Chiropractic looks at how your entire nervous system works and how it affects your body. It’s how your body communicates with itself by sending messages to your organs, synapses, and networks of internal resources. When your nervous system can’t send or receive the proper messages to and from your organs, your body won’t respond the way it’s designed to do. Chiropractic is a natural, drug-free approach to healing that focuses on keeping the nervous system operating smoothly. That means realigning the spine and joints in the body for proper motion and keeping it in motion, with a chiropractic adjustment. An adjustment is applied to areas of restricted motion, using a combination of gentle low-force, traction, manual, or instrument applications as required by your specific areas of concern at your chiropractor’s discretion. The chiropractic adjustment allows proper communication between your nervous system and the entire body to promote healing by reducing the “fight or flight” stress response.

The primary role of the nervous system in your body is to maintain homeostasis, or “balance,” in response to your surrounding environment, all without you having to think about it. It regulates your breathing, metabolism, body temperature, immune system, balance, stress hormones, muscles, organs, sleep patterns, and so much more. It’s the master system, and that’s why chiropractic focuses on maintaining the nervous system at peak performance. Whenever stress or interference is introduced to the nervous system, we see a breakdown in communication and undesirable responses from the body. These undesirable responses manifest themselves as chronic diseases, chronic back and neck pain, headaches, migraines, arthritis, fibromyalgia which are all signals that your body is sending you to wake up and pay attention. Chiropractic care restores proper communication throughout the body so that you are more balanced to handle and respond to stress. Every chiropractic adjustment we use to treat our patients is designed to restore homeostasis, or balance, to your nervous system so your body can heal itself from within.

Your body is constantly responding to stress on a daily basis. Stress, in the chiropractic sense, is a broad term that covers the physical, mental, and chemical microtraumas we sustain as we go about our day. Physical stressors are easy to identify from an obvious event like lifting something too heavy the wrong way and now your back is tight and sore, to repetitive stresses like “text” neck or carpal tunnel syndrome from poor posture. Mental stresses are endless (anxiety, depression, anger) and affect how we relate to everyone around us. And chemical stressors include everything you put inside your body (food, medication, alcohol, caffeine) to everything that confronts your body on the outside (pollution, allergens, hygiene products, infectious creatures). As you can see, our body takes in stress from all angles, all day, every day. Pain falls into the physical stress category. When proper, biomechanical motion in the spine and joints is lost or disrupted, inflammation in the surrounding soft tissues sends pain signals to your brain. Your brain registers that message as, “Ouch!” In turn, your brain responds the only way it knows how: by activating the sympathetic nervous system (aka the “fight or flight” mechanism) with tight muscles and even more inflammation. More sympathetic tone will always equal more stress and more physical Pain. The key difference in how traditional medicine approaches pain, compared to chiropractic: medicine (another chemical stressor) will be prescribed to block the message from the body to the brain. Or even more intense, surgical intervention will be recommended (a huge additional physical stressor). Problem solved? Not even close! The broken communication pathway is still there, it’s just being masked.

Chiropractic care gets to the root of the problem by restoring that communication pathway between the nervous system and the body. Proper joint biomechanics in the spine and joints sends the right messages to the brain, reduces sympathetic tone, and reduces inflammation which registers in the brain as “no more pain!” Chiropractic care to the rescue.

Chiropractic treatment focuses on relieving stress around your spinal column. Using a combination of gentle low-force, traction, manual or instrument application, your chiropractor helps relieve the stress in the affected area alleviating pain and correcting any misalignment. A physiotherapist works on strengthening muscles and joints surrounding your spinal column and the rest of the body. This helps in reducing pain without the need for opioid medication or surgery and improves mobility. In cases where your chiropractor has adjusted part of your spinal column, physiotherapy helps you heal quicker by making the muscles surrounding the area stronger and more flexible. Classic and cutting-edge physiotherapy techniques improve blood flow to the affected area, reducing inflammation and pain. Whether your pain is caused by injury, old age, or as a result of some other medical condition, both chiropractic treatment and physiotherapy can help make the pain go away effectively.

