Reach Health Clinic
102-9710 2nd Street V8L 3C4 Sidney, BC, Canada

Pain relief doesn’t have to come from a bottle. Pain is one of the most complex things we treat as physicians. Unfortunately, the current opioid crisis is revea...ling that our traditional medical training is failing our patients. Specifically, our reliance on pharmacological agents as first line therapies to treat pain. Pain is complex. And to those who experience it - it can be soul destroying. In no way am I presuming to be able to offer a solution in a short blog post, but if you are suffering from a chronic painful condition, and finding that over the counter analgesic options such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen aren’t cutting it, there may be other options to reduce your suffering. 1Massage therapy: physical touch in itself can be a powerful tool for healing, combine that with the skill of a massage therapist and you might have found your cure 2Acupuncture or intramuscular stimulation (IMS): the treatment philosophy between the two practices is quite different, but both have been shown to be safe and effective for treating multiple painful conditions. 3Relaxation techniques including meditation & mindfulness: the benefits here come with practice. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t notice a change after the first session - the more you work at it, the better the results appear to be. 4Pet therapy: yes, snuggling up with an animal for 10-15minutes a day can reduce pain scores! 5Topical treatments: this includes hot or cold packs, and for some, essential oils. There is conflicting (and very polarized) opinions on the benefit of these treatments, but their cost, and risk of harm is low, so I say if this type of treatment appeals to you, give it a try! You have nothing to lose but pain ;) 6Laughter: A good belly laugh floods your body with endorphins. This significantly reduces perception of pain and helps to break some of the emotional control that pain can have over us. Laughter shared with another is even more effective. Anything I missed?

Be sure to get outside and move today Enjoy this beautiful day before the rain arrives

If you are someone that suffers from chronic pain, here is another resource of informed strategies from a chronic pain sufferer. Great information to help manage a life with persistent pain.

We have a new addition to our Reach Family. Marc Jones UK Musculoskeletal &Sports Osteopathy. Book online www.reachhealthclinic.ca A little bit about Marc.... I'm from Liverpool in England and graduated as a clinical osteopath from university in London back in the 90s. Since that time I have worked with musculoskeletal (rather than visceral or cranial) osteopathy in combination with movement and exercise rehabilitation. If you are active, whether at home, work, with sports ...or anything that links to pain and movement, I'd be happy to help you get back on track with treatment and creative self-help ideas. My approach is based on the original osteopathy of "meat and bones" with modern evidence of how things really work. I use techniques such as stretch, mobilisation (spelt the British way of course!), manipulation, soft-tissue techniques and many other variations, all potentially supplemented with pain and movement advice as you wish to receive. I drink tea... and I know things. Britishly yours, Marc Jones UK Musculoskeletal & Sports Osteopathy BSc (Hons) Osteopathy MSc (with Distinction) Advanced Professional Practice (Clinical Sciences) GOsC registered osteopath (UK) 2665 AQO ostéopathe (Quebec) 17171 Explain Pain Educator McGill Spinal Rehab levels 1, 2 & 3 FMS & SFMA certified Gray Institute CAFS certified Tennis Canada Instructor Agatsu Kettlebell Instructor MovNat Instructor Former UK top-50 100m track sprinter ----------

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQE2rjppg1BRKCsY0cQB_Cg Here is an excellent resource with evidence based strategies on managing hip and knee arthritis.

RMT wanted. Both part-time and full time available. Our demographic of patient base is primarily between the ages of 20-60 years of age. If you are motivated to learn and work collaboratively with our experienced team in a bright and supportive environment by the ocean, this is the place for you. Demand in our area for RMTs is high and we need your help to take care of our community in a timely manner. Please contact Sheri for more information about joining our incredible team.

We at Reach would like to thank Giorgio Caiterzi our Osteopath, for the last year of care he has provided to our community. Wishing him the very best as he moves on from his stint at Reach.

Survey for Pregnant, Postpartum Women, Health Care Providers and Exercise Professionals: In October 2018 the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Cana...da/Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology released the Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity throughout Pregnancy. As part of this process CSEP has developed the Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy (formerly the PARmed-X for Pregnancy) and is looking for your feedback. We are looking for pregnant/postpartum women, health care providers, and exercise professionals to participate in a research survey. This involves a 10-minute online questionnaire: https://forms.gle/Ms7HLaE8MfB8fh1b7 If you are interested in learning more or have any questions, please contact Margie [email protected] or 780-492-0642. University of Alberta Ethics Pro00100959 Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy.

A Friday funny to start your morning. Be sure to seek out joy in your day. What brings you joy and makes you smile?

If you are getting tired of singing happy birthday (20sec) while you wash your hands thoroughly, try this little song. Allison teaches us why singing a repetitive song is good for our brains especially in times of stress. Give it a go and mix things up. "every little cell in my body is happy......."

