Kinetic Konnection's To Whom it May Concern Blog

 Is runner's knee slowing you down?

A Guide to Healthy Legs

1. Get Your Legs Moving.  By simply walking, you generate blood circulation in your legs… what could be easier?  Walk, climb stairs, move your legs around the office and at home.  Avoid prolonged sitting or standing which may cause leg pain and swelling.

My dad was always playing hockey, squash and skiing in the winter months. Summer months meant tennis and rollerblading. As he was entering retirement, all those activities would be  that much more enjoyable. The problem was that he had developed severe osteoarthritis in his hips and was starting to lose the ability to stay active. Over a relatively short period of time the only option was to have hip replacement surgery. The first hip was replaced and the grueling rehab was followed. After months of recovery, there was some improvement but the activities were extremely reduced. Five years later it was time to have the second hip replaced which meant more grueling rehab and recovery. At this point all activities were eliminated. Just getting around was an activity in itself. 

After 17 years in business, we find ourselves looking at things a little differently. As any business owner will attest, becoming a mature company can be very grueling and competitive. But now that we've reached a point in our business careers where we feel confident in the stability of our company, it allows time to think about other things. There are so many opportunities to get involved in countless activities and programs both inside and outside of our communities. The problem is deciding which programs to assist with, since they all have merit. All Kinetic Konnection locations (Windsor, Tecumseh, Oakville and Vaughan) have decided to get involved with their local school children's programs. More specifically, we want to donate a portion of our custom foot orthotic sales to various existing kids school programs. The type of programs we plan on contributing to will be "health conscience" in nature. That will include programs such as nutrition, health and fitness. We want to help make the experience of school just a little better for kids. Our goal is to help at least 12 different schools every year with a meaningful donation to an existing kids program. Hopefully we can extend the number of schools and increase the amount of money we donate with every passing year. Our intent is to be a long term contributor to these kids school programs in the various communities in which we live.

Working at Kinetic Konnection has given me many opportunities to listen to people discuss their experience of dealing with osteoarthritis. From people who have been recently diagnosed to those who had bilateral knee replacements, their comments were always different, interesting and life changing for that individual.

Osteoarthritis (OA), is a degenerative joint disease whose onset is usually because of previous joint injury or other factors. More than 10 per cent of Canadian adults are affected by OA, which is the most prevalent type of arthritis. Joint damage caused by OA accounts for more than 80 per cent of hip replacement surgery and over 90 per cent of knee replacements in Canada.

emBrace Cuba……Since the day we opened our doors, we had been in search of an organization that would take gently used braces and supports.  Due to hygienic reasons, it seemed that nobody could take them.   Until 5 years ago a student employee of ours had an idea. She was a Kinesiology student attending the University of Western Ontario and remembered hearing about a Professor teaching a class called “Educational Exploration of Sport and Physical Activity in Cuba” who travelled to Cuba over reading week with a group of students from this course. 

If you are one of those people who suffer from chronic swelling in their feet, ankles and legs as well as varicose veins, compression stockings can be extremely helpful. The problem is that compression socks can be difficult for some people to apply and remove.  In fact, we have hundreds of customers who get compression socks from us annually and the number one reason some people stop using compression socks is the difficulty of applying and removing them.

As a Kinesiologists and business owner for the past 20 years I have always been interested in injuries and conditions and how they are treated. I have worked hard to provide products and services that are viable and effective methods for treating various conditions that could be used on their own or in conjunction with other treatments.                                                                                              

Your custom foot orthotics are about to improve some of the poor walking mechanics you have developed over the years. Walking is something we just do. We don't think about it, we just do it. The problem is that the way we walk can be causing some aches and pains. Those aches and pains may or may not be in the foot. If you think about it, your foot is the only part of your body that touches the ground and yet most of us do little to improve that area of the body. Think of it this way; if your ankle joint, knee joint and hip joints are like links in a chain, the bottom of that chain starts with your foot. If your foot functions poorly, then that can put the rest of the links (joints) in the chain out of alignment. Wearing custom foot orthotics can help improve the alignment of your foot and the way you walk and ultimately reduce many aches and pains in your feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back.