Hi there, Dr. Paul Bajor here with Access Chiropractic and Wellness.

Fear of the unknown or even the ‘known’ prevents us from living life. Conquering your fears is the one of the first steps to new experiences.

It may be hard for you to hear anything with the wind, but I wanted to take a quick video and show you some amazing views of the ocean back here.

This video’s message is to take advantage of whatever opportunities life gives you and don’t be afraid a few challenges here and there.

Right behind me is a beautiful natural reef which made for some fantastic snorkeling and I love snorkeling and had the opportunity to be out there most of the days and earlier on today I managed to find some fantastic and interesting fish and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of something silver, and as I started to investigate I discovered it was a fairly large barracuda, about six feet long and it was the thickness of a calf and it is a predatory fish. At first I was wondering why there was a swarm of small fish swimming around! Anyways, I was pretty quick to get out just because it freaked me out for a moment.

I thought about it the next day and I thought I shouldn’t be afraid of something like because then I miss the opportunity to see more fish, so the next day I went in and again saw a lot of fish and then, low and behold, I come across this giant swarm of hundreds of smaller fish just swimming around calmly, and I thought that usually means only one thing, and, again, a predatory fish, the same barracuda. This time I didn’t panic or freak out, this time I looked, observed, and then it moved on along with all the fish. But had I not had the opportunity and not challenged myself to go back into the water again I would have definitely missed some of the beauty that I saw.

Take advantage of whatever opportunity you have, don’t be afraid of challenges whether they’re big because you never know what you’re going to miss.

I’m Dr. Paul Bajor of Access Chiropractic and Wellness and I hope you’re having a fantastic day!

Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  Dr. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are the only husband and wife chiropractic team in Airdrie, Alberta. Their practice, Access Chiropractic and Wellness, is located at #120, 52 Gateway Drive NE in the north of Airdrie. They have been in practice in Airdrie since 2004 and in practice since 2001. They have two kids named Liam and Julia and have a large family based practice. They have a vested interest in keeping Airdrie and surrounding communities healthy because Airdrie is also their home.

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).

www.accesschiropractic.net

#airdriechiropractor #airdriechiropractors #accesschiropractic

Hello, Dr. Paul Bajor with Access Chiropractic and Wellness!

I’m doing this video because we’ve had a lot of questions about my progress and how things are going.

Things are going great! I’m well ahead of where I should be which follows suit like before. I’ll make this short: I’m about 70% of what I would expect normal to be, and that is great! But this last 30% is going to be a tough one.

Have you ever tried to lose weight? A lot of people have tried to lose weight, I’ve tried to lose weight. Ever find how at the beginning it’s way easier to lose weight than further down?

“Holy cow, I just lost 5 pounds! 6 pounds, 7 pounds! I’m killing it!”

And then a few months later: “Oh man, I’ve only lost 1 or 2 pounds this week? What’s going on? This is going to take forever!” That’s where I’m at. And that’s ok, I understand it’s going to take some time, I’m ahead of where I should be. And I’ve got all my tools, I have my walking partner (Maisel); I tried running a while ago and maybe that was a bit too much, so I’ll take it easy with that, but I’m going on some really brisk walks, making sure my heart rate goes up, making sure I get the strength going, making sure I get more stability for my knees. As well, I’m rocking the sweet sweet compression socks which give me more proper blood flow.

Things are going well, I’m pleased with where I’m at, and hopefully in the next month I’ll do some lighter hiking and then give running back a try!

Thanks for your concern and support!

Access Chiropractic and Wellness.

Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  Dr. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are the only husband and wife chiropractic team in Airdrie, Alberta. Their practice, Access Chiropractic and Wellness, is located at #120, 52 Gateway Drive NE in the north of Airdrie. They have been in practice in Airdrie since 2004 and in practice since 2001. They have two kids named Liam and Julia and have a large family based practice. They have a vested interest in keeping Airdrie and surrounding communities healthy because Airdrie is also their home.

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).

www.accesschiropractic.net

#airdriechiropractor #airdriechiropractors #accesschiropractic

There is no magic to getting rid of your neck and back pain. Here is the secret:

1. Chiropractic care
2. Icing
3. Stretching
4. DEDICATION

DEDICATION is the most important step of all. If you’ve read our blogs or followed us on Facebook or Instagram or have been to our clinic, you already know the benefits of chiropractic adjustments, icing, and stretching.

Yet the one thing that seems to always be forgotten is the dedication to making yourself better. My wife and I have 18 years of practice each and have seen what works and what does not work and while we can never guarantee that a particular treatment will work because every case and every person is unique, we can guarantee that if you follow our advice, come for the adjustments and do your icing, and stretching as indicated, you will have the best chance at success.

