Dr. Alex Ritza Chiropractor

03/28/2023

Floors are in, furniture assembly and avoiding tennis elbow, paint to come, cuddles with my guy 🐶

2-3 weeks until move in and excited to welcome everyone. Practice members should expect an email with all the details very soon

03/20/2023

New Home 👨🏼‍⚕️ 🏢🏗️

After many delays and a lifetime worth of stress over the last six months, work has begun on our new home at 890 Yonge street

Very excited to welcome familiar and new faces within the next month and for many years to come to what will be a beautiful japandi/mid century inspired space dedicated to helping our practice members improve their health and bodies

My focus has never been to simply just “treat symptoms” . Our focus will be, as it has always been, to help our practice members improve how their bodies work, improve lifestyle and make sure their health never holds them back.

We are looking forward to offering massage therapy, corrective focused chiropractic care and wellness services to help our patients perform at their best

We are looking for great massage therapists with a similar goal and philosophy should you be that person or know someone.

A few wall paper and flooring images to help you imagine the space

03/08/2023

🪥 🦷 but like, for your spine

I want to help you today if you are struggling with your back or with some sort of issue with your spine.

And I want to give you a mindset and a simple routine that you can use to dramatically make a difference in how your spine moves, functions and feels in the next 30 days.

In terms of mindset, one thing I've been communicating more with patients on a regular basis; we should really be thinking about taking care of our spines like we take care of our teeth. We're ingrained from a young age that we should be brushing our teeth three times a day. And that if we can do that, we can really help to prevent cavities from coming. And of course, if you floss, mouthwash, use a water pick and add all these other strategies to your routine, then you're going to help to reduce the chance of having a problem with your dental health.

Your routine
1️⃣ cat camels to mobilize the spine
2️⃣ reach backs for strength and posture
3️⃣ proper ergonomics

For more details on how check out of new blog linked in bio

03/08/2023

https://dralexritza.com/back-pain-relief-with-a-3-step-simple-routine/

7-minute read. Make a big difference for your back in one month.

03/01/2023

Low Back Stiffness After Exercise – A Symptom of a Problem or Poor Technique?

Video and Blog linked in Bio!

If you suffer from low back stiffness/pain across the small of your back or it feels like you have muscles that won’t relax after working out your back you are not alone. This is a prevalent complaint from new and existing patients. As a Corrective Chiropractor, my goal is to always address the root cause of the problem: for existing patients with a relatively healthy spine, it is often a technique problem. For new patients that do not regularly take care of their spine, it can be a technique issue but often reflects an underlying problem with the spine. An examination is always required to assess the underlying health of the spine and one’s technique so if this is you, get your spine checked! Remember, symptoms are like a dashboard on your car and the presence of a symptom lighting up on the dashboard does not tell you what, where or why there is a problem, just that there might be one. But, if we make a BIG assumption that your spine is perfectly healthy then the most common cause of this complaint is an overactivation of the lumbar (low back) paraspinal muscles when the lifting should be done by the bigger and stronger gluteal muscles. Almost all “sports” injuries without trauma are an issue of repetitive strain and in most cases of a poorly executed deadlift, squat or back exercise causing soreness, the low back muscles are being repetitively strained just like a pinky finger muscle would be if you asked it to do a dumbbell curl instead of the bigger and stronger biceps.

Check our blog for the four steps to execute to fix this problem

02/01/2023

Shoulder injuries - should I get an MRI? 📸

New Blog linked in bio

If you have a shoulder problem it can be incredibly frustrating in trying to identify that source of the pain!

What you might not know is that most studies show it also quite difficult for most practitioners to identify the source of the pain - even if they tell you with certainty they know what it is.

Even MRIs and especially ultrasound imaging are not going to tell you what the actual problem is!

You can read about this in more in our new blog post where we talk about the lack of need for most MRIs and shoulder imaging

In our office we are focused on addressing the underlying problem with the shoulder and spine and not trying to treat the pain. We of course try to identify the pain generator but that is usually collateral damage to an underlying problem absent the cases of acute trauma

Make sure your body care expert is trying to address the underlying problem and not just focusing on that darn *insert rotator cuff muscle that has a “tear”

01/19/2023

🧠 Headaches from the neck and the fixes

New blog and YouTube linked in bio

Tension type and cervicogenic (headaches from the upper neck) often respond well to stretching and foam rolling when done properly. Our new blog and video will show you exactly what I show my patients to help them between checkups if their neck is bothering them.

Using the 1️⃣ slump stretch and 2️⃣ foam roller can be hugely preventative and relieving

A lot of people don’t know that if they have recurrent headaches it can be from an underlying problem with the neck. By improving the health of someones spine and their neck in particular, we have seen dozens, if not hundreds of patients that were chronic migraine and headache sufferers get dramatic relief. If you have more than 2 headaches per month it is worthwhile getting your spine checked to see if there might be an underlying problem with your spine that is causing or contributing to your headaches!

