Blood pressure is based on the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.

 
High blood pressure(or “hypertension”) is when the force of the blood against your artery walls is higher than normal. If this is the case over time, it can lead to both heart attack and stroke (in your brain).

COMMON SYMPTOMS

High blood pressure or hypertension doesn’t cause symptoms which makes it a “silent” disease. You can have high blood pressure for years without any symptoms which is why it’s important to have your blood pressure checked when you see your doctor.

POTENTIAL CAUSES

Several factors may play a role in developing high blood pressure, including:

• smoking
• being overweight or obese
• lack of exercise
• too much salt or alcohol consumption

In some cases, the underlying cause of hypertension cannot be determined and this type of high blood pressure is called essential hypertension.

WHAT CAN YOU DO AT HOME?

You can lower high blood pressure by:

• not smoking
• achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight
• being more active by exercising about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week
• reducing salt in the diet (Note: most sources of salt in the diet is ‘hidden’ in other foods)
• limiting alcohol consumption to not more than 1 – 2 drinks / day

HOW CAN TEAMWORKS HEALTH CLINIC HELP?

Clinical Dietetics

Teamwork’s Registered Dietitian can help you to make changes to your diet to reduce high blood pressure and the associated risk of heart attack and stroke.  She can support you in addressing some of the underlying dietary causes of high blood pressure such as being overweight or having a high dietary intake of sodium (most often from “hidden sources).  Our Registered Dietitian provides Teamwork’s clients with the necessary tools to make healthy food choices in order to optimize health and to support dietary changes for a variety of clinical conditions, including high blood pressure.

Chiropractic

Chiropractic Doctors at Teamworks utilize treatment methods that are extremely diverse, including manual therapy joint procedures (spinal manipulation, Activator method), soft tissue injury techniques (Active Release Techniques®, Graston Technique®), Neuro-proprioceptive taping (Kinesiology Tape), electrotherapeutic modalities and specific rehabilitation exercises.

Physiotherapy

Teamworks Registered Physiotherapists utilize a combination of manual therapies, customized exercise and  stretching programs, and therapeutic modalities (ultrasound, interferential current, contemporary acupuncture) to reduce inflammation, and restore proper muscular functioning.

Registered Massage Therapy

Our massage therapists provide deep tissue release using various myofascial techniques in order to reduce chronic stress and strain patterns, remove scar tissue, and restore ideal movement between muscles and tendons.

Acupuncture

The insertion of very fine needles into over-active muscles can cause it to release tension and relax. It is also extremely effective for pain management. Teamworks Health Clinic provides both Contemporary and Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture to restore ideal tissue function.