Look at my recent knee injury. My progress appears to be amazing and I will admit that my recovery has been much faster than anticipated, but it comes at a price: hard work and dedication.

What you see is me back at work after only a month off, practicing without my braces a month later, and bouncing around down the halls like nothing happened. What you don’t see is what it took to get there. In my first two weeks when I was in my zimmer braces I spent over an hour a day, 4-5 times a week, doing cold laser while icing 3 times a day, an hour at a time.

Once I had my staples removed and fitted with my flexion braces, I spent HOURS each day doing my exercises, icing, and doing laser (I couldn’t bend my knees more than 30 degrees at the start!). THIS was my new normal and it was tough. My wife literally forced me some days to come to the clinic for treatment because I didn’t feel like it, because I was tired. But I smartened up, listened to her (reluctantly of course), and went as directed!

My goal: I wanted to show everyone that I had the fastest recovery to get back to work, regular activity, and life, after a double patellar tendon rupture with emergency surgery. I wanted to prove to everyone that if you wanted something bad enough, you can attain it. And while this looked like it was simply a miracle (and I still believe that part of it was), it was not without a whole lot of work.

Everyday we see patients in acute pain who say they would do anything to be able to feel no pain again and get back to normal. Some follow our advice and return to normal very quickly however many do not.

Did you ice and stretch over the weekend?

I stretched but I did not ice.

How come you didn’t ice? I didn’t have time.

– one of the most common things we hear

Change (for anything, not just your body) happens over time with effort. If you want to succeed you have to dedicate yourself. We make things easy on you by only asking you to do a few very simple things that you have to do more intensely at the start of your care: come in for your treatment, do your icing, and perform the stretches we give you. We want to see you succeed because then we know that you’re healthy and that’s what makes us happy!

Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  Dr. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are the only husband and wife chiropractic team in Airdrie, Alberta. Their practice, Access Chiropractic and Wellness, is located at #120, 52 Gateway Drive NE in the north of Airdrie. They have been in practice in Airdrie since 2004 and in practice since 2001. They have two kids named Liam and Julia and have a large family based practice. They have a vested interest in keeping Airdrie and surrounding communities healthy because Airdrie is also their home.

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).

www.accesschiropractic.net

#airdriechiropractor #airdriechiropractors #accesschiropractic

Did you hear about Dr. Paul Bajor’s double knee injury? On February 20, 2019 (his birthday conveniently), Dr. Bajor suffered a gruesome knee injury to both knees. Watch the video below for details!

This is Dr. Paul Bajor with Access Chiropractic and Wellness.

This video is an update to tell you about an injury I incurred to my knees. On February 20, 2019, on my birthday, I took my kids to a trampoline park and we were fooling around and before I jumped off a ledge onto the trampoline I said to my daughter, “Hey Julia, watch this!” and my knees buckled, I heard a horrible snap, and I knew I had done some serious damage.

Sure enough, I tore my patellar tendons, ruptured them completely, off both knee caps. <Dr. Bajor describes how the tendons attach to the knee cap.> I was admitted to Foothills Hospital on that Wednesday, during which there was a snow storm, so they had all of the trauma from southern Alberta from accidents, so I was bumped Wednesday and then Thursday for surgery. On Friday I had surgery. They re-attached the tendons where they drilled 3 holes in the knee caps, weaved the tendons back and forth, cinched them with some super strong thread, and then closed me up with 50 staples between the two knees.

I was upright the night of the surgery and walked up and down the halls of the hospital with a walker which was great, but for the next two weeks I had to wear Zimmers, which are foam wraps that are tightened up with Velcro straps to keep my legs straight.

A few weeks ago I went to get the Zimmers taken off and staples removed and I got braces that limit how much my knees can bend. They started at 15-20 degrees and over the next few weeks I worked on exercises to increase my range of motion, did a lot of cold laser therapy on the injury itself, both on the seam of the cuts and the swelling, and then saw the surgeon who checked on everything. Swelling is down, scars are looking fantastic and look like they’re several months (not weeks) old, and he said that everything is looking really good. He increased the amount of flexion from 20 degrees to 40 degrees bending, which is fantastic because that’s all I need to practice, and as long as I kept them at that for the next few weeks, then I could go back to practice because there is no risk of injury because the braces limit how much I can bend.

I’m pleased to say that not even a month after the injury, I’m cleared to go back to work on a modified schedule and patient load, and as I get stronger I can return to the usual work load. In under 3 weeks I’ll go back to see the surgeon again and at that point in time, if things are looking well, I can probably take the braces off, which would be unreal, even though I would likely keep them on in practice until I’m comfortable and strong enough.

Now, why did this injury happen? Nobody knows! In fact, they were asking me if I use or used steroids. I said, “look at me, does it look like I use steroids?”. They also questioned if I was diabetic because tears like this are common, but not across both knees and that can weaken tendons. In the end, this was just one of those freak accidents.

