When the unexpected happens such as a car accident in a sudden snowstorm, there may be bodily injuries sustained alongside the damage to your vehicle. Whiplash, fractures, sprains, spinal injuries, back and neck injuries, concussion and broken bones are just some of many injuries sustained in an MVA. In many cases, the signs and symptoms of injury may not manifest themselves until a few days following the accident. It is crucial for you to seek medical help as soon as you suspect you had sustained an injury in a car collision.

Seeking Medical Care and Treatment After a Motor Vehicle Accident

In the immediate aftermath of an MVA, you may be traumatized and feeling the physical effects of your ordeal. If you believe you sustained an injury in an accident, there are a few steps in the process of seeking medical care and treatment:

• Report the MVA immediately to ICBC and receive a claim number
• Find a healthcare provider that specializes in MVA injury care (such as 3PK)
• The healthcare provider will bill ICBC directly for the cost of the treatments
• The healthcare provider will do an assessment of your injuries and develop a treatment program
• You will begin treatment
• You will recover and be able to resume your life’s activities

You can be assured that ICBC will provide support and assistance with the costs of accessing care and rehabilitation through the ICBC Enhanced Accident Benefits program. Please note that ICBC may not cover 100% of the costs of your treatment. The following is a list of treatments covered by ICBC, the number of approved treatment sessions covered and the standard treatment fees covered between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023:

• Physiotherapy, 25 approved treatment sessions, no user fee.
• Chiropractor Services, 25 approved treatment sessions, no user fee.
• Registered Massage Therapy, 12 approved treatment sessions, there is a user fee (ICBC covering up to $85 of the appointment)
• Kinesiology (Active Rehabilitation), 12 approved treatment sessions, 30-min sessions no user fee.

The portion of costs for treatment not covered through the ICBC Enhanced Accidents Benefits plan will be the responsibility of the patient – also known as the co-pay or user fee portion. If you are registered with a health plan through an employer or have extended healthcare insurance, contact the plan administrator to find out about additional coverage that may be available for your treatment. At 3PK we provide direct billing services on behalf of our clients, where we directly invoice ICBC and most extended healthcare insurance providers for your medical care. This we do as a courtesy to our patients, as we take care of paperwork, file receipts and help save you any upfront costs or out-pocket expenses.

At 3PK, in Langley, BC, we work with ICBC to provide patients involved in MVAs the quality care, expertise and compassion to alleviate pain and suffering and start you on the path to recovery. When you visit our clinic, you will need the following:

• Your ICBC claim number
• Your BC Personal Health Number
• Doctor’s referral note, if requested
• ICBC Adjustor’s name and phone number
• Information about extended health benefits plans
• Your retained lawyer’s name, phone number and the name of the paralegal on file (if applicable)
• Our friendly and attentive staff at 3PK will assist you with questions regarding ICBC, direct billing and booking an initial appointment with us.

ICBC Treatments & Plans

The immediate seconds, hours or days after a motor vehicle accident (MVA) can be an extremely distressing experience where victims are suffering from whiplash, spinal and back injuries, acute or recurring pain, sprains, bone fractures, broken bones and many other conditions that deteriorate the quality of life. In many instances, injuries may not be immediately apparent or may not manifest themselves until a few days after the collision. As soon as you believe you sustained an injury as a result of an MVA, seek medical treatment right away to prevent further damage and debilitation to your health and well-being.

We at 3PK work closely with ICBC to develop specialized treatment programs to provide MVA victims with quality care, using innovative methods and technologies, to ensure optimal results for your recovery and rehabilitation. Our team of highly experienced and skilled practitioners have a patient-centered approach to achieving health and wellness objectives. Our experts work as a team to construct treatment plans suited to our patient’s specific needs and adapt and change course as their recovery progresses. Our treatments and services tailored for MVA injuries include physiotherapy, chiropractic care, kinesiology therapy (Active Rehabilitation), and massage therapy.

