Living with the normal-life restrictions created by the Covid-19 pandemic is tough. It is tough for different reasons to different people. We will all have our unique pandemic stories to tell when it’s finally over (I’m fairly certain it will be over eventually). Mine includes being restricted from work, and in turn an income, and needing to prioritize home-schooling grade 3 math to my son, Nathan, in March, April and most of May. Knowing that we were all shut-down (although many still earning an income) brought me some comfort in that we were all in this together. But, things shifted for me when the health clinic I worked at (Satori) closed its doors permanently. The stress of looking for a new place to practice was immense. I was comforted knowing that I would take the necessary next steps with a core group of colleagues I’ve worked with for the past decade. As you know, we created LiveWell and managed to stay in our old address at 33 Hazelton Avenue. Upon re-opening our doors in July, many current patients (and some new patients) returned for much-needed treatment. Injuries that were lingering since March returned for resumption of their treatment plans. And new aches and pains presented themselves as a result of the mental and physical stresses of the pandemic, including poor ergonomics of working from home, anxiety about the virus, educational and developmental impact on our children, and financial strain of lost income and jobs. I am relieved to report that I have been fairly busy for the past three months caring for my patients. Unfortunately, as we’re all aware, the number of new Covid-19 cases is again rising exponentially. And, despite being in the pandemic for over 6 months, Ontario continues to lag behind with important pandemic counter-measures, including the inability to rapidly test more people, and insufficient by-laws to curb the human behaviour that is leading to increased transmission these days. So, what does this mean for you, me and your health care? Well, I’ve noticed another trend lately: In the early goings of the pandemic, many were working from home but with a lighter workload in general. These days, many continue to work from home but with increasing workloads and mounting stress, all the while still dealing with the mental aspects of the pandemic. In turn, I am noticing an increase in spine-related and upper limb extremity pains (eg. Neck Pain, Back Pain, Tennis elbow).
So, while the Covid-19 numbers rise, so too does your need for ongoing physical therapy. It is unlikely the government will “shut down” health clinics again, recognizing the need for ongoing healthcare. But, the Covid-19 numbers may scare patients away from coming to the office. So, I’d like to re-affirm how careful we are at LiveWell with the Covid-19 protocols:
- We rarely have more than two patients in our large waiting room at any one time
- Every person entering our facility is wearing a mask PROPERLY
- We are screening all of our patients TWICE before entering a treatment room (once via email, and again in person before entry)
- Each treatment room is being thoroughly cleaned with disinfectant before and after every patient
- Every therapist at LiveWell performs a Covid-19 self-assessment everyday
I’m reviewing the above protocols for you to give you the confidence that your pandemic visit to my office is as safe a visit as one could hope for.
Three months of no treatment had an impact on many of my patients. And, even though I’ve been fairly busy for the past few months, I have not seen many patients that were receiving care at the beginning of the year. And now I’m worried that the rising numbers will cause many more to suspend their physical therapy further or again.
A piece of advice I received from my wife that I’ve been sharing to many is to focus on the controllable variables in your life, and try not to get too bogged down worrying about the large, uncontrollable stresses in the world at large. Health of yourself and your loved ones is paramount right now. My LiveWell team and I will do everything in our power to create a safe environment for you to continue or resume your chiropractic care and physical therapy. I implore you to focus on the controllable variables in your life, including, and especially, your physical and mental health.
Yours in health,
Dr. Michael Berenstein