Omega-3 fatty acids benefits

In an earlier blog, I was talking about the benefit of omega-3 to fight depression, but there is much more known benefit reported from omega-3 fatty acid. The omega-3 is found in fish oil, cold water fish, and flax seed oil, to name a few. Here is a list of benefits from different studies over the years.

HEART DISEASE: Decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke and abnormal heart rythms. It also prevent and treat atherosclerosis(hardening of the arteries). But if you have too much of omega-3, more than 3gr. a day, you increaseyour risk of bleeding.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL: It will decrease the cholesterol, by decreasing triglycerid and increasing  HDL ( good fat ).

HYPERTENSION: Studies showed a decrease of the blood pressure.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: Fish oil may reduce the symptom of RA, especially, the morning stiffness and joint pain.

DEPRESSION: Omega-3, nourrish the brain cells, making them more resilient. There is also an increase of good mood neurotransmettor.

OSTEOPOROSIS: Some studies suggest that omega-3, may help increase the level of calcium in the body, and increase bone strenght and density.

Strong back with pilates

Pilates is a physical training method, to increase strenght, flexibility and control of the body.  It is a mix between dance, yoga and gymnastic, and it can be done on a floor mat or with apparatus. According to Wikipedia, this method seek to develop controlled movement from a strong core and it does this using a range of apparatuses to guide and train the body.

Strong core muscle, is the basis for a strong back, especially the low back. Most of the low back pain will be relief from core exercise, and better posture will be notice. Two excellents methods to reinforce the core muscle are the swiss ball exercise or the pilates classes. There is multiple video and book on the method, but I suggest that you first take a class to learn the good technique, because you can hurt yourself if the methods is not done properly.

Related article: Strong back and good posture with core muscle exercise.

Best sleeping position for good back and good rest

We often don't realize that we spend or wish to spend one third of our day sleeping. People often wake up with sore muscles, often wandering what happen during the night. There is a couple of factor to check for better rest. The pillow, the bed and the position we take while we are sleeping, are the major factor for a good night sleep. This article will focus more on the sleep position. In futur post, I will talk about bed and pillow, since I am often ask those questions in my office.

1. SIDE LYING: Sleeping on your side with your knee slightly bent and a pillow between your knee, is the most beneficial for your body. In that position, your body rest in a neutral position, and all the natural curve of your spine are preserve, and the muscles are in a relax and resting state. I srtongly suggest that you put the pillow between your knee, even if it feels akward at the beginning. Putting that pillow, will prevent you to fall on your stomach while you are sleeping, and keep your leg and pelvis together.

2. ON THE BACK: Sleeping on your back, is not a bad position, if you put a pillow underneath your knee. Not putting any pillow, will decrease your  lumbar curve (your low back) and put a strain in the lumbar and pelvis muscle and the sciatic nerve. Also, if you are prone to snooring, it will increase it It could also increase your sleep apnea, if you suffer from that condition.

3. ON THE STOMACH: Lying on your stomach, is not good for you. It put a major strain in your neck, because you have the head turn on your pillow all night, in order to be able to breath. It will also put strain in the low back, hyperextending it. I know it may feel comforting sleeping on your stomach, but the chronic strain that it place on the body, is worth breaking that habit. When you see you go on your stomach, come back to the side or back, and eventually, you will not go to your stomach anymore.

Just remember that, in order to have a good and restfull night, your body has to lie in the most neutral position as possible. Sleeping is a way for our body, to recharge our battery. Don't you think it feels good starting the day well rested, and ready to attack the task ahead. Good Night !!!

How to shovel and remove snow properly

With the winter season well underway, it is important to follow some simple advice to be able to enjoy winter and what it has to offer, instead of suffering with low back pain. Every snow storm, bring those beautiful snowflake that we have to unfortunatly,  remove from our sidewalk and driveway. Here is some advice to keep in your head before heading outside.

1. Warm-up before getting outside
2. Don't let snow accumulate, and go outside more often, during the snowstorm
3. Make sure to have a well adjusted shovel, and that is made of light material
4. Bend your knee, and keep your back straight
5. Take your time
6. Push the snow instead of lifting it
7. Drink water, we often don't feel the thirst in winter

Strong back, and good posture with core muscle exercise

The core muscle, are the muscle that stabilize your posture. It include the abdominals muscles, the back muscle, and the pelvis muscle (butt). It is important to keep them very strong, because weak core muscle, will cause, an imbalance when you move, wich will eventually cause, low back, pelvis, knee or hip problem. We have to do specific exercise in order to reenforce them.

Walking is a good general exercise for core strenghtening. But what I usually recommend to strenghtened those muscles is the stability ball, also known as the exercise ball or the swiss ball. One easy exercise you can do, is to just sit on it, watch tv, work, while sitting on it. Start with 15-30 min. and increase your time as you feel more confortable on the ball. Just sitting on the ball require you to keep your balance, and eventough you may not feel it, your muscle are working. There is many other exercises you can do on the ball. The next 2 videos shows you more exercise. There is also many books on the subject. The 4 point exercise, is a very good exercise to perform ( the first video ). Just remember to start slowly, and to contract the transverse, which are the abdominal  muscle located at the pelvis, and don't forget to breath.

