West End Chiropractic
829 Goldstream Ave # 109 v9b2x8 Victoria, BC, Canada

If you're wondering how to move properly, watch your young children move. When it comes to movement kids know best. Happy Monday!

It's beginning to be well known that our bodies aren't designed to sit all day long. The human body is designed to move! This is a fun article with some good exercises/stretches to help undo the damages of sitting all day. http://www.artofmanliness.com//05/undo-the-damage-of-sitt/

I generally preach to my low back pain patients to cut out the sit-ups/crunches and here is a nice article that talks about some other exercises that are often doing us more harm than good. Pay special attention to #1 and #3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com//exercise-fitness-expert-pet

This is a good read on the dangers of chronic use of over the counter and prescription pain killers. These drugs should almost never be used for long term conditions and often make the problem at hand worse while also creating new, often more severe, problems. I believe that the general public is not aware how common it is to develop serious complications from long term pain killer use. http://experiencelife.com/a/this-is-your-body-on-ibuprofen/

With such great weather out there how about going for a nice run outside? There is a ton of info available on running injury prevention, but here is a nice quick and simple read with some good links to stretching and strengthening programs as well. The one injury prevention tip they missed...STAY HYDRATED! http://running.about.com//injurypreve/ht/preventinjury.htm

I'm frequently asked about exercises for strengthening the core, which to perform and which to avoid (especially with low back pain patients). In a generalized sense the exercise to avoid is sit-ups/crunches....don't do them. Instead of sit-ups/crunches perform plank exercises. http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/how-to-do-a-plank/#_

A recent message from patient Tracy Sims: So very pleased with a particular result I've had at West End Chiro from Dr. Mike Cummings; who has been working on a very injured knee of mine, awaiting surgery, which I am pleased to say feels better than it has in years, and I'm Now contemplating postponing my surgery... Highly recommended. -Tracy

Happy Saturday! Dr. Mike is in the office from 10am-1pm today, stop by for a visit :)

Here's a great exercise that you likely haven't seen before to activate the deep core muscles. This is frequently a problem area in those suffering from certain types of low back pain.

West End Chiropractic is donating partial proceeds from all new patient visits in the month of June to the Easter Seals. If you were thinking of Chiropractic before then now is the time. Help support a great cause!!

West End Chiropractic would like to thank everyone that came out to help support the Easter Seals at the 24 hour relay this past weekend at UVic. The event was a huge success and everyone involved seemed to have a great time (especially one really lucky dairy cow - Daisy).

Happy hump day everyone! Just a reminder that tonight Dr. Mike will be teaching a free class on rehab exercise at Royal Roads University gym tonight at 6pm. Come on down and have some fun.

Anyone looking to start exercising and wondering where to start? Anyone looking to safely improve their mobility and help decrease pain? Dr. Mike will be teaching a FREE class on rehabilitative exercise at Royal Roads University gym on Wed. May 28th from 6-7pm. See the ad below for more info and please contact the office to register.

West End Chiropractic is proud to announce that we will be volunteering at the Easter Seals 24 hour relay at UVic Centennial Stadium on May 31st. Dr. Vari and Dr. Cummings will be providing treatment to all participants, volunteers, event attendees. Stop by the office to pickup some info about the event and the Easter Seals or visit the website below. http://www.24hourrelay.com/

Want to see how your options for practitioners and therapists measure up in educational hours? You might be surprised how much anatomy, orthopedic training, radiology, soft tissue mobilization, and rehabilitative exercise training us DC's receive in school. All of this leads to: astute diagnosis and a great set of tools in the belt to fix and build bodies. http://prohealthsys.com/s/students/professional-comparison/

Is coffee good or bad for us? The topic has been popular for quite some time now....here is a nice little breakdown of some of the major pros and cons of coffee consumption.

Good luck to all the runners out there that are running the TC10K tomorrow and the half and 1.5K distances as well. All your training and preparation was the tough part, this is the fun part....ENJOY IT!

Good turn out so far at the Colour Run. Come visit Dr. Mike and Dr. Vari at the West End booth and help support the Easter Seals.

Looking for something fun to do this Easter long weekend??? Dr. Vari and Dr. Cummings will be volunteering their Chiropractic skills at the Splash of Colour Family Fun Run at Royal Roads University to help support the Easter Seals. Come on down and help support the cause. http://victoria.splashofcolor.ca/#photo4

Happy hump-day everyone!

