“Today is a bad day for backs.”

2 Comments July 19, 2016 drworobec

“Just so you know, today is a bad day for backs.”

That was the text that one of our reception team sent to me last Friday morning. Three new patients had called in that morning, a much higher number than most Fridays through the Summer months, and all three had a primary complaint of back pain.

That part is not atypical; back pain is far and above the most common condition that I treat in my practice, despite us being a full-body, sports-based clinic. The stats don’t lie, and in fact, up to 85% of working people can expect to experience lower back pain in their lifetime. Couple that with the word “spine” in our clinic name, and it makes sense that a lot of low back pain walks into our office.

And guess what? We are really good at treating low back pain. Really good. We can make a big difference in a short period of time, and while I don’t have a randomized controlled trial on my patient’s improvement levels to present to you, I can say that our success rate is very high. We are good at what we do, and a large part of what we do is treat low back pain.

I will go a step further and tell you that what patients do outside of my office (things like following rehabilitation exercises and modifying activities appropriately) are far more important than what they do inside my office, on my treatment table. The hands-on, manual therapy part is a small piece of the puzzle in a lower back complaint. My most effective roles become those of educator (why does my back hurt?), ergonomist (what positions should I modify/avoid?), and personal trainer (what movements should I do to feel better?). My ultimate goal with a lower back pain patient is to avoid a reoccurrent episode down the road; the cycle of lower back pain is all too common. Again, education, ergonomics, and personal training come into play.

The point? Lower back pain is very common, NOT normal, and very treatable.

Happy Tuesday all.

Me versus Lunchables

10 Comments June 7, 2016 drworobec

I am certainly not perfect in my nutrition, and I’m far from perfect in my parenting, but I do have strong opinions surrounding both.

What really gets me are the weekly pizza days and the school program chocolate milks and the kid’s menus at restaurants. It’s the never-ending Halloween candy and the overloaded Easter baskets and the individually wrapped, over-processed “snack foods.” What used to be treats have become a part of everyday childhood nutrition. It seems that everywhere I turn, unhealthy food is being marketed to my children as a healthy choice, and I’m tired of feeling duped. “But Mom, it says these gummy fruit snacks are made with real fruit,” my seven-year-old read to me recently. And off I go into a discussion of “made with real fruit” versus actual “real fruit.”

The other day, a patient was lamenting to me about how he’s put on weight due to his poor diet. “I’ve been eating all of her stuff lately,” he said, referring to his five-year-old daughter, “all goldfish crackers and Bearpaws and Lunchables.” But why are Lunchables even a thing? Have you read their ingredients? Take a look:

I can’t pronounce half of these words, and I certainly wouldn’t eat this myself, let alone serve it to my still-growing, ever-impressionable children. I cannot see one redeemable ingredient in this entire list; it’s full of chemicals and fillers and oh-so-bad-for-you stuff. So WHY are we allowing this product to succeed? We have a voice with our spending patterns. If no one bought Lunchables, Lunchables would cease to be.

I’ve written about kid’s menus before, but their content still angers me. The truth is, I think that kid’s menus should actually be healthier than adult menus; after all, their bodies are smaller, their development level much higher, and their potential much greater than ours. Should we not be giving them the best start that we can, instead of filling them up with Kraft dinner and french fries and chicken nuggets? Let’s teach healthy eating as we would teach any other life skill, and we will grow our children into adults who think choosing an apple is more normal than choosing an apple fritter.

This is a borderline rant, or perhaps well into a full-blown rant, so I must finish up here. Yes, I agree that treats should be enjoyed and celebrated sometimes, but not all the time. And I understand that we’re all just doing our best, trying to make the best choices for our family’s nutrition (in fact, many would argue against my huge egg intake), but I can promise you that the healthiest choices do not come pre-packaged with several-year shelf lives.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

The lessons of sport

2 Comments May 31, 2016 drworobec

This was a sporty weekend for me, just how I like ’em. We picked up my daughter’s soccer team picture, my son had a touch football game, I went to the most exciting Jays game I’ve ever been to, and I ran a half marathon. Well, actually I ran half of a half marathon.

Months ago, when a May 29th half marathon seemed like a good carrot to chase through the Winter, myself and a couple of girlfriends registered for this women’s only event. It took place in Sunnybrook Park, the scene of many, many training runs during my Chiropractic College days ten years ago. It would be a run down memory lane I thought, and a great chance to build up my mileage again after a two-year distance racing hiatus.

I ran Burlington’s Chilly half marathon in early March, under-trained and suffering for 21.1km. Sunday’s race was to be my redemption; a flat course, more training mileage under my belt, and a small field of runners to help me push the pace and run a race I was proud of. To have a great trio of supportive friends on the race course with me and a post-race brunch to look forward to was the icing on my proverbial running cake. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans for us. With a Spring that’s been abnormally cold and wet, the weather had dramatically shifted to record-breaking heat and humidity. Not only were we not acclimatized to the heat (I ran my last long run two weeks prior wearing a toque and gloves!), but with the humidity factored in, conditions were dangerous.

The race organizers sent out a warning email the day prior, alerting us that the half marathon distance could be shortened, in what was to be a raceday decision. If I’m being honest, I was discouraged and annoyed, feeling like my pre-dawn Sunday long runs and plodding through mid-week mileage with my favourite running buddy were all for naught. Nevertheless, I carb-loaded at the Jays game, packing a bag full of baked sweet potatoes, Lara bars, and ice water, much to the amusement of my friend Jen. Yes, I actually did that. Yes, I’m crazy.

We arrived race morning to find out that the race had in fact been downgraded to 12km (although my friend’s GPS trackers said it ended up being closer to 13km), and organizers encouraged us to treat it as a “fun run” instead of a race. They were even foregoing age group prizes to discourage racing under such extreme conditions. It was the right call, despite the day prior’s disappointment factor. The heat quickly became oppressive and I ran far slower and felt far worse than my perceived exertion would dictate.

Sport teaches us many lessons, and this weekend it taught me adaptability. And perseverance. And determination. And tenacity. And friendship. And fun.