With Autumn upon us and influenza vaccinations arriving in the next few weeks it is time to think about protecting yourself and those closest to you.

In 2018, we saw a record 11 million Australians vaccinated against the flu, nearly a third more than during 2017. Pharmacies were recently acknowledged by the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt as playing a large role in the dramatic expansion of herd immunity against influenza as he quoted a 90 percent reduction in deaths from flu during 2018 in comparison to 2017.

The Chief Medical Officer states that annual vaccination is important as the virus changes each year. He recommends that we begin immunisations in mid-April to allow people to develop immunity in time for the flu season while also providing coverage right through the peak winter months.

Tracey Edwards, Pharmacist in Charge at Flannery’s Pharmacy states: “We are proud of the role we play by providing readily accessible vaccinations to ensure the health of the whole community of Forbes.”

“This year we have expanded our services and are able to immunise anyone older than 10 years of age with no appointment necessary. Drop in to either Flannery’s or Life Pharmacies today and speak with our pharmacists and registered nurse about the importance of you and your family receiving your annual influenza vaccination,” said Tracey.

Putting Our Seniors First

The 2019 NSW Seniors Festival started on Wednesday and runs until Sunday, 24th February.

The NSW Seniors Festival is the largest festival for seniors in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching up to 500,000 seniors each year.

If you are over 60 years of age, the NSW Seniors Festival gives you the chance to make new friends or get together with old ones at an array of local community events, many which are free or heavily discounted.

Presented by the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS), the NSW Seniors Festival is designed to celebrate the role seniors play and the contributions they make to the NSW community, aligning to the policy objective of inclusive communities.

Every year during the NSW Seniors Festival, government, community and commercial organisations hold hundreds of events across the state, encompassing art, sport, music, entertainment, technology, recreation, health, good nutrition and much more! Who is NSW Seniors Festival for?

• people over 60 years of age

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over the age of 50

• people over 50 years of age that have a lifelong disability Each year, FACS directly supports around 800,000 people, reaching a further one million people through local community-based programs, and provides over a million Seniors Cards.

Cutting Edge Technology In Eye Care

Parkes Eyecare Plus has invested in the gold standard of eye health testing that is available today – Optical Coherence Tomography or OCT.

OCT uses optical ultrasound to look at the deeper layers of the eye underneath the surface of the retina. This enables optometrists to detect many eye diseases much earlier than with standard retinal photography.

This cutting edge technology allows more accurate identification and treatment of eye disease and conditions including Macular degeneration, Glaucoma, Diabetic eye disease and Optic nerve damage.

As these conditions can cause vision impairment and even blindness, early detection and management can help to safeguard your vision into the future.

If you are over 40, or have a family history of glaucoma or macular degeneration, an OCT scan is essential in providing the best eye care possible.

Set yourself up for a healthy year ahead by starting with a health check at Flannery’s or Life Pharmacies. “High blood pressure, excess weight, smoking and physical inactivity are some of the main risk factors for preventable illness, so setting yourself up to improve one of these areas can have a significant impact on your health and wellbeing,” said Tracey Edwards, pharmacist at Flannery’s Pharmacy.

“Our registered nurse or pharmacists can check a range of indicators, including blood pressure and weight, and discuss healthy lifestyle options with you,” said Tracey.

One way to reduce weight is to increase physical activity. “The recommended amount of activity for good health is at least 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity each week, which can be accumulated throughout the day,” said Life Pharmacy pharmacist, Clare Parmeter.

“Walking helps maintain a healthy weight, reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack, strengthens bones, reduces risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improves balance,” said Clare.

Ideas for increasing your step count include:

• walk to get the paper

• take the stairs instead of the elevator

• take the dog for a walk around the block (or beyond)

• park a bit further away from the shops

• take the rubbish out to the wheelie bin more often

• walk with others or form a walking group

If you’d like a health check or more information on improving your physical activity, call in to Flannery’s or Life Pharmacies and speak to one of our pharmacists.

Shoulder impingement during swimming is largely due to dynamic muscle imbalances and biomechanical faults. Dynamic muscle imbalances can be addressed by strengthening exercises for the rotator cuff and scapular stabilisers, together with stretches for the muscles at the back of the shoulder.

One good exercise is to stand facing a wall with your arm raised to shoulder height and elbow straight. Hold a tennis ball to the wall by leaning through your shoulder and pinch your shoulder blades together. Roll the ball in small circles for 15 seconds first clockwise then counter clockwise until you become fatigued or two minutes, whichever comes first.