Physiotherapy is a form of physical therapy designed to help you restore, maintain and optimize function, strength, freedom of movement and your overall well-being. At 3PK, our Langley facility has all the modern equipment and amenities to support patients through their programs. Your one-on-one sessions with our physiotherapists includes education about the nature of MVA injuries and training for exercises to aid you in the healing process and eventually exercises to challenge you in the recovery stages.

Common injuries as a result of an MVA include acute or chronic pain in the neck and lower back. A chiropractor utilizes many treatment modalities to alleviate pain and restore your form and function, including spinal adjustments, joint alignments, and soft tissue mobilization. At 3PK, we also employ other methods in a patient’s care plan including activator techniques, laser therapy, kin-taping techniques and much more.

Kinesiology therapy (Active Rehabilitation) involves monitoring the muscles of your body in order to observe any imbalance that may be causing pain, disorders or ailments. Our team of kinesiologists at 3PK are registered members of the BC Association of Kinesiologists (BCAK) that will collaborate with you to develop a physical activity regimen of exercise and daily activities to educate you about proper body movements. We also work with you to help correct your posture and muscle imbalances to improve strength and fitness. Treatment methods may involve resistance training, balance training, range of motion training and health and wellness coaching.

Massage therapy is a non-invasive form of treatment for pain, stiffness of muscles and joints, and stress. At 3PK, our team of professional registered massage therapists are experienced with the practice of manipulating the soft tissues of the body (the muscles, connective tissues, tendons and ligaments), using varying degrees of pressure and motion to bring immediate relief and relaxation.

Massage therapy has been successfully used in the treatment of many injuries including those associated with MVAs:

• Back pain
• Sciatica
• CarpalTunnel
• Neck and Shoulder discomfort • TMJ (jaw pain)
• Stress
• Sports injuries
• Joint Pain
• Headaches
• Muscular Pain
• Repetitive strain injuries
• Whiplash

Snowmaggedon Part Deux?

The unexpected fallout from Snowmaggedon in November may not be the isolated event that we are all hoping for. With winter still months from being a distant memory, the possibility of Snowmaggedon Part Deux is greater than average. For those still suffering from the physical injuries sustained in an MVA during the first major snowfall of 2022, we urge you to seek medical care immediately to prevent further bodily damage. For those who may in the future experience the unthinkable, unexpected snow-related collision, please keep us in mind if you should ever need excellent, comprehensive and compassionate care. We at 3PK, nestled in central Langley, BC, work with ICBC to offer treatment programs specially designed to help MVA patients get back on the road to recuperation and full recovery.

To learn more about your ICBC benefits, our superior treatment plans, and payment options, Contact Us Today!

The post The Aftermath of Snowmaggedon: Recovering From A Snow Related Motor Vehicle Accident first appeared on 3PK.

Cold lasers are handheld devices used by the clinician and are often the size of a flashlight. The laser is placed directly over the injured area for 30 seconds to several minutes, depending on the size of the area being treated and the dose provided by the laser unit.

Laser therapy uses a process called photobiomodulation. Photons enter the tissue and interact with the cytochrome c complex within mitochondria. This interaction triggers a biological cascade of events that leads to an increase in cellular metabolism and a decrease in both pain and inflammation. Unlike medications, laser therapy reduces pain without undesirable side effects.

Once the light energy passes through the layers of skin and reaches the target area, it is absorbed and interacts with the light sensitive elements in the cell. This process can be compared to photosynthesis in plants – sunlight is absorbed by plants, which is then converted to usable energy so that the plant can grow.

When cells absorb this light energy, it initiates a series of events in the cell that is theorized to eventually result in normalizing damaged or injured tissue, a reduction in pain, inflammation, edema and an overall reduction in healing time by increasing intracellular metabolism.

It is also important to point out that patients report long-lasting pain relief. While the number of treatments required may vary depending on the acuity of the condition, many patients experience lasting relief after only a couple treatments.

One common question related to laser therapy is, what does it feel like? Depending on the laser, it can create little to no sensation or it can create a gentle, soothing warmth. Many patients receiving laser therapy treatments report enjoying the experience.

