Newsletter: December 2002

• Christmas Holidays can be Hard on You!
• Community Outreach

A special "greeting" from Nancy and I during this Yule season. We appreciate the confidence and trust you have placed in us by choosing us for your chiropractic care and for referring friends and family to us. We feel truly blessed. Many thanks to you all and we wish you a healthy and happy holiday.

Please Note: The office will be OPEN during the two weeks of the holiday except on December 25th, 26th and New Year's Day.

NOTE: I am available for presentations, talks and/or workshops on a variety of topics suitable for any size group. Contact the office for more info and/or to make arrangements

Christmas Holidays can be Hard on You!

If you feel worse rather than better after Christmas Holidays, you're not alone. A change of routine will often tell a person if they have a hidden health problem. You might feel in perfect health when you start out, but long bouts of driving and visiting coupled with sleeping on an inadequate sleeping surface may ring the alarm bells of your body.

At the beginning of every year, there seems to be a trememdous influx of patients coming back from Christmas Holidays with a problem that they hadn't experienced before.

Usually a holiday is a complete change from the normal routine, whether sedentary or active. An unaccustomed activity, or lack of it, can irritate a previously undiagnosed condition.

A change in beds is a surefire test in precipitating a dormant back problem. Hammocks, old lumpy mattresses, cramped sofa beds and leaky air mattresses should definitely be avoided if at all possible.

Please check if your hosts do indeed have adequate sleeping arrangements for your family. A poor night's sleep is further compounded by frequent late night visiting and overindulgence of food and beverages. Patients may have had the problem before, but either ignored it, lived with it, or put off doing anything about it for other reasons.

A few nights in a different bed will irritate the condition to the point that they person is forced to seek help. And of course, it is usually very difficult to find an appropriate health care practitioner such as a Chiropractor during the Christmas season. Other factors such as excessive sitting and inactivity may also aggravate neck and/or low back problems. For anybody who does not exercise regularly, or is only marginally fit, this can create a significant stress on the spine.

One simple solution is to perform a regime of stretching exercises. An excellent source is Bob Anderson's "Stretching Manual".

Doctors of Chiropractic, apart from treating disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal (nerve-muscle-bone) system, also regularly prescribe exercises to help rehabilitate and prevent injuries to promote a greater sense of well-being. Each year, more than 400,000 patients are treated by Doctors of Chiropractic.

Why not make health your No. 1 priority for 2003. (Right after the Bowl games, of course!)

Cheers, and the best of health for 2003.

Community Outreach

If you, or someone you know, needs an informative and entertaining presentation, please call the office for more information about this no-fee presentation. Or contact us by email below.

Larry Smith, D.C., B.P.E.

We invite you to sign up for Dr. Larry's newsletter, which is sent out periodically with interesting new health information. When you click below an email will be generated, and then you simply press "send" on your email software.

Contact the office:
Dr. Larry Smith D.C., B.P.E.
Chiropractor

P.O. Box 307
255 Island Highway
Parksville, British Columbia
Canada V9P 2G5