In this brief daily health update, Dr. David Koivuranta (Dr. Dave) of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic shares three recent health findings and practical wellness tips. First, he highlights a June 2020 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine study suggesting that regular singing may reduce snoring and the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, though the evidence is preliminary and he advises trying it cautiously. Second, he discusses an April 2020 Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics article showing that five sessions of myofascial tissue work—a deep, therapeutic massage technique—are as effective as ten sessions of conventional massage, ultrasound, or TENS for neck pain, indicating a more efficient treatment option. Finally, he recaps WebMD’s June 2020 five healthy‑aging recommendations: eat more plant‑based foods, exercise about 30 minutes daily, maintain consistent sleep schedules, engage in a new hobby, and stay socially connected. He ends with a standard disclaimer that the information is not medical advice and invites viewers to contact the clinic for personalized care.
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Hello everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hope you're all doing well, enjoying the start of your week. It's Monday, July 20th, 2020, coming at you on behalf of the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic with a part of your daily health update. Let's see what's fun and exciting in the world of health and wellness. Apparently, if you are a singer and you like to sing, it may reduce the risk for you to snore and also to have obstructive sleep apnea, where you stop breathing while you're sleeping. Very scary thing, especially for the partners. Of people who have sleep apnea. Now, it doesn't say on behalf of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, June 2020, whether or not increasing your singing, or if you are already snoring, that if you start singing or singing more, that the snoring will get better. So maybe if you snore, you can try for the next couple of weeks to increase your singing and see if your snoring improves, and then let me know. I don't see any harm in that. Uh, just be smart. It may or may not work. Uh, but that's the latest and greatest in the research, uh, behind your sleep, your, uh, health alert for the day. A couple of other interesting things here, of course, with neck pain, uh, probably with back pain, but this study, neck pain in particular, from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, April 2020, says that myofascial tissue work is helpful in terms of dealing with neck pain. Myofascial treatment is like a massage for the muscles, except it's a little bit deeper and affects the tissue in a therapeutic kind of way that's a little bit different than, say, a relaxation or Swedish kind of massage. Both are very effective, they're both beneficial in different ways, but in this case they found that doing 5 treatments of the myofascial kind of treatment is equivalent to getting 10 sessions of massage, 10 sessions of ultrasound therapy, and maybe even 10 sessions of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS, nerve blockage through stimulation through the electrical signal through the skin. So it was more effective. So not the same as effectiveness, but actually it's just more effective. So myofascial tissue work, good for neck pain. All right. Uh, and finally, the WebMD site, June 2020, has, uh, 5 ways, 5 tips to stay healthy as the years go by. And you've heard them all before, um, but it's good to know that there's research that keeps reiterating what it is we can do for ourselves to stay healthy and well. And of course, one One is them to eat better, eat more vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, and whole grains, and less butter, fatty meats, sugar, and salt. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Start a new hobby apparently would be very good for you. Uh, maybe exercise will be that new hobby for you, or maybe a cooking class is a good idea to get you into that healthy cooking. And, um, finally, to stay in contact with loved ones. Apparently, if we have a good support system as we— as the years go by, we tend to do better in our quality and quantity of life. All right. So in the article below this video, you can see the other areas of health and wellness for today. But that's the part that I wanted to share with you in person just to say hi. Hope you're doing well here in July. We'll try and get some more videos up for you just so we can stay in touch. And remember, none of this is designed to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any illness or disease. Just for informational and perhaps educational and entertainment purposes only. If there's anything specific there that you'd like some help with, be sure to contact a healthcare provider, and you're certainly welcome to come see us as well here at the Toronto Neck and Back Pain Clinic. Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll catch you next time.
