Dr. Kyle Simpson

12/24/2021

That’s a wrap on 2021 for me!

I am always reminded this time of year how lucky I am to be able to help people move and feel better for my job. The continued support from the KW community has propelled me forward throughout this crazy year. Thank you for trusting me with a part of your healthcare journey - I look forward to many more years of twisting, popping, stretching, moving, and helping.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season. Eat lots of cookies and get outside for some winter fun! Doc Kyle.

02/11/2021

My good friend Dave Whiteside recently had his work featured in the Harvard Business Review. I found it very insightful into the effects of COVID-19 on burnout and our well-being. Worth the read!

The pandemic has led to mental health declines, increased work demands, and feelings of loneliness. But the news isn’t all bad.

11/29/2020

Hey Instagram 👋🏻

Doc Kyle checking in. Life is crazy right now. The current pandemic has brought massive changes to my life and practice, but also an incredible appreciation for the opportunities I still have.

Thank you to the KW community for continuously trusting me to help you move and feel better. This will always remain my top priority, regardless of the amount of PPE and sanitizer necessary. I promise that I am still smiling under my mask and if you ever need someone to talk to I am always here. Stay well my friends!

08/29/2020

Willpower is interesting. We often blame a “lack of willpower” as the reason why we ate that whole row of Oreos, or why we haven’t been consistent with exercise. I hear it ALL THE TIME.
I call bu****it. Willpower is a short term thing that we often love to force into long term problems.
Take this analogy from the Heath brothers book “Switch” of the elephant and the rider. The elephant is your emotional side and the rider is your rational side. The rider can get their way temporarily if they tug on the reins hard enough, but this tug-of-war match with the elephant isn’t going to last long. The rider is going to become exhausted and the elephant will win. This is willpower - temporary rational decision making to override the elephant.
Here’s the problem: if you’re constantly losing to the elephant because you don’t have the willpower, it’s not a matter of willpower anymore. It’s a lack of emotional commitment to change - your heart has convinced your mind that you aren’t capable of long term change. You’ve let the elephant win.
So what’s the solution? Stop using “willpower” as a crutch for your failures - it’s exhausting. The rider and the elephant need to work together. Make small actionable goals that you can achieve and then build off of the momentum from these small victories to move forward.
Let me know your thoughts below!

07/22/2020

Doc Kyle says touch your toes 🙌🏻
But actually.... This is one of the first movements I do in my movement prep before running because it loads up the calves, hamstrings, and glutes!
From a standing position, keep your legs relatively straight while pushing your hips back to hinge forwards. Once you’ve gone as far as your hamstrings will let you, squeeze your glutes to extend your body back upright to standing. You’ll also notice that I’m keeping a flat back as well!
What are some of your go-to running warmups!?

07/18/2020

Pretty cool info!

97% OF LUMBAR DISC HERNIATIONS MANAGED SUCCESSFULLY WITHOUT SURGERY, SAYS STUDY. Results of a retrospective cohort study [1] including almost 280,000 subjects have concluded that pr*****ed lumbar intervertebral discs may be successfully managed without the need for surgery in 97% of cases.

The study examined the records of adults presenting 2007 to 2017 selected from a large insurance database. Only 3% failed non-operative therapy and underwent microdiscectomy.

Of the patients requiring surgery, the majority were male and an association was found with a history of lumbar spinal epidural injection or perioperative opioid use, leading the study to conclude that male gender and a history of prior opioid use were independent predictors of non-operative treatment failure.

The study provides yet more evidence supporting treatment and management interventions for lumbar disc herniation commonly provided by chiropractors, including manual therapy, education, exercise prescription and self-management strategies.

References: [1] Lilly DT, Eldridge CM, Singh R, Montgomery EY, Bagley C, Adogwa O. An assessment of non-operative management strategies in a herniated lumbar disc population: successes versus failure. Global Spine J. 2020 Jul 7;2192568220936217. doi: 10.1177/2192568220936217.

Image courtesy of Dynamic Disc Designs (https://dynamicdiscdesigns.com/)

06/29/2020

Throwback to a couple weeks ago participating in the Limitless Performance Mock Sprint Triathlon.

Be physically active. Try new things. Keep your training constantly varied and most importantly, have fun!

06/22/2020

Talk about a pain in the back...
With over 80% of individuals experiencing low back pain at some point throughout their life it’s no wonder that it’s also one of the highest causes of disability worldwide.
These 10 tips can help you keep your spine happy and manage pain. Is there anything else that you do as part of your daily spinal health routine? Let me know!
@ Kitchener, Ontario

05/27/2020

Important Update: Appointments Now Available!

The Ministry of Health recently announced that Chiropractors may begin re-opening their practices in Ontario. If you wish to book an appointment, please email me (drkylesimpson@gmail.com), or contact the office by email or phone (reception@walshhealth.com, 519-579-0328).

As I start to resume regular practice there will be some changes around the office to ensure your safety during appointments including: symptom screening, appropriate personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves when possible, continued hand hygiene protocols, and fewer appointments scheduled with increased time between appointments to allow for sanitation measures and reduced patient flow through the office.

While the past two and half months have been challenging for all, I made this an opportunity to learn new skills, assessment tools, and rehab strategies. I am excited to put these new skills into practice to help others achieve their own movement goals.

I look forward to once again helping the Kitchener-Waterloo community move and feel better. Stay well and see you soon!

Dr. Kyle Simpson | DC, BSc (Hons.)

05/12/2020

This weeks Perform-Ed. review is “The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials” by Lauersen et al. (2014).
They found that strength training programs provided the largest protective effect against sports-related injuries, with proprioception and multiple exposure programs also providing some benefit. Passive/static stretching was not shown to reduce injury risk. The authors concluded that strength training reduced sports injuries to less than one-third and reduced overuse injuries by nearly half.
It is important to understand that there are limitations to this data. The studies looking at passive stretching only included passive stretching, therefore conclusions about programs that combine passive stretching with muscle activation cannot be made. It is also important to know that the clinical application of this data is limited due to the fact that most of the stretching subjects were taken from studies evaluating military personal, which may not accurately reflect a standard population.
However, what this large review does provide is strong suggestion that strength training should be prioritized in training programs to reduce likelihood of sports-related injuries.

05/07/2020

Thursday’s are for the nerds...
Introducing my new segment “Perform-Ed.” where I will be diving into a research paper and providing a summary of the findings.
This weeks review is “Gluteus Maximus Activation During Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises: A Systematic Review (Neto et al. 2020).
The authors compared available research to determine what exercises provide the highest amount of “glute activation” as measured by maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC). A total of 16 studies with over 230 subjects were used to make these comparisons. Their results show that the step-up and its variations tend to cause very high levels of glute max activation. It is important to note that this is not an exhaustive list of exercises for glute max activation, rather a list of those with supporting EMG research that met the inclusion criteria of the study. Perhaps this information will help guide your clinical decision making when prescribing “glute exercises” to patients/clients.