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Top Tips for Managing your Medication

Remembering to take your medication can be difficult at the best of times- but must be really tough if you are unwell in any capacity- short or long term. There are many conditions which make opening a medicine or pill bottle cap very difficult, such as arthritis or Parkinson’s Disease, as well as pushing a tablet through foil can be tricky if you have poor mobility in your fingers or hands. There are many devices to help with this.

If we only take one pill a day, say in the evening, it can be hard late at night to remember if you have in fact taken it or whether it was actually last nights you are remembering.  Imagine how much of a concern it is for the family of someone with Dementia or Alzheimer’s to know if the dose has been taken/given or for someone who is taking maybe 10 or more different pills, at 2 to 4 different times of the day.

Some pharmacies can supply your prescribed medication in some form of Monitored Dosage, though some find it difficult to push the pills out - so an easy to open and close pill organiser is a great product. For those without that option, we can use tablet / pill organisers or pill reminders for almost any combination of doses of medication.

Medication organisers make it much easier for people trying to remain in their own home with the help of family or with outside carers calling in one or more times a day as everyone involved can see if a dose has been missed.  It is important that one person is responsible for organising the pill box with the appropriate medication dosage.

These handy little things can be used for organising vitamins and other non-prescription pills, and there is a pot (MedPot) with a lid in multiple colours, for liquid medication with measure markings up the side.

A medicine dispenser specifically for someone with memory issues with a timer tha

Grab Your Seat Stick & Get Back To The Places You Enjoy!

Are there places you would like to go but can’t stand for long? Do you have a folding seat stick? If you don’t have one yet, then why not? There is a variety of seat sticks described further on. Why not have a read and see if a use for you springs to mind.

These sticks are not specifically designed with the disabled or older person in mind – they are suitable for anyone male or female of any age and because most of them fold and some of them have a carrying bag and lightweight they are particularly easy to take anywhere you may have in mind. Maybe you fancy a day strolling along the seafront or just walking around the shops. Perhaps a trip to a museum or are you going on holiday?

Lady or gentleman, tourist or sport spectator. Whether you’re actually at The Open watching the Golf or Epsom watching the Derby or walking around the South of England Show in June or even for the childrens or grand childrens sports day, one of these walking sticks with seats will suit you.

There are two types of seat foot available – firstly the ferrule, to cater for the hard ground such as pavements and hard summer grassy ground or possibly slippery smooth shop or museum floors and the other is a spike with a ground plate over the top which stops the spike sinking too far down into soft ground if the weather has been a bit wet as is often the case here in the uk.

Folding Seat Sticks are also something very popular at this time of the year.  There is a variety of these.  All seat sticks come with ferrules fitted as standard and can easily be replaced when worn

Grab Your Walking Stick and Lets Go

Here comes the summer, grab your walking stick(s) and lets go, a short walk in the park, a stroll along the seafront or a walk to the shops.

Many people think ‘I’m not using a stick it will make me look old’. Using a stick can give increased confidence.  It’s like having something to hold on to which consequently helps with balance.

It is of course very important to have the correct length stick. Too long and it won’t support you- it will feel like you are carrying it and may cause pain in the neck, shoulder and back. Too short and you will feel off balance or as if you are stooping – either way it can be unsafe.

A lot has changed since the days of only having a wooden stick with a round handle that you could hook over your arm. There are many shapes of handle available and the best shape is really up to the user to choose:

Crook Handle Walking Sticks

This is available in Chesnut, Beech and Ash wooden sticks or aluminium folding adjustable or non-folding adjustable sticks.  The curved handle can sometimes cause hand or wrist pain because when it is leaned upon, only the centre of the palm of the hand takes the pressure.  Also, again, because of the curve, when using the stick the wrist can either bends backward or tip down depending which side of the crook is being held.  However, a lot of people still prefer this shape.

Derby Handle Walking Sticks

This is horizontal with the handle pitched up at the front and a curl on the rear with a slight dome in the middle that spreads the weight evenly across your palm.  The wooden Derby is available in two thicknesses, gents and a slightly slimmer handle for ladies.

Anatomic Handle Walking Sticks

This may suit someone who has Arthritis as it is shaped and will support the whole of the palm, front to back, side to side. It is available on a wooden shaft, or an aluminium folding adjustable stick.

Tips For Choosing The Right Walking Aid

Warmer weather is just around the corner. What better way is there to spend part of, what can be a long day, out in the fresh air and sunshine helping to make you feel happy and more healthy. 

Easy to say for someone who is mobile, but if you find it hard just walking from room to room at home then there are various types of walkers available to help. The walkers below will fit through standard doorways so can be used indoors, particularly the Tri Walker.

Tri Walker - A 3 wheeled folding walker with brakes but without a seat. These are either steel or aluminium. Steel walkers are slightly heavier, but more suitable for the larger person as the Tri walkers weight makes it more stable. They also generally have thicker tyres than the aluminium version.

Both types have cable brakes, which work by squeezing the brake levers up, to slow the walker down if you feel it is moving too fast. To lock the brakes on push both levers downward. The Tri Walker has moulded arthritic handgrips to make it more comfortable and easier to hold if your hands are affected by a condition such as Arthritis.

The Tri Walker has a swivel wheel on the front, which means it can ‘turn on a sixpence’. This walker may or may not include a black vinyl triangular bag, which fixes with press studs between the handlebars and the front fork.  A wire basket with a tray lid is also available for carrying a cup or plate.  This basket hangs on hooks above the bag. The Tri Walker can be folded by lifting the lever on the front and pushing the handlebars together.  It will then fit in the boot of any car.

