 Aaron is a CrossFit competitor and head coach at CrossFit Kirrawee. Aaron competed with his team at the CrossFit Pacific regionals where they achieved an outstanding result held in Wollongong over the weekend. CrossFit is a sport for all levels and ages. The sport focuses on integrating functional movements considered to be "the core movements of life" performed at a high intensity. It brings the best aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. While CrossFit challenges the world's fittest, the program is designed for universal scalability, making it the perfect application for any committed individual, regardless of experience. Aaron is not only in the Spotlight this month due to his amazing athletic achievements and his contribution to forging a healthier community. He is in the spotlight because he treats his body with care and respect. A lot of people, when exercising or playing sport expect their body to perform at a high intensity on demand yet put little time and effort into the restorative requirements that help keep your body performing at its best. Aaron proactively sort care at Health Associates because he understands that he needs to support his body if he is going to be pushing it at high intensity. Furthermore, he understands that prevention of injury is better the fixing one and he wasn't going to limit his chances at the CrossFit Regionals by not implementing preventative care. Over to you Aaron... Name: Aaron Osborne Occupation: CrossFit Athlete / Head Coach at CrossFit Kirrawee What does health mean to you? Health and fitness is my life, not just my lifestyle. I live and breathe it and literally enjoy everyday of work, coaching and training. How do you keep healthy? CrossFit is my source of health and fitness. How you stay motivated? Goals and accurate load management that adhere to those goals. By pre planning my load management and keeping one step ahead of my fitness training and recovery, I can avoid those dreaded lulls or lack of motivation periods. I make sure I always reflect on the positive things I achieved that day, no matter how big or small, and finish on a positive note. I always want to be happy and grateful for what I have achieved at the end of each day, but never satisfied enough to not attack the next day just the same, with the aim to be a better person and athlete. Why do you like coming to Health Associates? With the volume and intensity involved in training to be able to compete in CrossFit, prehab over rehab is my priority. Seeing Chris weekly keeps my body in check, which can so easily vary week to week. Having Chris being so versatile in his field of practice, I am not limited to just a simple chiropractic adjustment and off you go. The use of dry needling, ART & his functional movement assessments are such great tools to add in to my regular sessions at Health Associates. Advice for others wanting to improve their health? Find YOUR reason WHY you want to improve your health, eliminate the cons and focus on the pros, find a type of fitness you enjoy, whatever that may be (CrossFit Kirrawee 😉) and get after it! Favourite Quote: "The more you sweat in training, the less you'll bleed in battle!"   Spinal stenosis is a conditioned characterized by the abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal (1). This narrowing compresses the spinal cord and/or the nearby nerves and can cause symptoms that travel from the spine to the arms and legs. It is most commonly seen in patients 50+ years, often caused by the degenerative and arthritic changes related to osteoarthritis. Spinal stenosis predominantly occurs in the lumbar (lower back) and cervical (neck) spine. It is diagnosed with an MRI scan or a CT scan with myelogram (using an X-ray dye in the spinal sac fluid), and sometimes both.
A lot of people do not feel any effects of the narrowing of the spinal canal, but with increasing degenerative changes associated with aging, most people will eventually notice radiating pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness in the arms or legs, secondary to the compression of the spinal nerves or spinal cord. When a person is symptomatic, lumbar (lower back) spinal stenosis causes weakness in the lower back, buttocks, thigh, calf, foot, and claudicating pain (1). Pain is often worse with long periods of standing or walking. When cervical (neck) spinal stenosis is symptomatic, people can experience tingling into the hand, weakness, pain, or numbness in the arm or neck, deterioration of fine motor skills, loss of balance, and co-ordination problems (2). Spinal stenosis, however, can commonly be asymptomatic (3), which highlights the importance of corroborative findings between patient history and clinical examination (4), (5). Spinal stenosis symptoms often develop slowly over time, they come and go as opposed to experiencing continuous pain, and symptoms occur more frequently when standing, walking, or participating in activities in an upright position. Symptoms are relieved by rest (sitting or lying) and/or any forward flexed position. Whether a patient is asymptomatic, or symptomatic, even after careful examination, management and treatment decisions for people with spinal stenosis remain a challenge that has providentially been described as a “balancing act” (6). This is due to the lack of clear, evidence-based research available on nonsurgical treatment options, and that neurological function deficits are not always associated with the severity or extent of the stenosis present. Some common treatment options for spinal stenosis include:
Not all spinal stenosis cases are the same and the level of spinal stenosis will present differently in different people. Future research is needed to focus on expanding treatment options for spinal stenosis, particularly in the area of exercise, physical therapy and nonsurgical interventions. More research is also needed to determine the predictors of failure and success with both nonsurgical and surgical treatment approaches. In the interim, patients, primary care health practitioners, doctors, and surgeons, should engage in shared decision-making that include a full disclosure of the current evidence available for nonsurgical and surgical interventions for spinal stenosis (5) and determine what is the most appropriate option for you.