Hopefully the weather today is a sign of good things to come. Get out there and enjoy it!!!

A weak core can wreak havoc on the body. Unfortunately so can many common exercises people perform to strengthen their core; the worst exercise being crunches. Here is a great write up with videos of some awesome core strengthening and stabilizing exercises. If you have any questions or want further direction in building a rehab exercise program stop by the office for a chat.

Dr. Rob Vari and Dr. Mike Cummings both utilize Laser Light Therapy in their Chiropractic practice. Laser therapy is a non-invasive, pain-free, therapy that can be performed to any area of the body to reduce inflammation, improve immune response and circulation, and repair and regenerate cells in the body. Check out this patient testimonial: "You will see that I tagged Multi Radiance Medical below .. my comments along with this: I am a patient of Dr. Rob Vari, and the laser WORKS on all parts of the body, not just the feet as seen below. After several sessions with Dr. Rob .. my elbows, knees are 99.9% pain free. I highly recommend this laser treatment. This morning, March 6th I had a "tune up on my knees" .. my last treatment was 2 months ago. Give Dr. Rob a call .. and enjoy relief .... Juli Perrin"

Keeping your spine healthy = Keeping your brain and body healthy.

A nice article on the debate of static stretching and muscle performance. Conclusion: Keep your stretching to under 30 seconds, wait at least 5 minutes between static stretching and exercise, and most usefully transition from static to dynamic stretching before exercise.

Help support a School of Chiropractic in British Columbia. This news comes from the BC Chiropractic Association and Simon Fraser University. (Click on picture to enlarge for easier reading) Submit your feedback at: http://www.sfu.ca//sfu-requests-community-consultation.html

Good news!!! Dr. Mike Cummings will now be available on Saturdays. He will be in the office from 10am-1pm starting this coming Saturday (Feb. 22nd).

Have you heard of Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)? IASTM, also known as Graston technique, is an advanced form of soft tissue therapy which enables clinicians to efficiently detect and treat soft tissue dysfunction including scar tissue, fascial restrictions and adhesions. The technique breaks down collagen cross-links, increases blood flow and cellular activity to the injured area, and triggers an inflammatory healing response. The result of treatment ...is the stimulation of the production of new collagen and restoring the proper functional movement to soft tissues. Benefits of IASTM treatment include: faster rehabilitation, faster recovery from injury, reduced need for anti-inflammatory medication, restoration of range of motion and movement, and relief from chronic conditions. Some of the conditions which can benefit from IASTM treatment include: cervical sprain/strain (neck pain), lumbar sprain/strain (back pain), carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist pain), epicondylitis (golfers/tennis elbow), rotator cuff tendinitis (shoulder pain), plantar fasciitis (foot pain), patellofemoral pain disorders (knee pain), achilles tendinitis (ankle pain), shin splints, muscle tightness, and scar tissue. Dr. Cummings is certified in IASTM technique and has shown it to be a powerful addition to his chiropractic practice. Call today to book an appointment with Dr. Cummings to try IASTM therapy.

A little Chiropractic humour for family day. We hope everyone is enjoying their family day long weekend.

We are proud to introduce Dr. Michael Cummings to the West End Chiropractic team. Dr. Mike was born and raised in the Western Communities and completed his Doctorate of Chiropractic at the University of Western States in Portland, OR. To see the rest of his biography visit: http://www.westendchiropractic.ca/Dr._Michael_Cummings.html

Just seven of the many benefits of seeing your Chiropractor.

Cold or heat? I'm often asked what to do for soreness. Heat is recommended usually by others in the healthcare field, however it is my experience that cold works better. The issue with heat is that it can encourage swelling that will lead to worsening pain and inflammation. Cold works better when cycled on and off the painful area. I recommend applying a cold pack to the painful area for 20 minutes taking it off for an hour then reapplying it for 20 minutes. The cycle should be repeated at least three times for full effect. Cold is nature's anti inflammatory... and there are no side effects!

Openings for massage for tomorrow April 12th. Give us a call to book, and start the weekend off right

Hope everyone has a great Easter long weekend and enjoy the wonderful sunshine. The office is closed for the weekend but we will be back at the office Tuesday

On The Spot Chair massage will be at the Royal Canadian Bank located at 700-2945 Jacklin Road Langford. This afternoon from 1-4 to talk to people about the benefits of having chair massage at your business. Free 15 minute chair massages available. Hope to see you there Thomas R.M.T