Endorphins Health and Wellness Centre
4631 Palladium Way L7M 0W9 Burlington, ON, Canada

Hello everyone! We anticipate re-opening for regular care on Monday, June 1! The Ministry of Health has recently updated their directive to allow for all deferred and non-essential and elective services carried out by Health Care Providers to be gradually restarted. We have been anxiously awaiting this type of update to be able to receive patients at the clinic! However, as the need to take precautions against COVID-19 has not passed entirely, you will notice some changes as... we move forward, in particular: 1. Please arrive at the clinic wearing a mask or other face covering when possible. 2. Patients must pass COVID-19 screening prior to appointments. 3. Physical distancing measures will be in place (chairs separated, physical barriers at reception, limited waiting area capacity, PPE use in clinic, etc.). 4. Hand washing and/or alcohol based sanitization practices are strongly encouraged for all patients (and will be mandated for practitioners as well) before and after appointments. As this is a gradual restart of operations, some changes may be required as we move forward, but for now you can call us at 905-634-6000 for appointment times next week. Leave us a message if we are unavailable at the time you call, and we will do our best to return all messages leading up to and including Monday morning. We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Mobility is just one way that you can challenge your body to perform better for you on the golf course. Developing power and more coordination between body part...s is another way to use your body to improve your golf game. Improving coordination of body parts helps transfer energy from the ground and body to the clubhead and ball and you can do this more efficiently if you have the right muscles active during the golf swing. Specifically, getting the hips and core contracting to create stability in the body while the arms and shoulders make a dynamic move is a key for efficient energy transmission. Similarly, to create more energy that eventually gets transferred to the ball, many of the world’s best golfers use the effective strategy of pushing through the ground, in turn creating more power and distance in the golf swing. They do this by engaging more of the muscles used for jumping (even if you don’t this in an obvious manner during the swing a la Happy Gilmore). With all that said, try these exercise moves for promoting power and better body coordination in golf that many people are missing out on. - Anti-rotation Chop - Anti-Rotation Pallof Press - Squat Jump More details at the blog: http://drjimgilliard.com//golf-early-season-power-exercise/ #chiropractic #golfseason #golfmobility #golfexercise #dynamicstability #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Golf season is back! And that means, like everybody else, you have already resolved to make this your best season ever. But how will you achieve that goal? Grip... changes? Foot positioning? Postural adjustments? Have you considered looking at your body? Most of our movement, including a golf swing, is largely determined by what our body is able to do for us. But that doesn’t mean you are forever limited by how your body moves TODAY. You can make changes to flexibility, strength, and motor control that will all show up in how your move during the golf swing. Even small changes can make big differences in some cases ten degrees more range of motion at the shoulder can translate to a longer shot for many people. Try these three mobility drills that you can do at home to improve your body’s ability to move and create potential energy that gets converted to power through the golf ball. - Mid-back (T-spine) Rotation - Hip Mobility 90/90 - Shoulder Flexion More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//05/20/golf-early-season-mobility/ #chiropractic #golfseason #golfmobility #golfexercise #dynamicstability #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Developing strength and resiliency with exercises to compliment mobility at the hips is really important for making sure you have better long term outcomes for ...hip pain and other issues. If you haven’t seen the post for improving mobility at the hips, take a minute to go back and review that now. To build strength and resiliency on top of mobility, here are a few exercises selected to engage muscles important for addressing painful hips: 3A - Bodyweight Squats 3B - Banded Sidesteps 3C - Sliding Adductions 3D - Glute Bridges 3E - Clamshells 3F - Walking Lunges More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//hip-pain-strength-and-resiliency #chiropractic #hippain #femoroacetabular #hipmobility #dynamicstability #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Mobility at the hip requires both tissue flexibility and control of movement at the joint. Here is an example of a short and easy-to-complete mobility routine f...or the hip that addresses structures around the hip that are important for building flexibility and mobility at the joint. You can work through a routine like this every day to open up better hip mobility and relieve strain on other joints in the body (especially the back and core). Here are six activities designed to improve mobility at the hip through stretches and intentional movements. 2A - Quadriceps Stretch 2B - Hamstring Stretch 2C - Iliopsoas (Hip Flexor) Stretch 2D - Figure-4 (Gluteal) Stretch 2E - 90/90 Hip Mobility Drill 2F1/2F2 - Active Hip Circles Find more hip details for these activities at the blog: http://drjimgilliard.com//hip-mobility-and-range-of-motion/ #chiropractic #hippain #femoroacetabular #hipmobility #dynamicstability #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Mobility at the hip is incredibly important. I can’t overstate how important mobility at the hip is for a healthy hip joint, as well as the surrounding body reg...ions that it supports. If you think of the body as having alternating components that either primarily provide mobility or primarily provide stability, you have the basis for understanding how different body parts work together to create better movement overall. When this concept holds true, your injury risk is lower because the demands of everyday life and activity are shared between tissues and body regions there is no need to overload one joint in favour of another. Areas that move well, move well. Areas that provide support, provide support. But when injury and dysfunction is present this relationship often flips. Areas of movement become stiff and tight, and areas of support start moving more to pick up the slack! And since the hip is such an important link in overall movement, maintaining its ability to move is critical! This series will focus on just that keeping the hip moving with activities and exercises that open up its ability to move and reinforce the joint with muscular engagement. In the meantime, find more hip details at the blog: http://drjimgilliard.com//the-hip-joint-a-case-for-mobili/ #chiropractic #hippain #femoroacetabular #hipmobility #dynamicstability #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