Patients receiving treatments with higher-power lasers also frequently report a rapid decrease in pain. For someone suffering from chronic pain, this effect can be particularly pronounced. 

If you’d like to book an appointment for a laser therapy session, contact us. We’re happy to answer any of your questions.

The post Laser Therapy – What Is It. Why You Should Try It. first appeared on 3PK.

Fascia refers to fibrous connecting tissue, more specifically the connective tissue which covers your joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and bones. Now that we explained fascia, let’s examine what fascial stretch therapy is exactly. It’s a relatively new form of treatment that involves the therapist performing assisted stretching techniques with a client on a treatment table.

Fascial stretch therapy found its roots in 1995 when Ann Frederick established her clinic with one key goal in mind: to improve the performance of professional athletes by changing the way they stretched. Since then, their system continues to rapidly and radically transform personal and professional lives.

Fascial stretch therapy (FST^TM) can help treat several conditions such as disc herniation, facet joint dysfunctions, chronic headaches, plantar and pinched nerves. Many benefit from this technique, restoring, improving and maintaining mobility as well as general well-being.

FST is a pain-free, relaxing approach that has endless benefits. It’s important to understand, as with all therapy, pain and chronic problems are not something that can be fixed and cured overnight. Just as it takes times for things to build up in the body and cause problems, it takes time to undo the damage.

Why should you consider booking a fascial stretch therapy:

• Fascia is the most prevalent tissue in the body.
• The health and function of all joints & muscles are a direct result of the condition of your fascia.
• Healthy circulation in your muscles, joints, arteries, veins, brain & spinal cord is largely dependent on optimal flexibility of your fascia.
• There is NO medication that can improve your fascia.
• There is NO supplement that can optimize your fascia.
• Exercise alone does not optimally balance, align and improve your fascia.

If you’d like to learn more about fascial stretch therapy or book an appointment for one, contact us. We’re happy to help.

The post Why You Should You Consider Fascial Stretch Therapy first appeared on 3PK.

Registered Kinesiologists are experts in preventing and managing injury and chronic disease, helping you to reach peak physical performance.

Kinesiologists use evidence-based research to develop programs for people, helping them get fit, stay fit and perform at their optimum level. They focus on prevention and wellbeing, increasing worker productivity and reducing time lost to injuries and accidents, helping you get back to work and back to health faster.

Kinesiology aims to remove any blockages that might be preventing your body from healing and functioning at an optimal level. The word kinesiology actually means ‘the study of human movement’.

It’s important to remember that your body wants to be well. So if you are unwell, your body is literally in dis-ease. Kinesiology helps to restore this balance and ease back to your body.

Kinesiology is very effective but it’s not magic. It doesn’t fix issues in one session. Some clients start to feel progress after just a few sessions while others take longer to experience positive results. Monthly tune-ups are a great way to prevent stress from building back up. Really, it all depends on how the patient feels.

Biomechanics is tied deeply in the practice of kinesiology. Biomechanics is the study of how the systems and structures of biological organisms, from the smallest plants to the largest animals, react to various forces and external stimuli. In humans, biomechanics often refers to the study of how the skeletal and musculature systems work under different conditions.

Some of the more common concerns kinesiologists assist with are: lack of energy and sleep, hormonal imbalance, skin concerns, digestive problems, emotional difficulties, pain or tension in the body, infertility, stress and anxiety.

If you’re considering a kinesiology session, contact us. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.

The post What Kinesiology Can Do for You first appeared on 3PK.

Physiotherapists are trained professionals who help their injured patients get back to the highest possible range of movement. Whether you sustained a severe injury playing sports or sprained your neck while sleeping; physiotherapists can help you in both situations.  Though all small sprains and aches do not need an appointment with a physiotherapist, here are some reasons why you may require one.

If you are an athlete or even someone who is simply active, you understand the importance of taking care of yourself especially when you are injured. You need expert advice from a physiotherapist to give yourself a better chance at recovery and getting back to the state you were before you sustained your injury. If your pain persists more than a few days and affects your ability to perform day-to-day actions, you need to see a physiotherapist so he/she can identify your problem and come up with a treatment plan. If this is a recurring pain that occurs frequently after specific actions, then you must see a doctor immediately.