Related aticles: How to prevent low back pain

How to prevent low back pain

Low back pain is a common complaint, and a very painfull condition. Most of the low back injury occurs with faulty movements and bad habits. It is important to learn, how to use your low back properly, and to learn proper posture, when sitting, bending, lifting, pulling, etc. I will give you, a few example advice, but once you understand how the low back work, you will know what to avoid.

• When lifting, keep the weight close to your body
• When lifting, bend your knee, don't keep your leg straight
• When lifting, don't rotate and overextend
• Avoid straining
• If you sneeze, bend your back slightly
• Don't miscalculate the weight your lifting
• Avoid leaning forward for a prolonged period
• Avoid standing still or sitting for long period of time
• Don't sleep on your belly
• When standing still, place one of your foot on a small stool
• When sitting, your feet should be firmly on the ground
• When sittng, your knee should be slightly higher than your hip

Measuring the weight load on the disk, is a good way to know, if a movment is dangerous for your low back . Once you understand how the weight is put on the low back, it is easy to apply it to every movement, in your everyday life.

Load measurements in the L3 disk of a 70 kg man:

Lying on your back: 30 kg
Standing on your feet: 70 kg
Walking: 85 kg
Twisting: 90 kg
Bending sideways: 95 kg
Sitting without support: 100 kg
Coughing: 110 kg
Jumping: 110 kg
Straining: 120 kg
Laughing: 120 kg
Bending forward 20 degrees: 120 kg
Lying on your belly and hyperextended: 150 kg
Sit-up exercise with knee extended: 175 kg
Bending forward at 20 degrees with a 10 kg weight: 185 kg
Lifting 20 kg with back straight and knees bent: 210 kg
Lifting 20 kg with back bent but knees staight: 340 kg

When should I put ice or heat?

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That is a question that I am often ask. Should I put ice or heat, and it seems that everybody has is own theory on the subject.

Let's start with ice. Ice is used to decrease swelling and pain after an injury. It is one of the easiest and cheapest way for pain relief. Ice is used for acute injury(sudden onset of symptom) for the first 48-72 hours after the onset of pain. You could apply it even longer than that if there is still swelling on the site of the injury. Ice is also used after the activity, for chronic recurrent overuse injury. Never put ice before doing an activity. For ice bag, you can use crushed ice in a ziploc bag, or the gel ice pack, or even a bag of frozen peas. Always wrap the ice bag with a wet towel, and apply it to the injured body part, for 10-15min., no more than that. Wait at least an hour and you can put ice again. You should put it, at least 4 time a day, to be effective.

Heat is applied for chronic injury that has no inflammation. We usually put heat on sore, stiff muscle pain, to relax the tight muscle. You can use a heating pad, or the gel pack that goes in the micro-wave, for 15 min, again wrapping the heat source with a damp towel. Never use heat when there is inflammation. In doubt, put ice, since you will never worsened your condition with it. But if you put heat on an inflame joint, even if it feels good will doing it, in an hour or so, you will be worse. So here is a quick recap:     

Ice:  Acute
        Recurrent chronic overuse injury
        Decrease swelling and pain
        10-15min.
        At least 4 time a day
        After the activity,  never before
        Never directly on the skin

Heat: Chronic injury with no inflammation
         Sore, stiff muscle pain
         To relax tight muscle
         15 min.
         Never put heat after an exercise
         Never directly on the skin

Golf most common injury and how to prevent it

Golf is a very popular sport around the world, and people from any ages can play this sport. But like any other sport, there is certain type of injury related to practising golf. So, here is a short summary of the most common injury that occur in golf.

BACK : Low back pain is a common complaint from golfer. There is an increase  weight load on the lombo-sacral area during the swing. The torque in the swing put a lot of pressure on the disc, the vertebra and the muscle of the area. To avoid getting low back pain, it is important to learn a good swing technique. Certain study shows that the amateur put more weight on his low back when he swing compare to the pro.

HAND : The tendon of the hands, can get inflamed from a to tight grip and cause tenosynovitis, or DeQuervain's disease. You can also get inflammation of the deep muscle of the forearm. Very rarely, we see fracture of the hamate, a bone at the base of the pinky finger.

ELBOW : Golfer  elbow also known as medial epicondylits, and Tennis elbow, lateral epicondylitis, are also two condition encounter frequently in golf. Decrease grip strenght, and more flexible club shaft will prevent those injuries.

SHOULDER : The shoulder is not injured as much as the other part, but we still encounter injuries involving the acromio-clavicular joint of the shoulder. We also find rotators cuff tear especially on older people due to the wear and tear of the tendon.

Here is a list of easy advice to avoid those condition:

1. Arrive early, before your tee time
2. Warm up, and than stretch, Swinging first at low speed and with short iron.
3. Stretch after the game also.
4. Make sure your club and grip are well adjusted to your shape.
5. Take golf lesson and learn the good technique.
6. Get in shape.

I recommend the book  Stretching, by Bob Anderson. In that book, there is a stretching illustrated routine for every sport, golf included.¸

If you encounter tennis or golf elbow, here is the link, to an article I wrote about easy exercise to treat tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow new treatment