Uncategorised Archives - de Smit Medical

de Smit Medical Partners with Eastwood Park Training Centre

de Smit Medical is proud to be partnering with Eastwood Park Training to provide medical equipment for their training centre. Based only five miles from the de Smit Medical offices in South Gloucestershire, Eastwood Park boasts a brand new state of the art training centre that was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal. As the leading provider of technical healthcare engineering training in the UK, we are thrilled to see our range of biomedical test equipment and bladder scanners being...

Group of people standing outside the de Smit Medical offices.

Positive feedback from the latest lower bowel course

'Excellent course. I feel I have learned so much and this I hope will be translated into better patient care and an ability to empower the patient. Thank you.' The feedback from the latest lower bowel course at de Smit Medical has been overwhelmingly positive. It's great to hear that the course will make a difference to patient care. We hope to see some of the attendees again at one of our other courses. We have five in total, three of which...

What exactly is biofeedback?

Why do I find it so difficult to work out if I am doing pelvic floor exercises properly even when I’m practising these exercises on a regular basis? How can I tell if my muscles are becoming any stronger? The answer to these questions is very simple. It’s called ‘biofeedback’. To begin with it's helpful to have a basic understanding of what biofeedback is exactly. There are many different definitions but the best way to describe it is by looking at an example...

How can electrical stimulation help my pelvic floor muscles?

Is it really possible to stimulate a muscle using a machine? How does this type of treatment work and is it painful? Is electrical stimulation better than exercise and is it safe? This post answers these questions as well as giving you information about how to get the maximum benefit out of this type of treatment. Before thinking about using an electrical stimulation unit to activate your pelvic floor muscles, it's helpful to understand how this type of treatment works. Let's look at...

Problems new mums don’t talk about!

Being a new mum is a pretty amazing experience. It’s also a steep learning curve because babies don’t come with a ‘how to look after your new baby’ guidebook! Many women say that there is a lot of helpful information available during pregnancy but not quite so much that after their baby is born. So it’s often easy to ignore any concerns you may have about your own health and to cross your fingers in the hope things will get better. There are...

The three stages of pregnancy

This blog is a lighthearted look at the journey through pregnancy along with some more serious facts about how to look after your body. Stage One: I think I’m pregnant! From really early on there are subtle physical changes that no-one may notice, along with more obvious symptoms that are really very obvious. The journey starts for many women with a home pregnancy kit. Whether you’re alone or you’re sharing the moment this is often a very emotional and exciting time. If...

Assess your own pelvic floor muscles

How often have you been told to remember to practice your pelvic floor exercises? How often have you nodded and said that you do them every day but wondered if you're actually performing them correctly. These muscles are hidden inside which makes it very difficult to work out exactly what is happening and lots of women are not able to tighten their pelvic floor muscles at all. So why is it so important to make sure you are doing your pelvic floor...

Where is my pelvic floor?

Most women start trying to do pelvic floor exercises without understanding anything about where these muscles are and what they do. A small amount of knowledge about your anatomy can help you to appreciate where your pelvic floor muscles are placed. This will be really helpful if you want to assess your own muscles and devise a treatment plan. As pelvic floor muscles cannot be seen from the outside like many other muscles in the body it can be very difficult to...

A healthy bladder

Understanding how a healthy bladder should work Before looking at the types of things that can go wrong with your bladder and pelvic floor it's helpful to understand how a healthy bladder works. Where is my bladder and what is it made of? The bladder is a balloon like structure made from layers of muscle. The innermost lining of the bladder that's in contact with urine is made of connective tissue. If you find your belly button and feel in a straight line downwards...

NICE Guidelines – Urinary incontinence management for women

The following articles is a clinical guideline for Urinary incontinence management for women, published 11th September 2013. You can download the guide from here