Dr. Ben Kim's blog

Like your hip, your shoulder joint is a classic ball and socket joint that affords great flexibility. But with great range of motion comes greater potential for injury. Makes perfect sense, right? With a wide range of motion, the soft tissues that surround your shoulder joint are more likely to experience strains and even small tears than the ligaments and muscles that surround less mobile joints like those in your elbow and fingers. Read more

Jurgita is one of our longtime readers in Lithuania. Earlier this autumn, she had a chance to visit Toronto, and being the photography enthusiast that she is, Jurgita sent in a number of shots from her trek through the greater Toronto area.

With her permission, we share some of her photos here for those of you who have interest in Toronto, fall colors, or fine photography in general. Read more

One of the most important principles taught in chiropractic school is that every joint in the body is affected by the health of adjacent joints.

Put another way, when a patient presents with a knee problem, it's prudent to do a thorough evaluation of the knee, hip, and ankle regions, as sometimes, dysfunction in the ankle or hip can be a root cause of knee pain and dysfunction. Read more

Your hip abductors are muscles that lie on the upper and outer portion of your buttocks. These muscles - called your gluteus medius and minimus - allow you to move your lower extremities out and away from your midline. They also allow you to rotate your legs inward so that the toes of one leg face your opposite leg. Read more

One of our favorite family activities is locating new countries on our globe and learning about the people and cultures of said countries. Margaret and I hope that our boys grow up to appreciate the beauty and diversity of our world and its living creatures, and what better way to encourage this than to spend family time tracing our fingers all over our globe. Read more

I've long been big on smoothies. When made with quality ingredients, they're such an enjoyable way of ensuring nutritional excellence for kids and adults alike.

Rich in nutrients and flavor, smoothies offer an easy way to deliver super food nutrients to our cells. We are lucky to live at a time when remarkable, health-enhancing food powders are available to enhance our health at any age, and smoothies make it easy to get these nutrients to our cells daily. Read more

I'm not sure how long foam rollers have been around, but over the past several months, I've discovered how powerful a therapeutic tool they can be for promoting and maintaining optimal physical health.

The idea is simple enough: Using your own body weight and agility, you roll specific muscle groups against a firm foam roller to mimic a deep, gliding massage. Read more

The other day, an acquaintance, knowing that I am a chiropractor, asked me for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on whether he should or shouldn't see a chiropractor for his chronic low back pain. Read more

One dietary goal that I've long had for myself is to eat a head of dark green lettuce every day. I find that regular intake of lettuce (being sure to chew it thoroughly before swallowing) helps keep my teeth feeling strong, and of course, I like knowing that my body is getting steady inflow of chlorophyll and plenty of minerals that it can use to keep all of my organ systems healthy. Read more

The other day, I was driving along a semi-busy road when I noticed that the driver of an oncoming SUV was clearly texting away on her cell phone. I instinctively hovered my right foot over the brake and did the same with my right hand over the horn, ready to swerve and honk if needed. Read more