We know you only want the best for your children. Not only is chiropractic care safe for children, but it has also been shown to build a great foundation for growth, development, general health, and happiness as a child grows from infant to young adult. It should come as no surprise that a child has a spine and nervous system that is just as important as the nervous system in an adult. It serves the same function, just in different stages of development. And just like in adults, disrupted nervous system communication will manifest in the physical- constipation, colic, bed wetting, ear infections, torticollis, fussiness, trouble sleeping, reflux and more. If the nervous system isn’t addressed early on, we see a progression of issues into adolescent development such as focus, behavior and mood issues, hyperactivity, asthma, allergies, headaches and sensory integration. Chiropractic care for children focuses on allowing the nervous system to function smoothly by restoring balance so their bodies can deal with stress. The chiropractic adjustment a child receives is much gentler than that of an adult. Their spine is developmentally and structurally quite different, being mostly cartilaginous until the age of six, so how they are adjusted takes a gentle approach. Children are also very resilient and respond rapidly to an adjustment, so they do not need to be adjusted as often as an adult. By nurturing that developing nervous system with chiropractic care, we are proactively setting them up for success early in life.

It’s no secret that athletes are always looking for a competitive edge, and many of them find that edge with regular chiropractic care. Athletes have found chiropractic care the premier choice for natural and drug-free performance enhancement as well as preventing injuries in the first place. They find that their healing is rapid and recovery time from injuries is reduced with chiropractic care.

Thirty years ago, physiotherapy was an almost entirely different profession. The emphasis was on passive modalities like electrical stimulation and ultrasound and simply stretching what is tight and strengthening what is weak. The treatment philosophy focused only on the specific area in pain rather than focusing on the body as a whole. Clinics were seeing multiple patients per hour and employed under qualified “aides”, to perform general therapeutic exercises with the patient. Unfortunately, most physiotherapy clinics today still employ this approach.

At Healing Touch Clinic, we have redefined physiotherapy. You will be treated one-on-one with a physiotherapist the ENTIRE session performing a combination of hands-on therapy and individualized corrective exercises specifically addressing your postural and movement impairments. We look at the entire body as a whole unit that functions in synch. Our manual therapy or hands-on approach to treatment is a specific technique such as myofascial trigger point release, active release, mobilization with movement and muscle energies to assist in accomplishing your goals.

At Healing Touch Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic, you don’t need to choose! Chiropractic treatment and physical therapy work great together to relieve pain and improve movement. For example, if you’ve developed chronic pain in your lower back due to sitting for long hours at your desk job, a chiropractor can adjust part of your spine to correct any misalignment while a physiotherapist can help you strengthen your muscles and correct your posture so that the pain never comes back.

There are many advantages of having your chiropractor and physiotherapist under the same roof:

• You get comprehensive treatment that helps you get better results
• Both your chiropractor and physiotherapist are well aware of your medical history and make sound decisions regarding your treatment
• You don’t have to visit multiple clinics/establishments to get better and manage your pain
• Your treatment takes place in a high-tech, clean, professional and friendly environment

At Healing Touch Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic, our chiropractors and physiotherapists work together to make sure you get the best possible treatment. All patient files are shared, and each individual case is discussed in detail to help provide customized care to each patient.

You may be suffering from shoulder pain that is keeping you from lifting things or raising your arm, or knee pain that is hindering your morning run, or lower back pain that is making it hard to stand or sit for long. Together, chiropractic treatment and physiotherapy can help take all that pain away and enable you to return to your normal routine stronger and healthier.

At Healing Touch Chiropractic & Wellness Clinic all services work in conjunction with each other. We are constantly communicating about every patient to ensure we meet their wellness and health goals. Your physiotherapist will be speaking with the massage therapist on an ongoing basis to discuss all pertinent areas to focus on during the treatment. In addition, your physiotherapist will consult with your personal trainer to ensure that everyone is on the same page to address your health needs. Massage therapy and personal training are recommended additions to your physiotherapy treatment in order to focus more intensely on the soft tissue and strengthening/cardio components in an optimal manner.

You may not realize the healing potential of massage; you may simply be aware of its calming quality. But massage is an important tool for continual regeneration of your body. It’s easy to see the benefits of massage through relaxation and release of tension in the muscles. But therapeutic massage has many more benefits to your health, such as overall stress reduction, promoting a healthy immune system, and better sleep. Many of our practice members have profound relief from headaches and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues, more flexibility, and find the correction for poor posture.

Chiropractic and massage work hand-in-hand, easing pain and strengthening the muscle. When you have tight muscles, they work to pull you out of a healthy alignment. This lessens the length of your chiropractic adjustment and results in your body feeling achy or tight. Our licensed massage therapist and chiropractic doctor work closely together to retrain your body to take its time, calm down, and relax.

