Toronto Chiropractor discusses support for back pain, neck pain, and overall health.

Hey everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all doing well, taking care of each other and managing during this interesting and challenging time of ours. Just wanted to reach out with a little reminder. I'm going to post some videos if I haven't already to help maintain some of your neck health, your low back health. I want to complement those things. There's always these physical things we can do, but there's also emotional, chemical things we want to be doing right now. That are good for your neck and back health, but they're good for your overall health in challenging times. You know, if you're dealing with a little bit of stress, unknown situation, our relationships, the quarantine, the social separation, isolation, career, workplace, boy, there are just a lot of side effects with what's going on, but it's great to see the majority of people choosing to do the right thing to get through this in an efficient kind of way and to make sure that those people who could be most affected by what's going on are less likely to be affected because the rest of us are actually making good choices and we're following the recommendations of our health officials. So good for you for participating. In the meantime, it gives you a lot of time to think, maybe a lot of time to take care of yourself, and right now is a great time to ramp up those health efforts. So we are going to post those videos to help with your neck and back health, some reminders on some other things like the yoga for cheaters. But I just wanted to remind you, right now is a really good time to clean up your diet. Most of us know there's some things that we are eating that we shouldn't or don't have to be eating, some things that we aren't eating that we should be getting some more of. We want to stay hydrated, so just watch out. There's lots of things to Google and research that, but right now nutrition is really important because your immune system is fueled by what you eat, and if you put bad stuff in or don't get enough good stuff, your immune system, your nervous system, and your musculoskeletal system, all of them will suffer. They're all dependent on your nutrition. So just a good reminder to stay on top of that. And great time to catch up on some sleep perhaps, depending on what's going on with you and your schedule. Sometimes it's hard to still sleep because we have a lot on our mind, there's a lot of uncertainty, this is a very strange and unique situation. But be at peace, know that everything is going to go okay, you're going to be alright, we're going to get through it together because that's what Canadians do. And sleep is a really important part of that. So if you're naturally a 5 or 6 hour a night sleeper, now there's no reason why you hopefully try to ramp that up to 7 or even 8, and even take a nap during the day. Take really good care of yourself, spoil yourself right now, it's okay, and let your body heal. And maybe it'll create some momentum through some good nutrition and your sleep. If you just did those two things and you create some habits around those that last once we get back to some of our routine and our schedule again, you may be really much better off for it. And maybe this is happening for you. If instead of to you or against you, right? Then of course, get up and move. So those are some of the things that we sent you, important for your neck and back obviously, but also helpful to your immune system and your nervous system and just for your mood and your mental health. Get out, go for a walk, engage in some kind of fitness or exercise, do something happy, laugh a little bit, get together with people socially, have a drink over Skype. I don't know how that works, but I hear that people are doing it. One of my favourite bands is U2 and Bono just did a great video, a song. I think he looked like he was practicing some social isolation, but he released a nice little song on video. So even I'm getting a chance to catch up on some stuff that I normally wouldn't look at or see. But do some stuff that puts a smile on your face. If you have family or friends that are around that you're in contact with anyway, maybe don't go out of your way to get in contact with family or friends right now as we're not supposed to be. But with those you do have contact with, even if it's virtually, share some smiles and be happy, laugh a little bit, watch some funny videos if you can. All right? So nutrition, sleep, get up and move, and just be optimistic. Now is a great time to put pen to paper. Look at some things that you've been looking— thinking about improving or doing differently in your life. Journal a little bit, sit down with your finances, maybe figure out a strategy going forward with your career. Write a poem, do something that engages your mind, and, you know, do some Sudoku. My mom is into Sudoku, never thought she would be. She wasn't great with numbers, but she does it. It's challenging for her and she likes it, and it's good, she knows, for her mind and keeping her brain sharp. So good for you, Mom, and good for the rest of us. Okay, so just a little reminder to complement your back and neck pain, you know, we've sent you some specific exercises by email. I know you have access to those. We've done some care, we've probably given you some treatment, but these other aspects of your lifestyle are very important as well. Maybe we don't talk about them at the clinic as much as we would or should or could, but we send you a lot of information by email so that we can treat you efficiently here at the clinic. But on your own time, you should be looking at some of the information we send you. But I thought today I'd send you a special video just as a little reminder on all that. So thanks for letting me hang out with you for a few minutes. I miss you all and I look forward to seeing you soon. All right, take care of yourselves.