These two fixes are my go to for when I have a headache because of my neck and/or shoulders.

01/18/2023

Back Of The Head Pain Relief | Neck Headache Relief and Tension Headache Relief

These two fixes are my go to for when I have a headache because of my neck and/or shoulders.

Tension type and cervicogenic (headaches from the upper neck) often respond well to stretching and foam rolling when done properly. This video will show you exactly what I show my patients to help them between checkups if their neck is bothering them.

A lot of people don't know that if they have recurrent headaches it can be from an underlying problem with the neck. By improving the health of someones spine and their neck in particular, we have seen dozens, if not hundreds of patients that were chronic migraine and headache sufferers get dramatic relief.

if you have more than 2 headaches per month it is worthwhile getting your spine checked to see if there might be an underlying problem with your spine that is causing or contributing to your headaches!

See more here:

https://dralexritza.com/fix-headache-sufferers-need-know/

or book here

https://parkroadwellnesscentre.janeapp.com/ #/staff_member/1

These two fixes are my go to for when I have a headache because of my neck and/or shoulders.Cat-Cow mentioned:Tension type and cervicogenic (headaches from t...

01/02/2023

https://dralexritza.com/where-to-start-with-exercise-new-year-resolutions-start-by-strengthening-your-core/

Not used to moving? This is where to SAFELY start!

12/29/2022

Where it hurts is usually not where the underlying problem is … especially with the knee 🦵

New blog linked in bio - Frontal Knee Pain Fix and How To Prevent and knee pain with activity

In our office we tend to see a lot of cases where patients have been to other traditional chiropractors and physiotherapist, but they have not gotten the results they want because that practitioner was focussing on getting rid of the pain and not fixing the underlying problem.

We always perform a head to toe NeuroStructural examination to understand all of the ways in which the body could be working better, and are able to identify the underlying core problems that actually caused a lot of the symptoms and health issues that our patients complain about

Knee pain, such as with running cycling, squatting or simply going up and down the stairs, is a great example of this ! I almost never see a case of knee pain where the knee is the actual problem unless there has been significant trauma. . IN 95% of cases or more we find evidence that the spine hip, and sometimes foot are affecting the tracking and movement of the knee enough to create repetitive strain, and the subsequent irritation of the knee, tissues, and nervous system that creates the painful symptom. The fix is, of course, to address the underlying problem with the spine nervous system, and the tissues around the knee that are affecting its biomechanics and that is how you fix the pain and problem with the same approach,

Check out our most recent blog post to learn more about how to prevent and fix knee pain with activity and get a better understanding of how to keep your knee and body as a whole healthy

downtowntorontochiropractor

12/28/2022

Knee Pain Relief and Relief for Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome in Toronto – Yorkville & Yonge Bloor Toronto Corrective Chiropractor | Dr Alex Ritza

https://dralexritza.com/knee-pain-relief-and-relief-for-patellofemoral-pain-syndrome-in-toronto/

How to fix the underlying problem for most knee pain and what I give to my patients to do it

If you have recurrent frontal knee pain with activity or sitting, especially if there wasn’t an accident or “ouch” moment that started it, there is something really important you need to know…

12/16/2022

Finger and hand numbness help⚡️


New blog linked in bio for more details 🤓

There are some diagnoses that are made by practitioners that very accurately describe what is going on but do not describe the “why it is going on”

🙇🏽‍♂️Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) is one of them. It is compression of the nerves (sometimes arteries) leaving the neck when entering into the upper limb through the thoracic outlet: the space between the collar bone and the upper ribs

🔎Specifically, it is usually the lowest nerves leaving the neck from the C7 and T1 vertebrae that join together to form the lowest (inferior) trunk of the brachial plexus and then go onto provide sensation to the inside of the forearm and hand amongst other things

The most telltale sign of TOS is numbness along the inside of the forearm and the smallest two fingers when the inferior brachial plexus trunk is compressed. Weakness could and usually does come later without proper care or relief

COMPRESSED NERVE = NUMBNESS 🧠

I don’t like this diagnosis because it does not explain WHY these nerves are compressed‼️

❓Is it because of tight scalene muscles only

❓ Is it because of a cervical rib that shouldn’t be there

❓Is it because of degeneration in the cervical spine

❓OR is it because all of the above combined with a forward SHIFT in the normal structure of the neck

The 🗝 is to know why it is happening and address the underlying Core Problem with the spine / nervous system

If you only manage the symptoms then you are going to be constantly trying to release tight muscles and sooth irritated nerves that are irritated in the first place because of a postural / structural issue

If the head is constantly SHIFTED forward then it is going to create a lot of issues in the thoracic outlet that will keep coming back

I have attached one of my favourite drills in the blog you should check out that will hopefully provide some temporary relief.