We provide a personal touch that will make certain you receive the best massage for your specific needs. It took time for your muscles to get tight and knotted, so we will take the time to retrain and relax your muscles through extensive massage therapy and help your body get back into a proper position.

Of course, some of our clients are here for only massage, but we see the best results when our practice members are using both chiropractic care and therapeutic massage at the same time. The combined therapies will help you move your body towards balance through better movement and overall well-being, so you get the most out of your chiropractic adjustment.

Massage therapy is the most effective way to help get the blood moving into the soft tissues of the body. This brings in oxygen and fresh nutrients and helps remove cellular waste. It also helps increase mobility in joints and reduces pain and inflammation in the affected area. This is the reason why massage therapy is highly recommended in conjunction with other pain relief techniques.

One such technique is physiotherapy. While it may seem like physiotherapy and therapeutic massage are essentially doing the same thing for your body, the two are fairly different. While a therapeutic massage loosens the muscles and tissues closest to the surface of the skin, physiotherapy goes beyond that and focuses on all muscles and tissues surrounding the affected area. Combining massage therapy with physiotherapy is beneficial for you because it helps get quicker results.

Therapeutic massage loosens up stiff muscles and tissues making them more receptive to physiotherapy techniques. In addition, the massage alleviates some of the pain in the affected area giving some much-needed relief to the patient. Massage is also a great way to de-stress and relax your mind and your body. So, if your physiotherapy sessions get too intense you can relax and enjoy a stimulating massage that will leave your body replenished and your mind at ease.

If you find yourself trying to work-out with an injury, stuck in a plateau, or plagued by fatigue during your fitness training, you may want to consider adding massage therapy to your routine. Massage gets the blood moving into the soft tissues, which brings in oxygen and fresh nutrients while stimulating the lymphatic system to remove cellular waste. Tight muscles and soft tissues are relaxed, which increases motion at the joints and prevents the risk of injury. Adhesions, or scar tissues, are removed from the injured tissues while stimulating new, healthy tissue to form in its place.

When therapeutic massage is added to our personal training client’s routine, they find their recovery time is much faster and they are less prone to injury during their workouts because their range of motion and flexibility is greatly enhanced.

According to biochemical and neurological research, acupuncture works by inserting very thin needles to activate the body’s pain-suppression system that releases endorphins in the brain. This opens blockagges and stimulates the body’s natural healing processes. These provide pain relief, increased energy and vitality, and help the body and its immune system.
The general theory of acupuncture is based on the premise that there are patterns of energy flow, called “Qi”, pronounced chee, that are essential for health. According to the established doctrines of classical Chinese medicine, this is an unceasing flow of life energy throughout the human body to maintain life and health. This vital energy originates from the major organs, and flows along the continuous circulatory channels called meridians. When the energy flow is smooth and in balance, one is healthy; if the balance is disturbed, then one will experience illness or pain. There are some specific points along the meridians called acupuncture points where the energy flow can be stimulated and the function of related organs can be regulated, thus restoring the delicate balance. These effects are vital for healing. Acupuncture is applied to the points selected on the basis of the meridian system.

Very fine, sterile and disposable needles are inserted into points along the energy channels in the body to stimulate the flow of energy, and after a period of rest, may include a second insertion of needles. Acupuncture treatment offers immediate symptom relief most of the time. Patients find the treatment very relaxing, which brings on a feeling of well being. The beneficial reaction usually starts during the first four or five visits.

Neurological – headache, migraine, neuralgia, facial pain, post-operative pain stroke residuals, Parkinson’s Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury
Respiratory – allergy, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, sinusitis and tonsillitis
Digestive – abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, indigestion, constipation and IBS
Emotional – stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression
Eyes, Ears, Dental – poor vision, decreases internal eye pressure, ear ringing, ear infection, toothache and post extraction pain
Musculo-Skeletal – pain and weakness in neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, back, hips, legs, knees and feet. Muscle cramping, arthritis, sciatica, disc problems, traumatic injuries, sprains, strains, sport injuries and tendinitis
Urological – UTI, sexual dysfunction, frequent urination
Gynocological – irregular or painful menstruation insufficient lactation, infertility, peri, menopause and menopause syndrome.
Cardiovascular – high cholesterol, heart disease and hypertension

The short answer is “No”. Two factors play the biggest role when it comes to patient discomfort. The first is the needle. At Healing Touch Clinic, we use the thinnest needle available which are thinner than human hair and much smaller than needles typically used to draw blood or give injections. The second and more important factor is the technique used by our acupuncturist which includes years of training and practice using the thinnest available needles.