The next step for shoulders: exercises to build resiliency. The exercises included have been selected because they recruit muscles that help control the shoulde...r joint and shoulder girdle at the same time, rather than having each exercise focus on a selected muscle specifically. This means fewer total exercises required (you are hitting several targets simultaneously) and a more time-efficient routine without sacrificing the overall effectiveness that helps build activity resiliency. Included here: 1> Scaption with External Rotation 2> Scapular Wall Slides 3> Sidelying External Rotation 4> Elevation Plus External Rotation 5> W Exercise 6> D1/D2 Shoulder Patterns For reference, completing a routine like this ensures activation of all of the following muscles important for shoulder health and function: supraspinatus, subscapularis, deltoid (anterior/middle/posterior), teres minor, infraspinatus, trapezius (middle/lower), serratus anterior, rhomboid major. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//shoulder-pain-exercise-to-build/

As with other joints of the body, early management for shoulder pain involves keeping the joint moving as much as possible while avoiding pain creation when pos...sible. This is especially important since the shoulder is a highly mobile joint that is built to create a lot of movement. But since pain often impairs the ability of surrounding muscles to effectively control a joint (see: move without pain), how to restart activities safely and effectively? Follow the link for steps to reintroduce movement in the shoulder during the early stages of shoulder pain. We will expand into more complex and resiliency based activities in the next post. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//shoulder-pain-re-introducing-mo/

Shoulder pain is a frequent complaint for patients that can present in a number of different ways. Many structures can be involved due to the very large amount ...of mobility that occurs at this joint from the joint capsule itself, the rotator cuff, other ligaments and tendons, various bursae in the region, and others. Follow the link for a more detailed overview, and a quick note regarding advanced imaging (ie. MRI, CT, x-ray, ultrasound) findings as well. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//04/22/shoulder-pain-an-introduct

Pain changes the way muscles work together to provide support and movement for the body. After getting the neck moving, using exercise to build tissue resilienc...e is the next step in re-establishing these normal relationships. Follow the link below for a general layout that provides a plan to activate the muscles of the neck safely, appropriately, and efficiently without causing more discomfort. Find the details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//building-resiliency-with-neck-p/

