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hot water bottle
Columns, Farm Life

At-home remedies for arthritis pain

Fit to Farm: It only seems weird to use heat and warmth to reduce inflammation in your joints

By
Joint pain and pain related to arthritis are common occurrences heading into our colder months here in Canada. With extreme and frequent changes in temperature and air pressure, many of us experience increased achiness, stiffness and inflammation. Here are a few at-home ideas to try this winter to hopefully take the edge off some of […] Read more
Intentionally slowing down your usual simple routine movements can help calm your nervous system and dial down a pain response.
Columns, Farm Life

Non-surgical options to manage pain

Fit to Farm: Don’t just ignore pain or the clues to its causes

By
As an athletic therapist, I often work with individuals faced with managing painful conditions in the short and long term. Many conditions or injuries do require surgery to repair underlying issues. That said, many pain-related symptoms do not require surgical intervention to alleviate. Pain and other uncomfortable sensations occur for many reasons, often entirely unrelated […] Read more
Gently moving your skin, and the surgical scar itself, will help you make sure scar tissue doesn’t impede connective tissues and soft tissues.
Columns, Farm Life

Recovering from joint replacement surgery

Fit to Farm: Many people wait too long to begin rehabilitation afterward

By
Last issue I wrote about the preparation and potential “pre-hab” strategies I recommend to individuals waiting or pursuing a joint replacement surgery. Now it’s time to explore what to do after a joint replacement to support optimal recovery. Regardless of which area has been replaced or operated on, joint replacement surgeries are often relatively quick […] Read more
Gentle yoga practices can help maintain whole-body movement and can be adjusted to avoid discomfort.
Columns, Farm Life

How to prepare for joint replacement surgery

Fit to Farm: 'Pre-hab' can help your body recover more quickly

By
Whether due to trauma or degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis, joint replacement procedures are common options for managing movement limitations and pain. Joint replacement surgeries are among the most common procedures for which I help clients prepare and recover. The most common joints to replace are knees and hips, often from long-term degeneration. In these […] Read more
To be clear, practices such as the ones outlined in this space are not meant to replace appropriate rest and recovery.
Columns, Farm Life

To avoid fatigue, breathe

Fit to Farm: Deliberate breath can help influence energy levels, focus and level of alertness

By
As a new season approaches, so too do long hours of driving for many farmers. One problem that presents when we deal with prolonged periods of driving, whether in the field or on the highway, is fatigue. The agriculture industries are rife with long hours at various tasks and fatigue is common, posing a dangerous […] Read more
back pain
Columns, Farm Life

Easing the strain of sitting

Fit to Farm: Joints in the spine can get compressed when you have to sit for long periods

By
A common complaint that comes along with the farm lifestyle and career is back pain. Non-specific low back pain — meaning the pain has begun with no clear incidence and doesn’t have one clear cause — makes up over 80 per cent of back pain complaints. In my line of work, often it isn’t as […] Read more
Spending time outside of shoes, experiencing textures and touch, will benefit your feet — not to mention the rest of you — in the longer term.
Columns, Farm Life

Let your feet flex and feel the floor

Fit to Farm: While necessary, shoes do limit how your feet's natural structures can work

By
Have you been told you have fallen arches or flat feet? A common misconception is that our foot posture is unchangeable or uncontrollable. Just like any other part of the body, there is quite a lot we can do to support the physical health and mobility in our feet. Many clients that I meet have […] Read more
a person experiencing shouder pain
Columns, Farm Life

Movements for healthy shoulders

Proper breathing mechanics and exercise help keep the upper spine loose

By
Farmers often come to me complaining of pain and fatigue between the shoulder blades. This is an especially important area for humans as the shoulders are the core of our arms, in a sense. It’s not surprising that they are a common area of complaint, just as the low back is a common area of […] Read more
In rare instances people are born with the sciatic nerve travelling through the piriformis muscle, meaning a greater likelihood of sciatica symptoms.
Farm Life

Sciatica, the proverbial pain in the butt

Overcoming it means paying attention to how you move and how you face stress

By
A common complaint I see in my clinic is sciatica. Sciatica can be a blanket diagnosis for pain in the hip, buttocks and down the leg. It’s labelled “sciatica” because often the sciatic nerve — a nerve that exits at the base of your spine and travels down the back of your legs, can be […] Read more
The temperature in a warm-to-hot shower or bath can help support a healthy vagal tone in the body.
Columns, Farm Life

Support the nervous system for whole health

Fit to Farm: Stimulating the vagus nerve can help you deal with stress-related conditions

By
If you’ve read my articles before, you may know I am a total nervous system nerd. The nervous system is the mechanism of direction and feedback for our soft tissue which, in turn, moves our skeleton and connective tissues. The nervous system has sensory and motor pathways throughout the entire body, including our musculature, organs, […] Read more

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