If you decide to start up a new activity or sport and have a history of recurring injury, a physiotherapist can guide you slowly into your new activity. Physiotherapists are helpful even when you are not actively experiencing pain. Keeping your history in mind, they can advise you how best you can start up with the new sport or activity you have chosen.

Having access to a physiotherapist is one of the best ways to speed up your recovery and get your body back to normal. However, it isn’t an easy road. It takes hard work. Nevertheless, after all the effort and pain, you will begin regaining your flexibility and mobility. And somewhere along your therapy sessions, your pain will reduce and eventually disappear. So, while physiotherapy is not an easy option, it is the best one for newly incurred sport injuries or nagging ones. It’s easy enough to find a physiotherapist. Ask your friends and family for referrals so you know beforehand what to expect. Just make sure you only see a registered physiotherapist.

The post Seeing a Physiotherapist Pre and Post Sporting Activity first appeared on 3PK.

If you’re favouring an all-natural approach to treatment and recovery, you might consider a chiropractic adjustment. It facilitates healing in regards to your body’s nervous system.

Pain affecting hard tissue like the spine and joints, and soft tissue including muscles and ligaments, is bound to happen to everyone at some point in life. Limited range of motion can result from tissue damage, and both chiropractic and massage can restore the body’s mobility. There is often a dilemma between choosing a massage or chiropractic care to treat pain. Both methods share a similar philosophy – treatment that is drug-free as well as hands on. When deciding your course of treatment, consider the severity of the pain when making your choice.

Chiropractic care specifically addresses the disorders of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Unlike massage therapy referenced earlier, chiropractic care focuses on the hard tissue; the spine and joints. Chiropractors are trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises and might even use massage in their course of treatment. A spinal manipulation or adjustment is the most common technique employed to treat issues like back pain or neck pain. Other issues that can be treated effectively with chiropractic care include joint pain, headaches, ear infections, tendonitis, insomnia and tension. Chiropractors are authorized to make medical diagnoses and order x-rays or blood work. An initial patient evaluation assesses the patient’s entire wellness to determine issue and treatment.

Appreciating the process of restoring and maintaining health is fundamental. Only so much can be achieved in a single chiropractic care appointment. You may notice significant change after the first adjustment, or it may take weeks to notice any dramatic change, or it could be somewhere in between. Results can take time. A specific care plan will detail the commitment needed for optimal health and should be followed as outlined by your health care provider.

Contact us today for a consultation.

The post When You Should Consider a Seeing Chiropractor first appeared on 3PK.

It is our goal to help you live an active life of moving more and doing more. The end of the year is fast approaching with only about 6 weeks left. One of the major things we at the Clinic see at this time of year is people calling in to use the remainder or all of their extended medical coverage before the year runs out. This is not a new tread, we usually start to get calls Mid October and it increases steadily through to January as people try to squeeze their benefits in by the end of the year. It is our goal to help make this easier to manage.

We understand that most people would like to properly take advantage of their extended medical benefits. So here is what you need to know if you are looking to book appointments before the end of the year.

Please also note that our office will be closed over the Christmas holidays from the 24 of December to the 4th of January 2016. Therefore no appointment will be booked.

So if you are looking to book now is the time to book your appointments, do not wait as times book up fast for all of our services weeks in advance.

Now here is what you need to know about coverage for Registered Massage Therapy, Physiotherapy and Chiropractic care.

First , you have some ground work to do before your first visit, as we cannot look any of your private insurance details up for you, you will have to. It may just be as easy as picking up your claims book from your insurer or giving them a quick call or going to their web site, remember you will need your policy details I.e. the policy number and group number.

You will also need to know if you require a doctor’s note to claim your benefits, as some insurance packages require this.

