Author: Grace

I get headaches about four or five times each month.  They are normally bearable and ibuprofen is usually effective.  In the past week, however, I have been waking up with really bad headaches – throbbing pain that gets worse with movement.  I suspect my headaches are caused by muscle tension in my neck.  Despite my attempts to stretch, my chiropractor tells me that my muscles are still quite stiff.  As I’ve been waking up with these headaches, perhaps it has to do with the position I sleep in.  My chiropractor has told me to sleep on my back but I can’t seem to fall asleep that way.  Exercise is supposed to help tension headaches so I really need to get back that back into my routine.

Read an article about headaches caused by medication overuse.  If painkillers are taken regularly over a long period of time, they can become the source of headaches.  According to the article, codeine or triptan-based drugs should not be taken more than 10 days a month and paracetamol or ibuprofen should not be taken more than 15 days a month.  Although I always carry ibuprofen with me (you never know when a headache might strike), I am no where near that number.

Had technical problems with this site so my blog entry is late.

So I stopped going to the gym for about a month now.  Do feel guilty about it but once I stopped going to the gym, it’s been difficult to get back into it.  However, now that the Canada Line is open I’ve been using it to get around instead of driving and this means I do a lot more walking around town.  I’m loving the Canada Line.  It’s finally gotten me out of my car and taking public transportation and walking.  I’ve also been walking instead of driving shorter distances, for example, to buy groceries.

About my back and shoulder pain, it’s improved a lot since I started blogging but not completely eliminated.  I still get a bit sore by the end of the day at the office but it’s not nearly as bad as before.  Hoping yoga will do the trick in September.

Patti shouted “Nice posture!” as I walked by her office the other day.  Thanks for noticing, Patti.

And thanks to Jolene for correcting my sitting posture.  It’s the benefit of having an ergonomist in the office.

Since my last post, my back pain has improved.  A lot.  It’s amazing what good posture can do.

Encouraged by the improvement, I registered for yoga classes to keep it up.  Classes start in September.

People who know me know that I don’t have a sweet tooth.  My preference is for savoury foods.  When I snack (which is often), I munch on potato chips.

Everyone knows that potato chips fall in the junk food category but I never really thought about how they are bad for you.  Then I read an article in Wellness Options magazine that explained this.

Potato chips are high in a substance called acrylamide which reduces the level of antioxidants in the body.   Ingesting acrylamide may lead to a build up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances in the arteries.  This build up can lead to stroke and heart diseases.

Must lay off the chips.

I’ve been seeing a chiropractor few the past two weeks for neck and back pain.  I always feel much better after each session but the pain does come back.  Of course, I didn’t expect years of pain to just go away after a few sessions with a chiropractor and I know that if I want to be pain-free, I need to make some changes to my (bad) habits.

My chiropractor told me my muscles are tight everywhere – in my back, legs, arms, shoulders, jaw.  Everywhere.  Our bodies are not meant to be in one position for prolonged periods but modern life requires it, whether we sit at a desk at work all day or endure a 12-hour flight when travelling.

Taking advice from my chiropractor, here is my plan for pain relief:

• Improve posture.  When I sit, I want to slouch.  For the past two weeks, I’ve started to pay more attention to my posture and to sit up straight.  It took some time for my body to adjust but it is becoming more comfortable to sit straight.
• Stop cradling the phone between head and shoulder.  I thought I stopped doing this but a colleague caught me with my phone pinched between my head and shoulder recently.
• Stretching exercises.  For me, these include opening up my shoulders and exercises to strengthen my back muscles.

 Seems easy enough but old habits die hard.