The imperative physical distancing measures are getting more difficult on our collective mental health. Here are some resources that might help.

Don't forget to help the CDC and fill out this survey.

We are working diligently on implementing enhanced cleaning procedures and acquiring the necessary PPE to open safely. If supplies come in as expected, we are preparing for an early June soft opening. Once we have all the necessary precautions in place we will be happy to get back to work to take care of you. Rest assured we will be in contact with you soon to reschedule appointments that were cancelled due to our COVID 19 closure. Please give us a call if you are in need of ...treatment. We will do our best to fit you in. We are almost there. Thanks in advance for your patience as we prepare to return to work. Sincerely, The Reach Team

Looks like we wont be back till June at the earliestBe well and please reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help you manage this difficult time. We all miss taking care of our Reach community.

Make time each day to quiet the monkey brain and be still. Studies to date suggest that mindfulness affects many aspects of our psychological well-beingimproving our mood, increasing positive emotions, and decreasing our anxiety, emotional reactivity, and job burnout. But does mindfulness affect our bodies as well as our minds?... Recently, researchers have been exploring this questionwith some surprising results. While much of the early research on mindfulness relied on pilot studies with biased measures or limited groups of participants, more recent studies have been using less-biased physiological markers and randomly controlled experiments to get at the answer. Taken together, the studies suggest that mindfulness may impact our hearts, brains, immune systems, and more. www.greatergood.berkeley.edu//five_ways_mindfulness_mediti

Here is another resource for you to help manage COVID 19's current physical distancing and isolation measures that are in place https://thewellnesssociety.org//Coronavirus-Anxiety-Workbo

Looks like we may be able to take care of you in the coming months. Until thenStay safe, wash your hands, get some fresh air and keep moving for the health of it. While we are currently closed please know that we check our messages regularly so if there is anyway we can help you please leave us a message.

Discover the power of self-compassion in a FREE three part video series with Kristin Neff, PhD, and Chris Germer, PhD. In this series, theyll cover: > The sci...ence of self-compassion, and why most of us neglect this essential skill > How to become more confident, resilient, joyful, and motivated > Simple practices to transform your moments of suffering into moments of love GAIN ACCESS >> https://bit.ly/3bbgnCW

We are all in this together Reach Family. Be mindful and take frequent pauses and breathe. If you have any questions or are looking for further resources please dont hesitate to reach out to us.

This is the perfect time to move just a little each day in the privacy of your home. Yoga with Adrienne has a yoga practice everyday this month. Give yourself 15 min each day

Thank you to Dr. Justine Psychology for sharing this image! Right now many humans are stuck in either Hyper arousal (Sympathetic charge) or hypo arousal - (dor...sal vagal response ) due to the current events in the world. Take a moment and check in on your current internal state. Close your eyes and feel into your body, emotions and mental energy. Am I grounded, safe and present? am I irritated, resistant and tense? Am I spacey, blah, depressed and numb? There are many ways too to come back to flow state - ventral vagal. Im going to start sharing more on this over the next while and give you some tools to help. Grounding, breath work , movement practices and connecting to your body and life force. Fear makes us tense and blocks our flow and energy! Try not to feed the fear response, This only feeds more tension into the body and create disease. Take it easy on yourself and notice your thoughts and body sensations. Find space to breathe, meditate and calm down. Connect to Earth Love You.

Hello all, With the rapidly progressing pandemic its important that each of us does everything we can to flatten the curve and slow the spread of this virus. This includes taking drastic social distancing measures, and staying home when we can. The nature of Acupuncture, Osteopathy and massage therapy is most often not critical care and includes close one-on-one contact. As such, we believe it is in everyones best interest that our clinic ceases to operate until this crisis... is behind us. This afternoon our College reinforced this belief by strongly recommending we close business for two weeks. Effective immediately we are cancelling all appointments between now and the last day of March, at which time we will reassess based on current circumstances and recommendations. It is with a very heavy heart that we make this decision. We wish you all only the very best of health and look forward to seeing you all on the other end of this. Sincerely, Your Reach Health Team

Did you know that we have Osteopathy at Reach Health? Giorgio Caiterzi is in the clinic on Fridays. http://reachhealth.ca/index.php/about-us/... Everyone he is treating keeps getting better so he has openings in his schedule for you. If you or someone you know is looking to Reach their Health Potential book in with Giorgio https://reachhealth.janeapp.com/#/staff_member/16

If you or someone you know is struggling with Chronic Pain. This workshop will deliver some great information. Its Free and right here in Sidney at the SHOAL Centre

Hiking in nature is so powerful for our health and well-being that some doctors have begun prescribing it along with other treatments for disease.

Understanding the Brain and Pain

Good morning Sidney

Well isnt this fabulous

In times of stress and anxiety try this box breathing technique to shift the nervous system from fight or flight to calm and relaxation.