Yes it does, depending on your insurance company and the type of coverage you have. An increasing number of insurance providers cover all or part of the cost of acupuncture treatments. It is best to call your insurance company to find out about your particular policy coverage.

Naturopathic doctors, sometimes referred to as NDs, are provincially regulated primary care providers and they practice natural medicine. Naturopathic medical training closely parallels that of Medical Doctors (MDs). The main difference between medical doctors and Naturopathic doctors is that Naturopathic Doctors use natural therapies such as acupuncture, clinical nutrition and diet, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, herbal medicines, supplements, lifestyle modifications, and body mind therapies.

NDs focus on the underlying cause of a condition, not just the symptoms, and integrate standard medical diagnostics with a broad range of evidence based natural therapies. NDs target to balance mind, body and environment to support the body’s natural ability to heal itself and for optimal health. NDs are also experts at early detection, prevention and treatment of chronic disease, and their personalized treatment plans work with each individual patient’s lifestyle and body chemistry.

At Healing Touch Clinic, an initial assessment takes between 1 hour to 1.5 hour, according to your health concerns. Besides your chief complaints, NDs evaluate all your body systems from head to toe. They also evaluate your family health history, diet, mood, stress levels, energy levels, sleeping patterns, and environment. Your vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, temperature is checked and recorded. Physical exams related to your chief complaint(s) and health evaluations are completed at your first session. Some examples are listening to your heart sounds and lungs; abdominal exam; checking your eyes, ears, nose and throat; specific musculoskeletal tests; mood tests and more. In case of need, you might be asked or recommended to have blood work done, stool analysis, and imaging tests. At the end of your evaluation, NDs discuss their evaluation and findings with you and create a personalized treatment plan defined under their scope of practice. In most cases, follow-up visits are needed.

NDs are primary health care practitioners and can treat a wide variety of health concerns for any age group, including acute and chronic health conditions. You can visit an ND for any health condition, even just for health promotion. If you are already under treatment by another health care provider (such as your MD) and using medications, you can also consider visiting an ND to have an integrative medicine approach to your health problems.
Here are some examples of most common reasons for Naturopathic Doctor visits:
• Weight management (obesity, weight loss, weight gain) and healthy diet
• Digestive health (heartburn, leaky gut, SIBO, constipation and more)
• Anti-Aging and acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions
• Chronic health conditions (rheumatologic diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes and more)
• Cancer patients (for integrative approach)
• Women health (irregular menstruation, menopause symptoms, infertility and more)
• Hormonal imbalances (adrenal fatigue, thyroid problems and more)
• Headaches, allergies, chronic skin conditions and chronic fatigue
• Degenerative neurologic diseases, sleeping problems, stress management, mental health, well being, detox and lifestyle consultation

Yes they do, depending on your insurance company and the type of coverage you have. Most of the private insurance companies cover Naturopathic Doctor visits and treatments. It is best to call your insurance company to find out about your particular policy coverage. OHIP doesn’t cover ND visits.

A chiropodist and a podiatrist are the only regulated foot specialists in Ontario. The primary difference between them is where they were trained. Chiropodists are trained in Canada, the UK and Australia, while podiatrists are trained in the US.
Foot specialists trained in the U.S. that came to Ontario before 1993, are referred to as podiatrists. Those that came after 1993, are referred to as chiropodists.

No, you do not need a doctor’s referral to see a chiropodist. Chiropodists are primary health care providers and would be the first choice for your foot care needs.

No, the chiropodists do not bill OHIP. The majority that work in private clinics are covered by most extended health care plans and third party insurance providers.

Although they won’t be applying nail polish for you, they do provide a medical treatment of your nails and skin using sterile instruments. They will do a thorough inspection of your feet and address any foot concerns that may come up.

A chiropodist addresses a variety of foot conditions including ingrown nails, corn and callus treatments, fungal nails, wart treatments, athlete’s foot, flat feet, plantar fasciitis, ingrown nail procedures, foot pain, custom orthotics and more.