Biomechanical faults can be addressed by correcting your swim technique. Achieving good symmetrical body rotation through the development of an efficient bilateral breathing pattern helps to avoid shoulder impingement during the catch and pull through phase of the freestyle stroke.

If you already have shoulder pain it may be helpful to shorten your stroke and avoid the use of hand paddles. Hand placement during entry to the water should also be monitored. Instead of entering thumb first change your technique to enter with a flat hand or fingertip first. This is made easier by avoiding reaching across your midline. A thumb first entry works the shoulder internal rotators excessively and when multiplied by approximately 3200 strokes per hour contributes heavily to the muscle imbalance of strong internal rotators and weak external rotators causing shoulder impingement.

Most swimmers pull through with a straight arm or dropped elbow. This loads the shoulder muscles excessively rather than utilising the larger and stronger muscles of the chest and upper back. Making these simple changes can help you achieve many hours of pain free swimming.

For the fitness of you

Linda Reilly

With the weather warming up swimming is an ideal way to get a full body workout.

Overuse injuries in the shoulder and neck are common though, due to the repetitive nature of swimming.

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint with a ring of cartilage around the socket to make the joint more stable. Around this is a loose joint capsule that is reinforced with ligaments and muscles. Because the shoulder is a very mobile joint it relies on the action of these muscles and ligaments to maintain stability. These muscles are called the rotator cuff and consist of four muscles that work together to keep your shoulder centred in its socket.

So, if swimming strengthens the shoulder muscles why do so many swimmers have shoulder problems?

The simple answer is due to the repetitive nature of swimming. The more complex answer lies in the fact that many swimmers don’t have good stroke technique and those that do can still have problems because the swim stroke (in particular freestyle), mainly strengthens the shoulder internal rotators and adductors. This causes muscle imbalance, leaving the scapular stabilisers and external rotators relatively weak and joint laxity increases. The rotator cuff then must work harder to keep the shoulder centred in the socket. When the already relatively weakened external rotators fatigue, the ball of the shoulder joint moves forward and the tendon of the rotator cuff muscles is pinched between the bones as the hand is raised above shoulder height.

Next column I will cover some practical ways to prevent this happening and what to do if you already have impingement problems.

For the fitness of you.

Linda Reilly

Did you know that 90 percent of ageing and wrinkles are caused by sun damage? Sun exposure causes most of the skin changes that we think of as a normal part of ageing.

Over time, the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light damages the fibres in the skin called elastin. When these fibres break down, the skin begins to sag, stretch and lose its ability to go back into place after stretching.

Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world. More than 11,500 Australian men and women are diagnosed with a melanoma each year, and an estimated 434,000 people are treated for one or more non-melanomaskin cancers. Skin cancer accounts for over 80 percent of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia each year.

If you’d like to know about skin damage to your complexion (face), why not book an appointment at Flannery’s Pharmacy Sun Awareness Clinic. The clinic nurse will conduct a VISIA Complexion Analysis using specialised UV light technology to identify the effects of sun exposure on the face. You will also receive a personalised skin analysis print out.

Our clinic nurse will discuss your analysis and make specific recommendations to help you manage and protect your skin to achieve your best skin possible.

The Sun Awareness Clinic is being held on Wednesday, 5th December and appointments are available between 10am and 3pm.

Talk to our friendly staff today to book an appointment or call Flannery’s Pharmacy on 6852 1111.

The stress fracture is a common overuse injury seen in athletes who participate in endurance and high load bearing activities. Stress fractures in the lower limb account for between 80to 90% of all stress fractures and in runners contributes to almost 16% of all injuries.

During periods of relative inactivity or with osteoporosis or eating disorders, the density of bone decreases. If loads on the bone become repetitive or abnormally high and the bone is not given enough rest to allow for adaptation, the rate of stress-induced microfractures in the bone exceeds the rate at which the bone can repair and stress fractures develop.

The typical complaint with stress fractures is of a gradual onset of pain. Initially there is just pain with activity that subsides with rest but returns when the aggravating activity is resumed. Local tenderness and swelling are often found at the fracture site and pain is easily localised as opposed to shin splints which produce a more diffused pain.

Treatment initially involves rest from the aggravating activity for approximately four to six weeks. It may also require bracing or the use of a cam boot. In some cases, surgery may even be required.

Return to sport should be gradual to allow time for adaptation within the bone and it is important that all biomechanical and nutritional causes be addressed to prevent recurrence. Cross training and participating in a variety of different sporting activities can help minimise the risk of stress fractures.

It is important to remember that if you recognise the symptoms early and treat them appropriately, you can return to sports at your normal playing level.

For the fitness of you.

Linda Reilly