I always tell patients they should keep up with their regular chiropractic visits, once every two or three weeks to stay nice and healthy. This doesn’t mean you’ll never land up in injury, but if you do, your bounce back will be fast. So look at me for example, I get adjusted all the time, and the one thing they told me from the very beginning was: you’re really healthy, you’re young, you’re active, you’re physical and you’re strong; your recovery is going to be fast. Barely one month after injury I’m told I can go back to work as long as I follow the rules; this is at least a month ahead of schedule of what we expected based on the norm. This is phenomenal and amazing news!

If there’s any reason to stay healthy, keep up on eating healthy, exercising, regular chiropractic care, this is living proof!

Hopefully you’re having as great of a day as I am, looking forward to seeing you back at the clinic as soon as possible!

This is Dr. Paul Bajor at Access Chiropractic and Wellness.

Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  Dr. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are the only husband and wife chiropractic team in Airdrie, Alberta. Their practice, Access Chiropractic and Wellness, is located at #120, 52 Gateway Drive NE in the north of Airdrie. They have been in practice in Airdrie since 2004 and in practice since 2001. They have two kids named Liam and Julia and have a large family based practice. They have a vested interest in keeping Airdrie and surrounding communities healthy because Airdrie is also their home.

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).

www.accesschiropractic.net

#airdriechiropractor #airdriechiropractors #accesschiropractic

Here’s a throwback to this summer when we had an opportunity to get some hiking in. We have to give credit to our patients for recommending this hike and my only regret is that we did not listen to them earlier!

WHO can do this hike? You have to be reasonably physically fit and I recommend having hiking boots or shoes at minimum. We did see some kids along the trail and even a 5 year old at the true summit, although that was quite impressive for that age! It is 13.8km return. We had a steady pace with about a half hour for lunch at the summit and it took about 2 hours up and 1.5 hours back.

This is a fantastic hike and, best of all, it’s not that far away. Only 40km away from Calgary, take Highway 22x which becomes Elbow Valley Trail (Hwy 66). Take the exit for Moose Mountain Road which ascends about 7.5km straight up (rough gravel road). There is a parking lot, but the entrance to the hike is past a double gate which will be on your right. The entrance to the hike is BEFORE the parking lot, not IN or PAST the parking lot (we thought we wouldn’t miss it either but we did!).

The hike starts with a slow easy ascent and then descends deeply for 1km. That all seems fine and dandy except that you have to climb this at the very end when you return and are dead tired! It goes through the woods on a fairly wide path for most of it, and the inclines are not that bad. You will definitely know when you break out of the trees because the trail will open up into beautiful and wide plane, the false summit ahead with the true summit hidden behind. Even when you start climbing to the false summit, the views will be amazing.

The false summit climb can be done via switchbacks, or, if you have good boots, straight up to cut down some time. We went straight up for the most part but did some switchbacks where it looked too steep.

The switchbacks are fairly easy but make the hike longer. If you are so inclined and have good boots, you can mountain goat your way straight up, which is what we did. You get a great workout and you save some time.

Once you reach the top of the first summit, you will feel accomplished. You will enjoy your time there, take in the amazing views, and be happy. You will feel like you have conquered the mountain. But you haven’t done that quite yet. Many people make this the final destination and then turn around and descend after having lunch or a snack. You just feel that good!

But then you see it. The true summit, in the distance. There is a precarious pathway (as you can see in the picture below) that leads you all the way to the true summit. You first may feel a hint of fear, but then you tell yourself “go for it!”

After the false summit, you descend for a short period to wear the pathway to the true summit begins. When you look upwards, you wonder to yourself “where does this pathway go?” It is very hard to see from the bottom where it leads and it is also very deceivingly narrow and dangerous from a distance, but as you start hiking it you will realize that it’s not as bad as it looks. And it will be worth the trek, trust me.

You are literally walking on the side of the mountain with a sheer drop off to the side, however you are on the calm side of the mountain so there is no wind to make you unsteady. You proceed along the side of the mountain at a fairly steep grade for a short period of time.

And after a hard and solid climb up the side of the mountain, you finally reach the true summit! And is it ever spectacular!

Moose Mountain is an active and fully operational fire lookout. It comes with a lookout tower and a helipad which is perfect for sitting down for a while and eating your lunch while enjoy 365 degree viewing. The man who works the fire tower came out a few times taking measurements and chatted briefly, but realistically he has a job to do and does not spend much time with the public. You’ll stand at the top and marvel at your accomplishment and realize that not many people get to stand where you are. You should make sure to sign the guestbook at the top. I always find it neat to look back in the book and see what people wrote and where they’re visiting from. Then you step back one more time and realize that this hike, this amazing view, is right in your back yard, and didn’t cost you a single thing except a bit of time and a bit of energy. But it’s all worthwhile!