12/14/2022

How to relieve back pain on a plane and How to relieve back pain while driving

For the (hopefully not too long) ride to see your family

In today's video I'm gonna get you all ready for the holidays! Whether it is plane, train, or automobile travel, we will talk about how to relieve pain and u...

12/12/2022

https://dralexritza.com/do-i-have-thoracic-outlet-syndrome-how-to-fix-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/

New blog article - numbness in your ring and pinky finger is most likely this. A short read for prevention and/or how to fix it

11/29/2022

How to reduce your tension and pain from stress 😩 🤕

New blog linked in bio

Definitely worth a read if you are like me and notice that stress impacts your body. If you didn’t know, tension in the neck, head and shoulders can be a consequence of stress.

The physical consequences of acute and chronic stress that activates your fight or flight system is a hugely important factor in so many cases that we manage. That fight or stress response is good for escaping a predator but bad when activated for too long without a physical challenge to overcome.

You can fix the body but if you don’t remove the stressor or modify the response to stress that caused those changes in the first place, it is going to be much more difficult to stop those spine problems from coming back . That is why we always give our patients strategies to manage stress to ensure their body stays healthy in the face of challenges 🧠

In this blog we talk about what you can do to minimize the body’s response to stress and those consequences

if you can’t remove the stress from your world then the next best option is to minimize its effects - you might be surprised to know that the word stretch isn’t used

11/29/2022

https://dralexritza.com/three-ways-to-manage-your-stress-at-work-to-reduce-your-tension/

How do prevent or minimize the effects of stress on your body and spine :)

11/14/2022

…. If you are doing them wrong or the thing 🧠 ⚡️ doing the activating isn’t working (your nerves!)

1️⃣ Check out blog in bio for a full breakdown of a recent case I had that might explain why your chiropractor / physio exercising are not working - it could be there is a problem with the spine/nerves that is inhibiting proper nerve activation of a full muscle contraction

🚒 If you really want to activate your gluteal muscles without compensating with your spine and hip flexors (most common mistake I see)
- use the fire hydrant! 1 minute holds twice per day
- in a quadruped position, brace yourself core and imagine you have a glass of water on your back
- bring your knee out at a 45 degree angle (to the side activates your hip flexors and straight back is the gluteus Maximus)
- your spine shouldn’t rotate or really move at all (“flat back I would cue”
- you should feel the strain in your back pocket 👖

01/29/2022

Hell of the North 2021 👿 - Cycling Doc edit 🎥

This is what I do on the weekend - or basically what I want to do on every weekend 💕

First race in almost two years of no racing because of you know

I had a ton of fun making this and after like 12 hours of editing this is basically how it went down - it only required a new MacBook to get it down a few months late

Full video in bio - this is the intro.

Enjoy cycling fans

06/16/2021

Shoulder Impingement Rehab Exercises | A Complete Guide For Shoulder Impingement Home Exercises

Shoulder Impingement Rehab Exercises | A Complete Guide For Shoulder Impingement Home Exercises

Having recently dealt with a case of shoulder impingement, I can speak from experience that it is both, scary that you might be held back from sport/doing what you love and that it might not heal quickly or at all!

In this complete guide from injury to optimizing how the shoulder works, we will review everything you need to know and what I learned from managing my own shoulder impingement injury and what I have learned from taking care of and rehabbing thousands of patients and dozens of shoulder impingement cases in our office.

We will go through all that you need to know in terms of:

2:56 Diagnosing the problem and how to know what is wrong

and all the stages of rehab

6:25 CORRECTION: Reducing irritation and inflammation while maintaining movement
13:13 REBUILDING: Loading the shoulder in a safe way to improve strength, biomechanical and proprioception
21:10 OPTIMIZATION: Loading the shoulder with real-world force and speed

03/19/2021

Base Training 🚲 For Your Spine 💪 on

I get it, we cyclists don’t like doing much other than riding - me included 😬

BUUUT it’s like doing only VO2 max and anaerobic work without having an aerobic base - it makes your fitness brittle!

Good core strength keeps the knees tracking, your spine feeling good and safe and allows your to transfer force more efficiently into the pedals. It is a requirement IMO 👨🏼‍⚕️

This routine can be watched on my IGTV in full where you will see that all of these drills are primarily done as holds (shooting for one minute) to help create better endurance and a damn good challenge.

I like to tell patients that this routine is diagnostic and therapeutic: if you can’t do the routine and hold all the exercises for one minute - you have a problem and need to work until you can. If you can do them then I would recommend doing them 1x-2x per week to help maintain.

Hope this helps you get faster, stay injury free and ultimately have more fun 🤩 🚲

03/15/2021

How To Recover From Workouts And Stress Better With These Six Strategies

How To Recover Better With These Six Strategies

For more help check out this resource:

http://dralexritza.com/reset-curriculum/