 Staying active is essential all year round however it becomes increasingly more difficult during winter. In this blog I share with you my personal tips that help me keep active during winter. 1) Get your momentum I find it best to anticipate the cold weather and to start activity before the chill really sets in. In my experience I find by doing this I have already gained some momentum and starting isn’t so hard. 2) Set yourself a bottom line If your standards are low for yourself then you won’t have much driving you. If you set your goals higher than where you are at then you may set yourself up for failure. I find when I am starting out on an exercise regime I need to take an honest inventory then I meet myself where I am and set goals to help me get where I want to go. This often means I need to look at the behaviours that aren’t serving me and start ones that are. Having a bottom line means that no matter what, you will do whatever it takes to stay above the line. Personally, I exercise at least 3 times per week but generally 5. 3) Make a commitment to someone else Making a commitment to others often helps us stay accountable and committed. I also feel that the power of working in a group or team increases our output and performance. I stay accountable by joining a running group 2-3 times per week and I also participate in group personal training classes. 4) Make Mondays Count I believe that it is important for your psychology to begin the week on your best foot. Having a successful start to the week creates the momentum and determination to keep going strong during the rest of the week. Every Monday I wake up at 4.15am for a 5am class. I have been doing this for 4 months now and i love it. I am home before the family wakes up and I have started my week with high energy. 5) Stop thinking about it! When I was living in rural Queensland I remember someone telling me once “make the decision once.” This has stuck with me ever since. Often when we set ourselves new goals we start off with a lot of enthusiasm until it gets too hard or difficult. The reality is, is that as long as we live we will be experiencing summer, autumn, winter and spring. And all the elements that come with it. There is nothing new about it, and if you are reading this then you have experienced them numerous times already. So time to get on with it and do the thing you need to do. Yes it will be hot, cold, wet or windy. So what! You made a decision so get the job done. If it's cold, wear a jacket. Wet - train indoors. Hot - run in the morning. And if it's windy, lets hope its on your back. The weather gives us an opportunity to be creative, enjoy nature and strengthen our will and determination to continue to pursue health and well-being regardless of the weather.
  Ingrown toenails, technically referred to as onychocryptosis, is an often painful condition where the nail becomes wedged into the soft tissue of the toe often resulting in pain, redness, swelling and infection. These are all symptoms often associated with the condition however in some cases only mild discomfort is observed. Ingrown toenails are a very common condition that presents to a podiatry clinic. Males and females are equally likely to develop the problem and genetics plays a role in susceptibility. Whilst a lot of the time people are able to successfully treat ingrown toenails at home, those suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes or experience severe pain and/or infection should always seek the guidance of a podiatrist. Common causes of ingrown nails Ingrowing toenails can be caused by a varying number of factors. Some may work in conjunction while others may be standalone and enough to result in discomfort. Some common causes of ingrown toenails include:
Common treatments for ingrown nails Most patients I have seen with ingrown nails, are able to be given relief with a simple resection (cutting) and removal of the ingrowing wedge of nail. Sometimes this can be done conservatively (partial nail clearing) or under a local anaesthetic in a procedure called a partial nail avulsion (PNA). Many things can be done at home however to reduce not just the pain or an ingrowing nail, but also to help treat any existing infections that may have formed as a result. Some methods include:
Ingrowing toenails are painful enough to disrupt your day, but they do not need to. If you, or someone you know is suffering from ingrowing toenails, please contact us and let our experience guide you on the road to happy and healthy feet.
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