February is when we start to feel sick of winter and excited for spring to start. The ‘winter blahs’ are when you’re just fed up with Old Man Winter and find yourself in a rut. For some people this means sitting on the couch watching reruns and cooking the same meals day in and day out. Spaghetti on Monday, chicken casserole on Tuesday, meatloaf on Wednesday… It gets a bit dull, doesn’t it?
Decorating your house for Christmas is usually a fun, family-centred activity. Most people put Christmas music on, drink hot chocolate and have a variety of snacks while we decorating. As fun as putting decorations up is, taking them down is not nearly as exciting. You can drive down almost any street on the hottest day in July and still see Christmas lights on the roofs of houses and we all have that friend who keeps their Christmas tree up until Easter. At whatever point you decide to take down your decorations, there are certain guidelines you should use to reduce your risk of injuring yourself. It is estimated that more 13,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for injuries during November and December 2010 in the United States that were Christmas decorating related. This is up from 10,000 in 2007 and 12,000 in 2008 and 2009 (Warren, 2011).
Beat the Holiday Bulge!
The holidays are a time for family gatherings, gift giving, story-telling and unfortunately over-eating, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and weight gain. For weeks and months after the Christmas holidays, we blame our expanding waistlines on carrying around extra ‘holiday weight’. It is easy to pack on the weight over Christmas because we tend to consume more calories than normal due to all the available treats (who can turn down a snowball?) and home-cooked meals that seem big enough to feed a small army. And before you know it, bikini season will be upon on us and we will still be blaming those extra ten pounds on holiday weight. So why not try to avoid this yearly pattern from happening? Here are some helpful tips to try and prevent the Holiday Bulge.
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all
– Stanley Horowitz
It is that beautiful time of year again! When the trees turn colour, the air is crisp and the ground is littered with orange, yellow and red leaves. By the time the middle of fall comes around, the leaves begin to accumulate and the fallen leaves are no longer magical but become a chore. Raking is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, stay active and improve your endurance and strength. However, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (Stoppler, 2010), if you are not moving properly, raking can lead to strain and injury to the back, shoulders, and wrists.
Snow shoveling is physically demanding work and can be relentless during the Canadian winter months. During the winter season, snow clearing is a common and necessary part of most people’s daily routine. For instance, on a morning when it snowed over night, you would get up earlier than normal, get yourself and everyone else ready, eat breakfast, pack up a lunch for the kids and then head outside to dig out your car. However, if snow shoveling is done incorrectly, it can lead to slips, falls and muscle strains. Shoveling is so hard on the body because it requires a high-level of simultaneous exertion from the legs, arms and back.
Cleaning is never a fun task and is even less so when you are suffering from an injury. There are modifications that you can do to your cleaning routine that can prevent an injury from occurring and reduce the risk for flare-ups of pre-existing injuries. A general guideline to follow is to spread out the house cleaning over a few days. It not only saves you the grief of re-aggravating an injury but it allows you to put all your focus into one room at a time. You will do a much better job of cleaning the area if you’re not rushed. Another general rule is to alternate your tasks. For example, sweep the floor first then do the dishes to give your back a rest and then mop the floor. This method avoids repetitive tasks and gives your muscles a chance to relax.