Life is too short. Enjoy it ALWAYS.

Whether you have been to a chiropractor or not, you have likely heard a lot of different myths. By far, the most common chiropractic myth out there is: “Once you start seeing a chiropractor, you have to keep going forever.”

Dr. Paul Bajor of Access Chiropractic and Wellness explains why this is far from the truth and why, in fact, you should see a chiropractor for the rest of your life. Watch!

Hi, I’m Dr. Paul Bajor of Access Chiropractic and Wellness and today I’m going to dispel the #1 myth about chiropractic: once you start seeing a chiropractor you have to keep going forever. Why is it so prevalent to hear this because our line of thinking already supports this?

Let’s go through a few examples. The first one is a dental model. Say you go to the dentist for tooth pain and you have a cavity, and the dentist either fills it or does a root canal or you have to have the tooth pulled, and then he says, “I’m going to see you in six months or a year for a checkup and cleaning to make sure this doesn’t occur again.”

Let’s say you go to the optometrist because you notice it’s a bit blurry driving, so you go in and get your eyes checked and your strength in the eyes has decreased, your prescription changes, and the doctor says, “in a year’s time we’re going to see you again and we’re going to make sure we keep things in check.”

Let’s say your vehicle starts to make some noise or the check engine light goes on and you go in to get it checked and the mechanic fixes it, and then he says I’m going to see you in six months for an oil change at which point we’ll run a check for all the different systems.

Chiropractic is no different. You may come in for neck or back pain and you go through a course of care and then you move towards being seen on a preventative basis, once every two to four weeks, pain or no pain, just as a checkup or tuneup. Why is that the case? Lots of stresses build up in life just like tartar and plaque will build up in your teeth, or maybe you wear your contacts for too long or there are irritants in your eyes, or maybe you drive your vehicle hard in the back country or you use your brakes a lot, and this wears it down more, all of these preventative visits (whether a dentist, or optometrist, or mechanic, OR chiropractor) are there to ensure that you don’t land up in the same problem when you first came in.

Let’s say you come in, I see you for an adjustment, and then I make sure you’re doing all the other lifestyle adjustments that we talked about. Maybe you’re having a lot of stress at work? Maybe you’re working long hours? Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep? Maybe you’re not getting enough exercise? Maybe you have kids who aren’t perfect like ours (haha), who are driving you bananas? All this increases your stress levels. The regular adjustment first of all makes sure your nervous system is healthy, and secondly it re-affirms the importance of making those lifestyle changes and that you adhere to them, because without that, there is no way you can be healthy.

The purpose of that returning adjustment is to make sure that not only do you keep your nervous system healthy, but we support it through all the other lifestyle changes that we talked about leading up to that preventative adjustment.

I’m Dr. Paul Bajor at Access Chiropractic and Wellness, have a great day!

Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  You can also call to book with Dr. Bajor at the north location behind the Superstore at 403-945-1349 or contact the south location in the Airdrie CO-OP at 403-945-0855 to book with Dr. Jacqueline Boyd!

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).

Have you ever been adjusted before? If yes, then you know what a chiropractic adjustment is like. Did you know we adjust kids? Right from birth as infants? Have you ever seen a kid get adjusted? Adjustments for our “mini-me’s” are often different from those of adults. It surprises me how many patients, new AND existing, don’t know that kids get adjusted! Why? The most common answer is, “they never really complain about any pain.” And this is often the case. But why?

Kids are resilient. They are pliable, meaning they can absorb a lot of falls and hits and, after a short cry, just keep going. Just because they don’t complain about having pain, does that mean their bodies aren’t affected? How many times have you seen a child fall off the bike, jump off the top of a high swing, take a big hit in hockey, get pushed into the boards at soccer, fail at a gymnastics tumbling routine, etc.? All the time! How many times have you cringed and said, “that’s gotta hurt.”?

Kids are not indestructible. Just because they are not complaining of symptoms does not mean that their body and nervous system are not affected.  Adjustments for kids are conservative and gentle, and the results are a healthy nervous system that is the first step in ensuring all other systems are healthy as well!

Watch below three different styles of adjustments for kids at Access Chiropractic and Wellness!

Please feel free to visit our south clinic’s website at www.accesschiropractic.net and our north clinic’s website at www.accesschiropracticnorth.ca, and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/accesswellness!  You can also call to book with Dr. Bajor at the north location behind the Superstore at 403-945-1349 or contact the south location in the Airdrie CO-OP at 403-945-0855 to book with Dr. Jacqueline Boyd!

Drs. Jacqueline Boyd and Paul Bajor are also both registered and active members of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association).