Rollator - This is a 4 wheeled walker with brakes and a seat – there are a lot of different styles of these available but essentially the braking system is the same and operates in the same way as the Tri Walkers does. (Please note that before sitting both brakes should be locked on and not released until

All About Pressure Ulcers

When caring for a bed or wheelchair confined person there are lots of things to bear in mind, such as making sure their diet is healthy and their hygiene is well kept, but something as simple as changing someone’s position can be easily overlooked. This can lead to severe pressure ulcers, also known as bed sores, forming on sensitive parts of the body due to irritation and continuous pressure. Pressure ulcers are easier to prevent than treat and are much more common on bony parts of the body such as the heels, sacrum, elbows, hips, back, shoulders and bottom. In the most severe cases it can take less than an hour for a pressure ulcer to develop.

How do they develop?

The blood flow through skin is disrupted when a large amount of pressure is applied to an area of skin over a short period of time, but can also form when pressure is applied over a longer amount of time. If the skin has no supply of blood it becomes starved of oxygen and nutrients which eventually leads to pressure ulcers forming.

Who is affected?

Pressure ulcers affect people who find it hard to move such as people confined to a bed or chair. People with Type 2 Diabetes are also prone to pressure ulcers as this condition affects the blood flow through the body. Its estimated that approximately half a million people in the UK alone will develop a pressure ulcer in any given year, usually affecting people with an underlying medical condition such as diabetes or obesity or even people over the age of 70 due to the increased likeliness of them having a

Lille Products At Procter Health Care

We have been stocking Lille products for almost 10 years. Over the years the brand has come under many aliases, such as Tyco, Covidien, Ontex and Ganmill. Here at Procter Health Care, we feel that the Lille brand continues to provide us with quality products which customers want to buy again and again. We regularly receive positive feedback about our Lille products and our service, many of them saying they find the product very reliable and the service prompt.

Lille Healthcare has been manufacturing continence solutions for over 45 years. They have a large range of items in a variety of absorbencies including incontinence pads, pants, bed pads and incontinence wipes. Their products are designed so that the user can be discreet with their continence management, while living life to the full!

Quality and variety is very important to us at Procter’s. We have something for everybody and aim to meet individual needs. We have continence care combinations for any situation and we are always on the lookout for new products to expand our incontinence range. For example, light male urinary incontinence can be discreetly managed with the use of Male Shaped Pads. Unisex light to moderate urinary incontinence can be met with our straight or shaped pads, to be used with a tight fitting net or lycra pant. Alternatively, disposable all-in-one pant style incontinence products are ideal for heavy urinary incontinence or dual/faecal incontinence. All of these solutions can b

What is Incontinence? Physiology, Types of Incontinence, Issues

What is Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine. It is a very common problem and is thought to affect more than 50 million people in the developed world.

Physiology

The bladder receives urine from the kidneys through tubes called ureters. Urine is stored in the bladder, which is supported in the pelvis by pelvic floor muscles. Some of this muscle wraps around the urethra, the tube that runs from the bladder to outside the body, to help keep it closed until you need to pass urine. Once the bladder is full, a signal is sent to the brain that you need to pass urine. When you are ready, the brain tells the pelvic floor muscles to relax and open the urethra. The muscles around the bladder contract and push the urine out.

A problem in any part of this process can result in urinary incontinence.

Types of urinary incontinence

Professional advice should be sought if you have any concerns with regards to this condition. There are several types of urinary incontinence, but the most common are:

• Stress incontinence, when the pelvic floor muscles are too weak to prevent urination, causing urine to leak when your bladder is under pressure, for example when you cough or laugh

• Urge incontinence, when urine leaks at the same time or just after you feel an intense urge to pass urine

These two types of urinary incontinence are thought to be responsible for over 9 out of 10 cases. It is also possible to have a mixture of both stress and urge urinary incontinence.

Figures from a study that included the UK found that 13% of women had some degree of urinary incontinence. In general, urinary incontinence affects twice as many women as men and becomes more common with increasing age.

Urinary incontinence can be a difficult and distressing problem. A lot of

Neo-G Airflow Supports

NEO-G AIRFLOW SUPPORTS

You can check out our Neo-G supports here

Injuries can be a pain, quite literally, and when they occur you want to find the most suitable product to provide you with the relieving support you require. As well as providing the necessary pain relief to the affected area you will also look for a support that allows breathability and movement and gives you the freedom to go about your day with ease.

The ideal support will almost become a second skin to you and go virtually unnoticed whilst being worn on the body. Here at Procter Health Care we have a wide range of supports that cover almost all sports and medical related injuries. Our Oppo brand has proven very successful over the years and remains a bestseller, but in this article we’d like to introduce you to our newest brand of supports, Neo-G, more specifically their Airflow range and why you should give them a try.

Neo-G’s sporting-edge Airflow supports are a sized, pull-on range which offers medical-grade compression. The supports themselves are knit from a specialist fabric and compression on various ‘zones’ around the affected areas, in effect pin-pointing the pain and helping to ease it. The designs are all slim-line and allow the support to be worn comfortably under all clothing and sporting gear.

One of the key features to any good support is having the ability to continue with yo

Free Biofreeze Offer

We are currently giving away a free sachet of Biofreeze with any order from our range of Supports and Braces. Biofreeze is widely used in the UK and is medically recommended as a pain reliever all over the body.

It offers a variety of benefits that aid in exercise, therapy, pain relief and overall comfort. Biofreeze uses Isopropyl Alcohol as the active ingredient, penetrating painful areas such as joints, muscles and bones quickly.

Click here to see our complete range of Biofreeze