Neck pain frequently creates tightness and limits the ability of the neck to move properly freely. To combat this at home, stretching and active movement are th...e best, and simplest, tools available. I find there tend to be four key stretches that govern range of motion improvements: the Upper Neck, Lower Neck, Levator Scapula, and Upper Trapezius. Combine these stretches with intentional active range of motion activities in the six cardinal movement directions of the neck, and you have a recipe reduced tightness and improved movement in the neck. Find the details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//improving-and-maintaining-movem/ #chiropractic #neckpain #soreneck #textneck #forwardheadposture #neckstretches #activerangeofmotion #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Dealing with neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints that people experience. Large scale research indicates as much as 80% of the adult p...opulation experiences neck pain (and associated disorders) during their lifetime, with 30-50% of adults reporting neck pain each year. But how to handle it, day-to-day? I hope what follows in the next few posts will begin to address some strategies that can be helpful in dealing with neck pain. We will cover: 1. General recommendations 2. Maintaining neck range of motion 3. Developing strength and resiliency for the neck, and 4. The basics of a daily routine for neck pain. Find more about some general recommendations regarding neck pain at the blog, and in the coming days I’ll have more to help build the movement and resiliency needed when dealing with neck pain. http://drjimgilliard.com/2020/04/09/neck-pain-day-to-day/ #chiropractic #neckpain #soreneck #textneck #forwardheadposture #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro Photo credit Box 1A to Aidan Jones via Flickr, no changes made (CC BY-SA 2.0). https://www.flickr.com/photos/aidan_jones/3117187373 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Here is a condensed (roughly 1 minute) example run-through of the whole program. The real-time commitment for a walk-through of each activity was 10 minutes. ht...tps://youtu.be/yvxYgHfuHLE With everything covered so far, we have the foundation for a general low back care routine that you can take (and modify if needed) to start using right away. For people dealing with, or looking to prevent further occurrences of low back pain, establishing a daily routine that gets the back and spine moving safely, efficiently, and in a manner that sets up daily activities to follow is important. Here’s a short recap of what we covered: - First Steps with Lower Back Pain - Building a Low Back Care Routine - Activation in a Low Back Care Routine To cover some of the more specific questions I often get when discussing routine programming, see the FAQ at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//putting-it-together-low-back-ca/ #chiropractic #lowbackpain #morningroutine #lowbackexercise #lowbackactivation #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

We’ve established what not to do/how to find relief, and selected a few simple movements to start back into activity. Now, here are The Big Three exercises fo...r the core and low back, which have been extensively studied for their ability to help develop resiliency and fundamental strength. All three are critical to include, as together they are able to engage muscles at the front, sides, and back of the core and lower back a 360 engagement of the core. Here are The Big Three exercises to include: Partial Curl Up, Side Bridge, & Bird Dog. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//activation-in-a-low-back-care-r/ #chiropractic #lowbackpain #partialcurlup #sidebridge #birddog #lowbackexercise #lowbackactivation #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

Now that the first steps to handling lower back pain are in hand, it is important to get the spine and body as a whole primed for daily activities. Especially i...n the morning, where we know increased spinal stiffness makes early-day movement more difficult, and raises the risk of injury as well. Here are three go-to warm-up activities to get things moving at the start of the day. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//building-a-low-back-care-routine/ #chiropractic #lowbackpain #catcamel #partialsquats #nerveflossing #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

If you’re having lower back pain, building an active care program for yourself can be extremely effective at restoring functionality and especially important ...in times like this where finding access to in-person care is difficult. But where to begin? Over the next few days, I’ll provide a general template you can use day-to-day for getting the low back functional, and building resilience with simple activities. More details at the blog. http://drjimgilliard.com//first-steps-with-lower-back-pain/ #chiropractic #lowerbackpain #drjimgilliard #burlingtonchiro

March 30 COVID-19 update: We continue to be closed for normal operations until further notice. However, we are able to see existing patients for emergency care. Please read the letter below to see if your condition qualifies, as Dr. Gray remains available to accommodate this need. Messages at the clinic are checked daily for such requests.

TEMPORARY CLOSURE: We anticipate this closure will continue at minimum through Saturday, March 28, at which time we will re-assess the situation and update our policies accordingly. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.

At this time, we anticipate remaining open for our patients, however appointments may need to be cancelled or rescheduled on short notice subject to evolving Ontario and Health Canada guidelines, and we will continue monitoring the situation as it evolves.