Last week I talked about poison ivy, oak and sumac, warning you to watch out for it on your trail runs or bike rides. This week, I will discuss what little creatures can do to you if you are not careful. Years ago, my wife managed to attract a tick behind her knee. At first, she thought it was a scab. When she couldn’t get it off, she called me to take a look. My comment was “you have been hanging around the dogs too much”. Lucky for her, ticks in Jamaica do not carry Lyme Disease. Here in Ontario, we aren’t so lucky.
Trail running and riding can be the best running and riding out there but be careful not to let dangerous vegetation get you. A few years ago on my 50th birthday, being new to Canada and totally naïve, I had the lovely experience of brushing up against some poison ivy. At first, my wife and I thought the first lesion was psoriasis and since my father has it, I thought “oh well, happy birthday to me”.
Last week's blog was about dynamic stretching as a warm-up for activity and sports, so you may be thinking, what about good old static stretching, where does that fit in? Is there a place for it? Yes, static stretching has not been banished but now the research is saying that it is best after activity or sports to improve flexibility and cool your body down or as a separate activity to enhance flexibility.
As a physiotherapist, I see many patients who injure themselves because they didn’t do an adequate warm up. I also see many patients who are still doing “old school” static stretches before they do a sport. It has been a few years now, that as a physiotherapist, I have been telling patients to stop doing static stretches before sports or activity and to change to a dynamic warm-up.
With the Sun now here in Toronto and we are ending the month of May with a heatwave, let’s talk about the effects of the sun and over heating.
Let’s be Sun Smart. Overexposure to sun can be extremely dangerous. In the short run, unprotected exposure can cause moderate to severe sunburn. In the long run, the skin and eyes can be damaged. The risk of skin cancer and cataracts increases with exposure.
As a follow-up to last week's blog: how do you know when you are properly hydrated?
A good sign that you are properly hydrated is the colour of your urine (yes, I went there). Normal urine colour ranges from pale yellow to deep amber — the result of a pigment called urochrome and how diluted or concentrated the urine is.
