Dr. Mariusz Fajfer, DC

06/02/2022

A study conducted by researchers at McGill University and scientists from Italy suggests that blocking inflammation after injury might make that pain chronic — a finding that challenges the standard approach to treating pain.

02/02/2022

With another projected snowfall coming our way, here's some tips on how to protect your back while shovelling.

09/03/2020

06/24/2020

TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint which is actually your jaw. Tightness in your jaw and surrounding muscles can also give you a headache🤦🏻‍♂️. The headache is usually located just in front of your ear (where your jaw joint is) but can also be lower🔻 in your jaw and higher🔺 in your temple area. Your temporalis and masseter muscles are located here and are responsible for chewing.

Most people don't know this but chiropractors👨‍⚕️ treat TMD (temporomandibular disorders). Just like any other joint in the body it can get stiff and tight and could benefit from some gentle mobilisations. Along with mobilisations, addressing the tight muscles 💪around the area is very important in TMJ disorder, followed by corrective exercises which can help restore balance between tight and weak muscles.

As always, any questions please feel free to message 📩 me.

06/19/2020

These headaches get their name from the origin of their pain - the cervical spine. These headaches tend to get aggravated by certain neck movements and postures. Like tension headaches, they can also radiate their pain to your forehead 🤦‍♂️, temples, eyes👀, and ears👂 as well as the base of your skull💀 and top of your head. Neck stretches are used to treat this type of headache along with neck mobilisations and exercises. Adjustments work great as they directly release 💢 the joints in the neck where the issue is starting.

If you have any questions feel free to send me a message.

06/17/2020

There are 2 different types of migraines, migraines with aura and migraines without an aura.

An aura (or prodrome) are a symptom you get usually an hour prior to the actual onset of the migraine. These symptoms are usually some sort of visual symptom such as blurriness, seeing stars ✨ or dots or wavy lines〰️, but every person can have a different experience such as food cravings. There are tons of possible triggers which can start a migraine, way too many to go over, some of them include: diet, stress, and hormonal changes.

A migraine presents with throbbing pain to one side of the head (good differentiating factor from other types of headaches), along with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and noise. That’s why people usually like to lock themselves in a quiet room. Conservative care for migraines can help some individuals but the most beneficial factor is to identify potential triggers and try to reduce them. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message📩.

06/15/2020

What kind of headache are you actually having?

It’s very frequent that I hear someone is suffering with a “migraine” and I usually ask if they’ve been given that diagnosis by their family doctor🧑‍⚕️ or a neurologist? Usually the response is “no, I have a bad headache so it must be a migraine”. This usually is not the case as there are many different types of headaches. While migraines are a common form of headaches they are not the most common.

The most common type of headache is the tension type headache. Most of us have probably experienced this type of headache as it usually comes on after a long, stressful day. It usually presents as pain in the forehead🤦🏻‍♂️ or temple regions and can be felt on both sides. Most people describe it as “tightness, squeezing, or pressure” or a feeling like their “head is in a vice”. The cause of this headache is tightness in the neck and trigger points forming in muscles surrounding the neck which send referred pain ⬆️ to the temple or forehead area. That is why treating the neck can give patients significant relief with these types of headaches.

If you’re suffering with these types of headaches there's plenty of neck stretches that can help you, reach out to me if you have any questions📩.

06/08/2020

This drill is to help improve your thoracic or mid back mobility. This can help counteract sitting at a desk all day and hunching forward looking at our 🖥️ or📱.

To improve your extension you're going to sit back on your heels. What this does is helps lock your low back so you don't compensate by extending there. Next with your hands up, like you see, drive your chest towards the ground. Hold for a few seconds, come up and repeat.

Next drill is for rotation🔄. Same premise, start kneeling and with your hands either forward or on the ground in front of you, reach one hand under the other as far as you can. As you come back you rotate the other way.
This drill is great for any type of rotary athlete, such as golfers🏌️‍♂️, hockey players 🏒or baseball⚾ players. But it definitely helps everyone as we all tend to be stiff and stuck in our thoracic spine.

Having the ability to rotate properly through your thoracic spine helps prevent your more prone low back from over compensating and ideally preventing future injuries.

06/05/2020

It's finally golf season!!🏌️‍♂️⛳
The swing of a club can put a lot of torque and stress on your spine. That's why it's important to make sure your hips and spine are able to move into, and control that range of motion to prevent unnecessary injury. Especially if you're coming out of lockdown without much movement.
Chiropractic treatment is great for improving range of motion and can definitely help out your swing. Just ask Tiger.
Edit: he's actually a 15 time champ 🏆

05/19/2020

Virtual Tele-Health is now available. This option is great for individual that are nervous about being around others but still need help.

The following insurance providers have confirmed coverage for chiropractic Telehealth services: Manulife/ Green Shield/ Pacific Blue Cross/ Medavie Blue Cross/ Sunlife.

Booking link: https://phzio.com/book/69cy/mariusz-fajfer

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!