one side, which could curve the spine over time.
4. Adjust shoulder straps so the backpack fits closely to the upper part of the body. The further a backpack is away from the body, the more difficult it is to achieve proper balance.
5. The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline.
6. A backpack with individualized compartments helps in positioning its contents most effectively.
7. Bigger is not necessarily better. The more room there is in a backpack, the more your child will carry and the heavier the backpack will likely be.
8. The shoulder straps should be adjustable so the backpack can be fitted to your child’s body

For more information on choosing the correct backpack, speak to your chiropractor.

Canadian Chiropractic Association

We know that physical activity and a good diet go hand in hand when it comes to our health. We also understand the importance of personal hygiene practices, like brushing our teeth and bathing. But do we place a similar emphasis on our sleeping patterns?
Sleep plays an important role in maintaining a person’s health and well-being over the course of their life. During sleep, your body is working to restore itself and support healthy brain function and physical health for the next day.1,2 Therefore, getting good quality sleep can help protect and improve your mental health, physical health, and overall quality of life.1
According to the National Institute of Health, 50–70 million adults in the United States suffer from a sleep disorder or report having insufficient sleep.3 Studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can lead to cognitive impairments such as difficulty making decisions, solving problems, learning and retaining information, controlling emotions and behaviour, or coping with change.1,4 Ongoing sleep deficiency is also linked to an increased risk of health problems including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even early mortality.4
Exercise plays a role in how well your body is able to rest-up: research has shown that increased sedentary time is associated with poorer sleep quality than those who reported exercising. Those who exercised more regularly were less likely to report sleep disturbances and daytime tiredness.3
The National Sleep Foundation issued recommendations for appropriate sleep durations. The recommended sleep guidelines show that at different stages of our lives we require different amounts of sleep. Typically, infants and newborns need nearly twice as much sleep as a fully-grown adult, and that duration reduces in slight increments as children grow into adults2:

• Newborns (0–3 months): 14–17 hours each day
• Infants (4–11 months): 12–15 hours
• Toddlers (1–2 years): 11–14 hours
• Preschoolers (3–5 years): 10–13 hours
• School-age children (6–13 years): 9–11 hours
• Teenagers (14–17 years): 8–10 hours
• Younger adults (18–25 years): 7–9 hours
• Adults (26–64 years): 7–9 hours
• Older adults (65+ years): 7–8 hours

It’s never too late to develop good sleep habits. Here are a few things you can do to boost your sleep quality and get you into a routine for a good night’s sleep:

1. Stick to a regular sleep–wake schedule, even on weekends
2. Avoid screen time (TV, phone, tablet, computer) within two hours of bedtime
3. Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet
4. Limit daytime naps
5. Include physical activity in your daily routine

These are just a few of the steps you can take to ensure your body and your environment is primed for sleep. For more tips on how to improve your sleep quality and habits, ask your chiropractor.

Canadian Chiropractic Association

It is common to have questions and even trepidations before your first visit to any new healthcare provider. Luckily, chiropractors know that new patients may need extra time to discuss their questions or concerns. You can play a role in your own chiropractic care before your first visit. An effective way to be involved in your own healthcare is to learn about what you can expect from visit #1.
Depending on the injury or condition for which you are being treated, initial visits can last from 45 to 60 minutes. Subsequent visits will likely be shorter, but the first visit aims to start building the therapeutic relationship, identifying the cause of the problem and discussing a proposed plan of management. As MSK experts, chiropractors are extensively trained to assess, diagnose, manage and prevent reoccurrence of MSK conditions while specifically addressing your needs and goals. Make sure you communicate your needs and goals to your chiropractor.
As mentioned, your first appointment includes a comprehensive assessment to help determine the cause of the problem and how to treat it. To do so, expect that the history-taking portion of the visit may include questions about the following areas of your health:

• Personal and family medical history
• Major illnesses you have experienced
• Surgeries or operations you have had
• Medications you are taking
• A description of your area(s) of concern
• A description of the general state of your health
• The steps you have taken to manage your condition
• Your diet and exercise
• Your sleeping habits
• Your daily activities
• Your work routine
• Your stress level
• Your home life

Typically, patients can expect a chiropractor to go through a more diagnostic process during the initial visit. However, this may be different from person to person depending on the nature of the injury and personal history.
Building a therapeutic relationship with a new practitioner can take some time, but investing in good communication at the outset can help you maximize the benefit of your chiropractic treatment. Your chiropractor will be happy to answer questions, address concerns and explain different options to you. This may include preventative strategies and changes in lifestyle practices. You may feel some slight discomfort or fatigue after your visit, but it should resolve quickly.
After your visit, if you have additional questions or concerns, simply contact the office or write them down to be discussed at a subsequent visit.

Canadian Chiropractic Association