Whiplash is an injury to a person’s neck. Also referred to as a neck strain or neck sprain, it happens when a person’s head rapidly moves backward and forward with force. The impact from this kind of momentum can cause the soft tissues of the neck to extend beyond its typical range of motion.

After a whiplash injury, you should pay close attention to any physical changes for several days as symptoms do not always appear right away. Although whiplash is considered a relatively mild condition, it can cause long term discomfort and pain.

Our founder and owner of Couve Health, Dr. Vivie Bojilov, was recently interviewed by Go Solo. Check out the interview below.

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Vivie Bojilov, founder and owner of Couve Health, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

What’s your business, and who are your customers?
Couve Health is the first collaborative care musculoskeletal healthcare clinic in Canada! Each patient visit at Couve Health consists of manual therapy and movement provided together, each session by two providers. The chiropractor/physiotherapist will provide the diagnosis of injury and manual therapy. The rehabilitation specialists (kinesiologists/ athletic therapists) will provide the movement prescription under direct prescription from the patient’s clinician.

Our target patient demographic shares these common values,

Autonomy – She feels empowered to make her own decisions and isn’t afraid to take action to make herself feel/be better.

Community – She gives back to charities, loves to participate in communal events, has a fitness community/circle, and enjoys being social.

Time and Quality – She believes that her time has a lot of value and gravitates towards convenience and effectiveness of care, and expects top-notch care from her musculoskeletal providers.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

I am a sports chiropractor dedicated to providing exceptional patient-centered, evidence-based care for musculoskeletal pain. I’m specifically proficient in the use of patient education, manual therapies, and functional rehabilitation.

I grew up in Vancouver and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology at UBC, where I also played varsity football. I then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to attend Chiropractic school. And I assisted many local sporting teams/events within the area, such as the North Face Endurance Challenge, San Jose State Rugby, the former NFL Oakland Raiders, Sea Otter Classic, and many more.

After completing my last year of clinical rotations throughout various clinics in the US, from Alaska to Florida, I worked at Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine to help publish new research regarding cervical spine MRI segmentation. After that, I returned to full-time clinical practice in 2020 and am now extremely excited to finally be back home to provide my community with the highest level of evidence-based care musculoskeletal care.

My clinical journey with Couve Health began out of the clinical frustration that the people most in need of high-quality musculoskeletal care typically see their chiropractor or physiotherapist after they have given up trying to handle the pain or dysfunction themselves. This further encourages the fear-avoidance model of pain and ultimately leads them to a much higher probability of chronic pain. We aim to help solve this problem with a collaborative care MSK approach.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT AS A BUSINESS OWNER?

Opening up the first-ever Couve Health in Vancouver. Next year, we plan to open a second location and then expand across Canada. And also back to the US within 5-7 years.

WHAT’S ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS THAT COME WITH BEING A BUSINESS OWNER?

Delegating efficiently. We are now working on having systems in place to ensure each department of our business has parameters on how to do that delegation process effectively and efficiently.

WHAT ARE THE TOP TIPS YOU’D GIVE TO ANYONE LOOKING TO START, RUN AND GROW A BUSINESS TODAY?

Do it now. Learn as you make mistakes and correct them on the fly. The world is full of people asking themselves, what if I did this or that. Act now, fail fast and correct your mistakes along the way.

Paint a picture for the startup employees first of what problem you are trying to solve in the world. Then get them motivated around that reason to work hard to help solve that problem. People need a sense of how they are contributing to making the world a better place. Give them one.

Find out your weaknesses before starting your business and hire your staff to help offset your weaknesses. Double down on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses to others who are better suited to handle those.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?
Website: https://www.couvehealth.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/couveheatlh
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/couvehealth/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/couveh
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/couve-health/

ICBC, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, provides auto insurance, driver licensing, vehicle registration, road safety and other products and services. They are committed to protection and peace of mind for B.C. drivers, quality products and services, and offering customers the best coverage at the lowest possible price.

ICBC provide Enhanced Care – a new auto insurance for B.C, making insurance more affordable and providing better care and recovery benefits to anyone injured in a crash.

Many of us spend much of our day sitting. From sitting at a desk hunched over a computer to lounging on the couch scrolling on our phones. It’s easy to spend over 8 hours a day sat down.

Recently, many more of us have been more sedentary than normal. The change in working patterns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic also affected how much we’re moving around. In the beginning of 2021, 32% of Canadian employees were working remotely.

Remote working has many benefits, like cutting out lengthy commutes for people. However, it’s easy to forget the positive benefits that the act of moving from home to the office can have on our bodies. Instead, many of us are more sedentary. Sitting all day can actually be quite detrimental. We’re exploring more of why that is.

Sitting properly and having correct posture is important for many reasons. It is a simple but very important way to keep the main intricate structures in the back and spine healthy.

It is much more than cosmetic. Good posture and back support are critical to reducing the incidence and levels of back pain and neck pain. Back support is especially important for patients who spend many hours sitting in an office chair or standing throughout the day.

Is 80 the new 60? According to Olivia I. Okereke, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, “Not only has life span increased on average, but also healthspan has increased.” Per the new Lieberman study -Because we evolved to be active throughout our lives, our bodies need physical activity to age well.

Our bodies are built to move but as we get older due to demands on our time with family and work, exercise can take a back burner. But to live the fullest life possible exercise is important. If you have the desire to get back into an exercise program but perhaps you are dealing with an existing injury or your range of motion is not what it used to be then a Physiotherapist can help. They are the ideal health professional to assess your current health status and get you moving forward with the right exercise program to support a goal of staying healthy and remaining independent.

Biomechanics is defined as of the study of mechanical loads applied to the movement and/or structure of the body. Mechanically, our bodies tend to respond to two things primary, load and stress over time. This is means that the longer we maintain certain positions and how much we are carrying when doing so dictates more than anything else the extent to which or if we get injured at work.

This means, that contrary to popular beliefs mechanical dysfunctions in the body can occur just as often in desk jobs as in heavy manual labor careers.

Incorrectly performing repetitive motions can be the primary cause of negative effects if we are not mindful how we are doing them. Improper lifting techniques can at worst case cause joint, muscle and even disc injuries. Here are some quick tips for proper body mechanics and lifting: