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Chiropractic
Chiropractic is one of the largest primary-contact health care
professions in Canada with over 5,000 practicing chiropractors.
Chiropractic spinal manipulation (commonly referred to as a chiropractic
adjustment) is a drug-free, non-invasive manual procedure which utilizes
the highly-refined skills developed during four intensive years of
chiropractic education.
The primary goal of chiropractic manipulation is to treat areas of
decreased movement in the joints of the body, particularly the spine,
which can create a reaction in surrounding tissues (ligaments, muscles and
nerves) resulting in pain, dysfunction and muscular spasm.
Chiropractors will also use a procedure referred to as joint
"mobilization". Joint mobilizations involve a slower force that is
precisely directed towards spinal and peripheral joint disorders.
Chiropractors assess disorders related to the spine, nervous system, and
joints of the extremities and provide diagnosis, treatment and management of
those disorders. Chiropractors are also trained to prescribe therapeutic
exercise and other non-invasive therapies including nutritional counseling.
Spinal manipulation, as practiced by trained chiropractors, is a highly
controlled procedure, which rarely causes discomfort. The chiropractor
adapts the procedure to meet the specific needs of each patient. Patients
often note positive changes in their symptoms immediately following
treatment.
Chiropractors are well known for dealing with back pain, neck pain,
and headaches.
Dr Asselin is highly trained and experienced in a
variety of manual therapy techniques and is in the process of completing
is fellowship in chiropractic rehabilitation (3 years complete -
accreditation in progress).
Ontario Chiropractic Association
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Contemporary Medical Acupuncture
Originally developed in China, acupuncture has evolved over thousands of
years and has formed the cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Many types of health-care providers now utilize acupuncture in clinical
practice, including chiropractors, physiotherapists, and medical doctors .
Medical Acupuncture is the biomedical adaptation of Chinese acupuncture
methods, and is an effective and simple treatment approach based on current
concepts of neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and pathophysiology.
Contemporary medical acupuncture as taught by McMaster University
consists of the insertion of fine needles into specific areas of the body,
often with the use of electrical stimulation. The application of medical
acupuncture improves circulation, normalizes nerve function, and improves
motion in injured joints. In addition, medical acupuncture releases
endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) which speed healing and relax
inflamed muscle tissue.
There have been numerous trials
published in major medical journals that have demonstrating acupunctures
effectiveness in a variety of conditions (knee osteoarthritis, back pain,
headaches, etc.).
Dr. Asselin taken
extra courses focussing on acupuncture and sports injuries (McMaster CMA).
McMaster Contemporary Acupuncture
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Active Release Techniques ART®
Active Release Techniques is an advanced system of diagnosis and manual
treatment for soft tissue disorders resulting from Cumulative Trauma
Disorders (CTD), Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), postural strain, sports
injuries and general wear and tear. ART® is a patented, state-of-the-art
soft tissue system that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments,
fascia and nerves.
Providers use their hands to
evaluate the texture, tightness, and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons
and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely
directed tension with very specific patient movements.
ART® is used to allow for free and unimpeded movement of muscles, tendons,
nerves and joints, to allow for a dramatic change in comfort, flexibility
and strength. ART® is used to enhance and optimize your performance, improve
your form and function.
Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder pain, sciatica (nerve
pain),
plantar fascitis, knee pain, and tennis elbow are just a few of the
conditions treated with ART.
Dr. Asselin is a
credentialed Level II Active Release Techniques Provider.
Active Release
Techniques ART®
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Trigenics™
Trigenics™
is a neurologically based manual treatment system that involves the
application of 3 treatment methodologies.
The 3 key components consist of;
1) activating specific neuromuscular reflexes, 2) biofeedback, and 3)
muscle manipulation. In essence, the treatment involves breathing, precise
patient motion, and the application of trigger points.
Trigenics™ is an effective
system for providing relief from a variety of neuro-musculosketal conditions
such as neck pain, headaches, TMJ disorders, sports injuries, and repetitive
strain disorders. It has also been used to improve neuro-muscular function
in patients with neurological conditions such as stroke, cerebral palsy, and
trigeminal neuralgia.
Trigenics™ is also used
for athletic performance enhancement and injury rehabilitation.
Trigenics™
Instrument Assisted Soft-Tissue Mobilization
Instruments used to enhance soft tissue treatment have been used for
centuries. Guasha and T-bar instruments are amongst some of the more common
tools used in the past. More recently Graston® and SASTM instruments have
been created and technique systems designed based on some of the recent
literature surrounding instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization or IASTM.
Recent literature with regards to the management of soft-tissue related
injuries have received increasing attention over the past few years.
Research revealed that specific types of soft-tissue mobilizations have
effects on fibrobrasts. According to the research, fibroblast proliferation
plays a key role in the repair, regeneration, and maintenance of soft
tissues. The stimulation of these fibroblasts seem to be able to stimulate a
healing response in a variety of soft tissue structures. IASTM is also
thought to induce a controlled inflammatory response that helps to promote
healing.
"research by Gehlsen and Davidson demonstrated that increased pressure
using instrument-assisted soft-tissue mobilization increased fibroblastic
proliferation and the recreation of an inflammatory process facilitated
tendon healing".
Instruments are not only used in treatment but are also valuable in
examination or assessment of soft tissue injuries or dysfunction. Using
instruments can help to magnify dysfunctional changes in soft tissues that
normally would not be felt by the human hand alone.
More research is needed and is currently underway but IASTM is a
treatment option for a variety of soft tissue conditions.
Common conditions treated include:
▪ Chronic Plantar Fasciitis / osis
▪ Chronic Achilles Tendonitis /
osis
▪ Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
▪ Ilio-Tibial Band Syndrome
▪ Rotator cuff
▪ Tennis elbow / Lateral
Epicondylitis / osis
▪ Chronic lower back pain, etc..
Note: "osis" refers to a chronic hypoxic degenerative conditions
without clinical or histological signs of inflammation.
Literature revealed an absence of inflammatory mediators within tendons
of a variety of painful condition (Achilles Tendon, Elbow).
Therefore, in contrast to acute tendinitis, chronic tendinosis may not
respond well to rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medications. IASTM,
ART, and eccentric exercise may be better suited for chronic tendon
injuries.
Davidson CJ, Ganion LR, Gehlsen GM, et al. Rat tendon morphologic and
functional changes resulting from soft tissue mobilization. Med Sci Sports
Exer 1997;29(3):313-319.
Gehlsen GM, Ganion LR, Helfst R. Fibroblast responses to variation in soft
tissue mobilization pressure. Med Sci Sports Exer 1999;31(4):531-535.
www.fasciaresearch.com
Neuro-Vascular Mobilizations
Neuro-Vascular Mobilizations is often more commonly
referred to as either neurodynamic mobilizations,
neural mobilizations, nerve
flossing, nerve gliding, tensioners, or sliders. We felt it more
appropriate to coin the term neuro-vasclar mobilzation since both neuro and
vascular structure are being affected.
These types treatments are often used for those suffering from nerve
entrapment syndromes (carpal tunnel, entrapment of the sciatic nerve, etc.).
It has been proposed that these types
of manual therapies and exercises may help symptoms by
reducing intraneural edema (milking / pumping out the inflammation from
within nerves), and improving overall neural
vascular movement with the adjacent soft tissues.
It has also been proposed to help reduce the risk of scar tissue formation.
Neuro-Vascular-Mobilizations may help to reduce pain and discomfort and is a
treatment option for a variety of conditions
▪ Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
▪ Lower back and leg pain
▪ Neck and arm pain
▪ Prevention in the aging population
Sept.Coppieters MW; Butler DS. Manual Therapy 2008; 13: 213-221
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Rehabilitation & Corrective Exercise
Conditions that do not resolve
completely, or that have a tendency to return are often due to a lack of
rehabilitation.
Rrehabilitation
and corrective exercise are often regarded
as the missing link in the treatment of a variety of
ailments (sports injuries, back pain, whiplash, etc.).
Rehabilitation and corrective exercise are also important components
of injury recovery, performance enhancement, and
injury prevention.
Dr. Asselin is well trained to deal with a variety of rehabilitative and corrective
exercise situations: post-surgical rehabilitation, pre-surgical
conditioning or rehabilitation, post injury care,
performance conditioning, workers compensation, and
motor vehicle accident injuries.
Our patients are recreation and competitive athletes,
and the general public at large.
Dr. Asselin is in the progress of completing a
fellowship in chiropractic rehabilitation (3 yrs complete, accreditation
in progress).
CMCC Rehabilitation Fellowship
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Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
The National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) brings together a
diverse group of professionals from the sport science, athletic, allied
health and fitness professions. These individuals are all in pursuit of
achieving a common goal - utilizing proper strength training and
conditioning practices to improve athletic performance and fitness.
CSCS certification is one of the highest and longest-running
distinctions in personal training. It is widely accepted and respected in
the world of competitive athletics and general fitness. Over twenty years
ago, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) created this
certification program to identify exercise professionals who meet stringent
educational and performance standards.
Dr. Asselin is a certified strength &
condition specialists. He will use his expertise and experience
when designing your treatment plan and exercise
/ rehabilitation program.
National
Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA)
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Nutrition & Lifestyle Consulting
Nutrition & lifestyle factors
have a large role to play in both your recovery from injury or illness, and
your health in general.
An in depth analysis into your
diet & lifestyle may help to uncover hidden reasons or related contributing
agents to the problems your suffering from. From a wellness and performance
enhancement perspective nutritional & lifestyle influence should not be
overlooked.
It is well known that nutritional
and lifestyle factors are contributing to the chronic disease we suffer
today, and that poor dietary and lifestyle habits lead can to poor
performance
Programs
· Sport
Nutrition
· Weight
Management (loss / gain / maintain)
· Body
Composition Analysis
· General
Health & Wellness
· Vegetarian
/ Vegan / Raw Food Nutrition
· Menu
Planning
· Diabetic
Education
· Targeted
Supplementation & Superfoods
· Strength
& Conditioning Programs
· Core
Stability & Back Conditioning
· Cardiovascular
Conditioning Programs
· Stress
Management Education
Laurentian University (BPHE)
Canadian Memorial
Chiropractic College (DC)
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Custom Orthotics & Footwear
It's
important to understand that your feet have direct impact on the rest of
your body and support you with each step. The importance of your feet and
lower leg alignment can be compared to that of the foundation on a building.
A small abnormality in foot function or a weak foundation in that matter can
have a large impact higher up in the body.
Knee, hip, low back, and / or neck pain may be a sign of weakened and / or
mal-aligned feet. Lack of proper care, ill-fitting shoes and general foot
neglect are responsible for the majority of foot problems.
Custom designed orthotics and / or footwear along with a complete
examination, a trial of conservative treatment for the involved painful
areas, and a home based exercise program should help alleviate or manage
most painful conditions.
Custom orthotic Prescription
In order to provide a higher level of care for our clients we use a
combination of past medical history, orthopedic physical examination,
postural analysis, video gait analysis, functional testing, and semi-weight
bearing neutral foam casting or non-weight bearing slipper casting in our
orthotic prescriptions.
What is a semi-weight bearing neutral cast?
Semi-weight bearing neutral foam casting technique creates a cast of your
feet. The orthotic laboratories can then create a mold from this cast
impression and develop an orthotic device accordingly. The foot is
positioned in a sub-talar neutral position. This position is used since
it has been determined to be the position of maximal stability for your
feet.
Examination findings from your clinical history, orthopedic examination,
video gait analysis, functional testing, and postural analysis are
recorded and sent to a orthotic laboratory with your foam casting
impressions in order to construct your custom foot orthotics.
Dr. Asselin uses a variety of labs in order to offer
you a wide
variety of custom orthotics, sandals, and stock orthopedic footwear
options.
Orthotic
Group, Orthotic Energy,
Ontario Orthotic Lab, etc.
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Therapeutic Taping
Dr. Asseling utilizes a variety of taping methods:
kinesio-Tape, SPRT, Athletic Taping, etc.
A) Kinesiotaping
The Kinesio Taping Method originated in Japan
in 1973. The Method was founded and developed by Kenzo Kase DC, a
practicing chiropractor in Japan and the United States.
The Kinesio Taping® Method is designed to facilitate the
body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to
muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion.
The tape is latex-free and
can be left on for days at a time, Kinesio® Tex Tape is safe for
populations ranging from pediatric to geriatric, and successfully treats a
variety of orthopedic, neuromuscular, neurological and other medical
conditions.
The application of Kinesio Tape is used to decrease pain, reduce swelling,
improve lymphatic flow, relaxed cramped muscles, improve muscle strength,
support joint function, and increase body awareness.
Images Copyright© by Kinesio Taping® Association
www.kinesiotaping.com
B) Athletic or Sport Taping
Athletic taping is a form of strapping.
It is a procedure that uses
white rigid tape
attached to the skin designed to physically
support unstable joints, ligaments, and fascia.
The taping procedures are used to help reduce pain,
speed recovery from injury, and allow for
continued participation in sport or recreation. Taping is
usually used to help recover from acute (ankle sprains)
and overuse (plantar fasciopathy) type injuries.
C) SPRT - Specific Proprioceptive Response Taping
SPRT was developed by Dr. Tim Brown and utilizes a
variety of different tape types (Leukotape, Hypafix, Kinesiotape).
SPRT taping helps determines the direction necessary
for proper approximation and compression of injured tissues.
SPRT gives
relief of the injury during movement through improving proprioception and
neuromuscular control. SPRT supports the
injured tissues while still allowing for proper range of motion during
activity.
Injured treated include but are not limited to postural
syndrome, disc injuries, ankle sprains, ac joint injuries, and ankle
sprains.
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Whole Body Vibration Training
exercise examples click here
Whole body vibration (WBV) training has been gaining in popularity over
last few years. It was pioneered in the 1960s as part of the Russian
Space Program to counter-act the loss of muscle strength and bone density
experienced by cosmonauts during space missions “anti-gravity
situations”. The technology was later discovered by the rest of Europe and is now being used in a variety
of medical, fitness, and health institutions throughout the world.
Scientific literature currently supports a variety of usages; improved
muscle strength, enhanced bone mineral density, joint health, body
composition, etc.
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Increase muscle strength
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Improve flexibility
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Strengthen your “core”
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Reduce chronic pain (back)
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Injury rehabilitation
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Enhance & maintain bone mineral density
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Burn calories and improve your
metabolism
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Stimulate the lymphatic system
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Improve circulation
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Improve cellulite appearance
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Enhance general mood
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Stimulate neurotransmitter release
“serotonin”
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Enhance growth hormone and testosterone
WBV training does offer you a competitive edge, however to achieve overall
health, fitness, and vitality it’s important to make sure you focus on a
healthy diet and an active lifestyle in general.
Contraindications:
If you have
any pre-existing medical conditions, are pregnant, or have any sort of
implant please seek advice and guidance from your primary health care
provider before using any form of vibration plate
Research:
Check the research out for yourself:
www.pubmed.com (type in whole body vibration as a keyword).
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PowerCranks™ Training & Rehabilitation
Powercranks™ use a patented
one-way clutch system in each crank arm. Basically, Powercranks™ are
a modification to a traditional bicycle crank arm that allows each leg to
peddle independently of one another. In traditional cranks one leg /
crank will drive the opposite side. This is easy to see on your
regular exercise or outdoor bicycle, simply peddle with your right leg
only and you will see that the opposite / left peddle / crank arm moves.
This would not happen on powercranks™, you have to peddle each leg
independently with no help or compensation form the other leg.
Q. Why did we decide to
include these cranks in our clinic? A. Simple, Powercranks™
enables us to detect and correct muscular imbalances in healthy
individuals. It also provides an excellent tool for rehabilitation
and performance training, no longer can patient or athletes compensate
with their other leg.
Some of the benefits proposed:
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Enable each leg to drive the bike
without the help of the other leg.
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Reduce the dead spot in the pedal
stroke.
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Fully un-weight on the upstroke
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Train major lower extremity
muscle groups
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Balance the muscle effort
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Improve coordination
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Increase your basal metabolic
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Fully train the hip flexor and
hamstring muscles
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Build core strength, balance, and
fitness
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Use in rehabilitation since the
good leg cannot assist the bad leg
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Improve running ability in a
non-impact environment
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Lower the risk of injury
Most people are simply amazed at
how quickly they "burn" out on the powercranks. Once people get the
hang of the new peddle stroke (skill acquisition) they normally "burn" out
within a minute or so on their first attempt. In the majority of
people we will be able to detect both a right / left strength imbalance
and a fore / aft imbalance. The fore / aft imbalance is simply the
difference between your hip flexor and hamstring strength versus your hip
extensors and quadriceps strength. Most people will be a lot
stronger with their hip extensors and quadriceps and will have a tendency
to "burn" out quickly on the powercranks when they are required to use
relatively weaker hip flexor and hamstring muscles
Overall an excellent tool for
performance training, rehabilitation, and overall musculoskeletal health.
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Infrared Therapy
TDP Heat Lamps - Class II Medical Devices
TDP Lamps have proven to be effective in treating a variety of ailments, such as
muscular aches and pains, soft tissue injuries, arthritis, and various
skin conditions. Its major functions consist of promoting
metabolism, enhancing circulation, diminishing inflammation, reducing
muscle tension and easing pain.
Treatment usually consists of
bare skin exposure in the affected area with the lamp positioned 20-25 cm
from the body. Length of treatment varies 5–30 minutes, repeated 1 to 3 times a
week, for a period 3-4 weeks. Treatment is often combined with
acupuncture and used in conjunction with chiropractic manual therapy and
active release techniques (ART).
HOW IT WORKS: The
TDP Lamp is different from conventional heat lamps, infrared lamps and
microwave therapeutic devices. The TDP Lamp features a round plate coated
with a proprietary mineral clay formation consisting of 33 earth elements
essential to the human body. When activated by the built-in electric
heating element, this mineral plate emits a special band of far-infrared
waves ranging from 2 to 25 (microns) in wavelength and 281034 mw/sq. cm in
intensity that coincide with the wavelengths and intensity of the
electromagnetic radiations emanating from the human body. As a result, the
TDP far- infrared waves are known to be readily absorbed by the body.
CONTRAINDICATIONS:
Patients with neuropathy are warned that the inability to accurately feel
the temperature of the treatment may result in accidental burns. Infants
or persons who cannot communicate when treatment is too hot should also
avoid treatment. Treatment in areas with surgical implants (metal,
silicone, pacemakers, etc.) should be avoided because of the risk that
these foreign materials may absorb and hold heat at a different rate than
living tissue, accidentally causing internal burns. Pregnant women, people
experiencing fever, otitis media, splenitis, ophthalmic diseases, varicose
veins, open pulmonary tuberculosis, serious arteriosclerosis, and with
bleeding tendencies should avoid TDP mineral lamp therapy. People with
hypertension should not use the TDP Lamp on their head. When using on the
head, protection of the eyes is required so they do not become dry.