Second you need to know what percentage your insurance covers, as the Co pay portion is your responsibility. Third you need to know how much coverage you have for each of your services and what services you are covered for as this varies from plan to plan. Forth, if your are wanting to coordinate benefits with more than one insurer I.E. on our partners plan and yours you need to know what each plan requires and will you need to submit to two plans.

Three Peaks Health currently has the option of direct billing select insurance companies, Blue Cross Green Shield and select others on the Telus portal. We need to insure that you have filled out the require paper work for some of these beforehand and have approval. For some of the insurers it is easy as handing over your card and letting our front desk team do the rest please call ahead to determine what is need to be done as this does take time.

Some insurances also have initial activation fee that you are responsible for before your insurance benefits kick in, for example one of the insurance plans we have seen requires $1000 before it will start to cover the rest at 100%. Another Plan will only cover a maximum amount per treatment and still others have a limit on the number of treatments you can do overall and some require a doctors note after a certain amount of treatments. So big take away is know your plan know your plan know your plan, details and what fees you will need to pay and what is covered.

So now you know what you need to do. We hope to welcome you as a new client to our clinic.

In health Three Peaks Health Team.

The post Fitting in Your Benefits Before the End of the Year first appeared on 3PK.

I think there is a misconception that stretching is a blanket answer to numerous problems; most commonly “tight” muscles. Stretching may temporarily address tightness in muscle, but what is the root cause?

Do we really know what stretching does? And the reasons we are doing it?

Here are some of the things that stretching does:

• Loosen joints as a capsule stretches out
• Decrease or squeeze blood out of muscles (potentially making it hypoxic or reducing oxygen supply)
• Compresses or stretches cartilaginous structures such as discs in the back
• Stresses tendons longitudinally which may temporarily weaken them
• Stretches nerves (which aren’t designed to stretch)

Are these things that we look to accomplish with stretching? Some of them may be, but do we really know how and why? I don’t think that it would be a good thing to stretch before an athletic event as it may end up decreasing performance. In saying that, some dynamic exercises that include stretching and warming up muscles would be very beneficial. Some of these exercises may include lunging, leaps, hops and bounding.

The reason most people stretch is to “loosen muscle.” However, how much does a muscle really stretch? A muscle (which is the most stretchy structure in a link of structures including joint capsules, ligaments, tendon, and nerve) only stretches to 10% of its resting length. For example, if your quadriceps muscle (not including tendon) was 40cm long, you would only produce 4cm of stretch out of said muscle!

Did you know that if you stretch your hamstring with your leg straight, you actually get very little stretch out of the hamstring muscle? With your leg straight, your sciatic nerve is under tension. This is why stretching with your leg straight is so uncomfortable!

The bottom line is that though stretching may help you feel better temporarily; you need to address the root cause of the problem.

I am Dr. Mark Malowney, Langley Chiropractor with the 3PK Health Clinic and I am here to help you learn more about the cause of your pain and show you how to feel better. Do not hesitate to contact us for a Free Consultation.

The post Stretching: The Truth first appeared on 3PK.

People schedule regular maintenance of their homes and cars, why not spend a few minutes every month taking care of your body?

It is amazing how big a difference it can make to spend a few minutes taking care of your own body. A few simple adjustments can help to minimize joint restrictions and help you move better.

How an adjustment works is quite simple. Over time, the joints in your body can settle and become stuck restricting range of motion. These joints can settle and be painless for periods of time, but as more joints become stuck, your body compensates by changing the way it moves. There is usually one event somewhere down the road where your you feel something “go out.” Most people attribute their pain to this one event, however it is more likely that this event is the “straw that broke the camel’s back!”

When you are in pain, adjustments can help by freeing up restricted joints and reducing pressure on pain sensitive structures. I tend to tell patients who walk in with pain that I should have seen them the day before their pain started with the hopes of preventing “the incident!”

I, Dr. Mark Malowney a Langley Chiropractor with 3PK Health Clinic, highly recommend taking a few minutes for yourself and take care of your body! Get adjusted regularly!

The post Why Chiropractic Is Important for the Maintenance of Health first appeared on 3PK.