Do more of what you love this Spring with advice from osteopath, Sarah Boughtwood.
As the weather warms up, it is a great time to get back in the garden, out for walks and doing more of the things you love. As an osteopath, I support my patients getting mobile and back into their hobbies after the chilly winter weather, as often over winter our joints can cause more discomfort as a consequence from the colder air temperature. Some top tips for getting the most out of the warmer weather include:
Ease into it
With the warmer days and lighter evenings, we can often get a bit excited and jump straight back into our hobbies, but this can often cause a variety of aches and pains. The simplest way to avoid this is easing into it. Start off doing your hobby for a short amount of time then take a break. For example go for an evening walk but start off with a 15 – 20minutes duration, on a flat surface and build up to hills and a longer duration. If you are a keen gardener, start with 15 – 20minutes of light work then take a break. You can build up by longer durations and heavier work.
Get a good night’s sleep
Quality and restful sleep is vital for your body to rest and repair. As we get older quality sleep can be harder to achieve, but you’ll have better success if you try going to bed earlier, avoiding caffeine at night, eating dinner a few hours before bed, limiting water and tea in the evening and avoiding devices before bed. A good mattress and pillow will also help to achieve that all-important shut-eye.
Stretching
Our joints, ligaments and muscles support us to do our hobbies, so we need to take good care of them. Stretching is a nice way to improve blood flow and lymphatic drainage, reduce muscle tension and improve their function. Some simple stretches are great for the body and overall health. These could include; gently touching your toes, twisting side-to-side, stretching arms out forwards and tipping your head side to side. A stretch should always feel like good pain and not over-stretching too far and causing a ‘bad pain’ sensation. Always ask your health professional for tailored advice.
Exercise is key to building muscle tone
Our hobbies can be a great way to build muscle tone. Whether you play golf, go for walks, garden and so on. As we age, we naturally lose muscle tone therefore exercise becomes very important. Exercise is also important for our mental, cardiovascular and respiratory health. Our lives can become very sedentary, movement is essential. It becomes a balance of moving our bodies, enjoying our hobbies and not over doing it.
Supplements
To support our joints and continue to get the most out of the warmer weather, supplements can be a great addition to your daily routine for targeted support. Good Health’s Pannex range has new joint supplements to support your joint comfort – their Pannex Joint Capsules and Pannex Joint Cream. These provide a natural way to support your joints, utilising PEA (in the form of the highly digestible Levagen+) which is a naturally occurring substance in the human body. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is fatty acid amide produced by the body in response to injury and stress. PEA supports the body’s physiological pathways and over time, build up and provide comfort support where it is needed. The Pannex joint capsules contain Levagen+ and White Willow to support joint comfort and functional mobility, while the Pannex joint cream includes capsicum, comfrey arnica herbal extracts, with peppermint, cinnamon and clove essential oils to provide fast, active and topical joint support.
To get a free sample of the Pannex range, go to Good Health’s website and order yours to support Joint, Digestive or Sinus comfort, visit www.GoodHealth.co.nz/Pannex-22.
Sarah is an Auckland based Osteopath, treating a wide range of aches and pains. ACC registered and no referral required.
www.sarahboughtwoodosteopath.co.nz
Always read the label and use as directed. If symptoms persist see your healthcare professional. Good Health, Auckland. TAPS number: TAPS PP9497.
