Pittwater Life March 2017 Issue

If you are having trouble falling asleep or
not getting enough quality sleep and feeling
sleepy during the day talk to your doctor.
Sometimes certain medications can
affect your sleep; also some sleep
disorders such as insomnia and obstructive
sleep apnoea are more common in the
elderly but with diagnosis and care they
can be treated and even prevented.
People tend to fall
off the exercise
bandwagon with the
arrival of the kids
and/or heavy work
commitments through
our 30s and 40s, says
Warwick Sargeant of
Avalon Physiotherapy.
“Bad patterns tend to
extend into our senior
years when some of us
have already picked up a
little blood pressure and
cholesterol and obesity
and maybe even Type 2
Diabetes,” he said.
“We see a lot of people
who have an ongoing
niggling injury which
is certainly treatable
by us in the short term
but more importantly a
symptom in itself of a
larger issue such as the
loss of general condition
or fitness… especially
in the postural muscle
groups of the spine and
pelvis.
“We always assist our
patients with a specific
solution but include
a return to a general
exercise as a very
important part of the
total resolution,” he said.
Find something you enjoy
Warwick stressed: “It
doesn’t really matter
what the form of exercise
is.”
“The two most
important factors
are that you somewhat
enjoy the activity and
that you actually keep
doing it... if you don’t
enjoy it, you won’t.”
Walking, swimming,
cycling, playing ball
sports like tennis,
kayaking, aquarobics,
aerobics, circuit training,
Pilates, Tai Chi, yoga all
have benefits to your
health if you keep them
up, he said.
“Combinations of these
give variety and if you
can alternate between
a leg-based fitness
(walking, cycling) and
arm-based (swimming,
racquet sports) then you
tend to get more all-over
muscle group coverage.”
Warwick says five
important things to
keep in mind are:
You have to puff a
1. bit. “Exercise at a rate
or a speed that makes
you a little breathless. By
that I mean you can still
maintain a conversation
but you pant between
phrases. Try to exercise
for 20 to 25 mins.”
Use the local terrain
2. and/facilities.
“Choose interesting
local walks, use the local
pool or Pittwater to swim
or kayak on. So it is
handy and you have no
excuse for not returning.”
Keep good posture
3. throughout. “Even
though you may not be
doing a specific back
exercise, by keeping
good erect posture
throughout the activity
you will be toning those
muscles adjacent to
your spine without even
trying.”
Don’t push yourself
4. too hard or you
won’t return.
Think about what
5. you used to like
doing when you were at
high school and it will
help you select a fun
activity.
Health & Wellbeing
Get ‘back’ on track
Of all of the predictors of back pain
and degeneration there is one that
has a significantly larger amount
of evidence, that being sedentary
lifestyle – in other words, not
moving your body enough, says
Doctor of Chiropractic, Sam Garner
from Avalon Beach Chiropractic &
Wellness.
“Our body was designed to move
through the full range of motion of all
of its joints; when we do not deliver
this movement to the body, the joints
begin to stiffen up and over time it
can lead to permanent loss of motion
and degeneration,” Sam said.
He said when patients attend
a Chiropractor, treatment such
as mobilisation, chiropractic
adjustments, dry needling, massage
and rehabilitative exercises and
stretches are given to alleviate pain
and restore normal motion.
“It is essential after treatment in
order to prevent problems coming
back (or occurring in the first place)
to regularly move our bodies through
their full range of motion.
“For elderly members of our
community with degenerative
conditions I recommend water-based
activity which may be as simple as
walking back and forth in the water,
swimming or water aerobics – due
to the buoyancy in water there is
minimal pressure on the joints while
strengthening the surrounding
muscles and allowing healthy
movement.
“Other gentle activity such as
Tai Chi, gentle yoga and specific
exercises directed by a Chiropractor
or other health care professional are
recommended,” he said.
MARCH 2017 37