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“ANYONE WHO STOPS LEARNING IS OLD, WHETHER AT 20 OR 80. ANYONE WHO KEEPS LEARNING STAYS YOUNG. THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE IS TO KEEP YOUR MIND YOUNG.” –HENRY FORD
Shin splints and how to avoid them BY KYLE PANKRATZ BHK, C. PED (C), PEDORTHIST, NEW BALANCE
Change your activity: If you have changed from running on flat ground to doing hill sprints, the change in how your muscles are firing can cause strain on the muscles attaching to the shin and ankle. This can, in turn, cause shin splints. Not doing the same activities repeatedly and taking breaks can reduce the symptoms associated with shin splints.
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t’s running season again, and one of the most common running injuries is shin splints. Shin splints is a catch-all term for the pain felt along the shin, either on the outside (anterior) or the inside (medial) of the lower leg. Shin splints is most commonly referred to as Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) and is an overuse injury caused by small tears in the lower leg muscles. Shin splints usually appear when you take on too much too soon. If you’ve changed your normal training habits, changed activities, or you are wearing the wrong shoes for the activity you are doing, you may be susceptible to shin splints. The treatment of shin splints can be pretty simple:
Change your footwear: If you are someone that puts too much stress on the inside portion of your foot and you are wearing unsuitable footwear, this can
cause your lower limb to compensate, which can in turn cause pain and strain on your muscles. If your shoes are worn out, they won’t offer enough stability and cushioning, which can also lead to shin splints.
Changing your footwear to something designed for your specific foot type, or a more supportive shoe appropriate to the activity of choice, can reduce your symptoms dramatically.
Rest: Doing too much too often can cause shin splints. Taking appropriate breaks and days off can be a strategic way to reduce symptoms and allow your body to heal. Come talk to the fit experts at New Balance about the proper footwear for your specific foot type, and get a gait analysis done to see whether or not you are susceptible to getting shin splints. New Balance can offer advice and point you in the right direction on the road to recovery. stores.newbalance.com/Victoria
Functional Fitness ASSISTING SENIORS AT HOME BY JOHANNA BOOY, CARE & COMPANY LTD.
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ctivities of Daily Living (ADL) is a term that health professionals use to describe an individual’s daily self-care activities. They use it as a measure of functional status to assess how fit you are to stay in your home. There are six ADLs including bathing or showering, dressing, self-feeding, personal hygiene and grooming, toileting and mobility (the ability to move yourself from one place to another). One of the more important ADLs is transferring and mobilizing. Without functional mobility, you will not be able to go to the dining room to eat or get out of bed to get to the bathroom or dress yourself. More importantly, all the other ADLs are dependent on your strength and mobility — specifically what we call “functional strength.”
Stay in the home you love longer The biggest advantage of being a functionally fit person is that you get to stay in your own home as long as possible. Why is this? When a group at a local independent living residence involved in a care discussion were asked about staying home, they unanimously agreed it was their top priority. They wanted to sleep in their own bed, eat their own
meals, be free to make choices and remain independent. One resident responded that she liked her home because “I’m familiar with my surroundings.” Her neighbour agreed. He said, “I can do what I want to do when I want to do it.” As we grow older, remaining independent really comes down to one’s functional fitness. You need to stay strong. The good news is, with a little commitment and help, you can maintain, even regain your functional strength. “Whatever activity you do, there is an exercise that will target the muscles and joints required to do the activity and enable you to do them longer,” says Medical Exercise Specialist, Emma.
Fall Prevention One of the things that happens when your balance deteriorates is a tendency to shuffle in order to try and keep your feet close to the ground. Medical Exercise Specialists will work with you to build a strong gait pattern and encourage proper posture. Every time you strike your heel on the floor, it impacts the bones and builds density. Shuffling does nothing for the bone. Exercises are repetitive in nature to encourage those with Parkinson’s disease or dementia to gain a regular gait pattern through neuro muscular facilitation — the messaging that takes place when
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Foam cushioning and increased ground contact outsole create a stable, supportive shoe. The medial posting is made of a dense foam to provide extra support, without adding weight or bulkiness.
the muscles send messages to the brain and the brain gives feedback to the muscles.
Picking Yourself Up Falling is dangerous, however getting stranded on the floor after a fall can be deadly. While we certainly don’t recommend any exercises from the floor, we do show you how to get up off the floor, because many people who fall don’t have any way to get up off the ground. We teach a couple of very simple ways to get up again, and there are some fine exercises which target the upper body and legs to assist with the push up off the floor. In Home Chair Exercises Even if you have difficulty standing, you can do many of these exercises from the comfort of your own chair and reap the benefits of increased strength. Recover from surgery and hospital visits more quickly If you undergo hip or knee replacement surgery, the exercise program you should do postsurgery is very comprehensive. These post-surgery exercises are extremely important. If you don’t do them, the muscles targeted in the surgery will atrophy. When you leave the hospital, the outpatient program that sets you up with exercises sincerely hopes you will continue to follow-up in the community where you have the support of qualified personnel to assist you. Seniors are into fitness for a completely different reason. They want to recover from surgery, focus on balance issues to prevent falling, and make sure old injuries don’t come back to haunt them. Engage a physiotherapist or Medical Exercise Specialist to set you up for in-home exercises which incorporate cardiovascular and strength training and specific exercises for balance and core strength. SeniorCareVictoria.ca
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Talk to fit experts. Come in and talk to Kyle or any of our Fit Experts to learn more.
KYLE P. Certified Pedorthist
New Balance Victoria 1205 Government Street (Corner of View Street)
VICTORIA
Tel 250 382 9327 Toll-Free 1 877 882 9327 newbalancevictoria.ca
✓ Home Support ✓ Hourly, Overnight, & Live In ✓ Consistent Caregivers ✓ Appointment Transportation ✓ Medication Administration ✓ Best Fit Approach
SeniorCareVictoria.ca | 250.382.2328
Contact Simone Fibiger at: 250-380-5358 sfibiger@timescolonist.com