Email Newsletter: August 2009

Dear Subscriber,

It's not quite three months since our last newsletter, but we published a little behind schedule last time. This quarter, we're back on track. We hope you find some of the news we're sharing in this quarter's newsletter helpful. Please email us for more information about any item.

What's new in research?
Pelvic floor muscle training before and during pregnancy does not increase the likelihood of perineal lacerations, episiotomy, vacuum or forceps delivery, or acute cesarean delivery, according to a new Scandinavian study. This is reassuring for many women who worry that strong pelvic floor muscles will slow or obstruct their labour.
Bo K and others Effect of antenatal pelvic floor muscle training on labor and birth. Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Jun; 113(6): 1279-84

A double-blind randomised controlled trial of electromagnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor using a NeoControl chair found that it was no more effective overall than sham treatment in the study group of 70 women with stress urinary incontinence.
Gilling PJ and others. A double-blind randomized controlled trial of electromagnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor vs sham therapy in the treatment of women with stress urinary incontinence. BJU Int. 2009 May;103(10):1386-90

A smaller, non-controlled study reached the same conclusion regarding chair-based magnetic energy stimulation. In this study, there was no significant difference in any outcome measure between recruitment, end of treatment and 3 months follow-up visits. Furthermore, whilst only two-thirds of women completed the program, a third of them had worse pad-test measures at the end of the program than at the beginning.
Ismail SI and others. Extracorporeal magnetic energy stimulation of pelvic floor muscles for urodynamic stress incontinence of urine in women. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2009 Jan; 29(1): 35-9

What's new in our product range?
Incostress for the control of stress incontinence. We're pleased to announce that we can now offer our customers Incostress, a completely new product from the UK. Incostress is nurse-designed, and has won a number of prizes for innovation in the UK. It features a resuable, tampon-like shape, that sits comfortably in the vagina, where it places pressure against the urethra. This gentle pressure controls the involuntary loss of urine by closing the urethra and restores the natural anatomical position of the bladder. Unlike other products that have previously been available in Australia for this purpose, Incostress does not need to be fitted by a health professional, and it is very economical, as well as environmentally friendly, compared with the ongoing cost of incontinence pads. The RRP of Incostress is $69.95 and we're offering it at $67.95 for the forseeable future. Each Incostress can be used for 6 months from the opening of the packet, an average cost of $11 per month. We consider it an excellent option for women who want to control their stress incontinence whilst they are working on strengthening their pelvic floor muscles, and for women who are generally happy with the control of their SUI but need a little extra help during exercise or sport.

Smartballs Teneo Uno and Duo. We're now stocking the new design of Smartballs, with features that render them more useful for women who want to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. The Teneo range includes Duo Balls (85g) and a single ball design called Uno (42g) . Both products feature a finger hollow to help with insertion, and loops manufactured entirely from silicone, making cleaning much easier. The manufacturer states that the single ball design is suitable for women with a prolapse. Since pelvic organ prolapses can vary so much in degree and type, we suggest that women with a prolapse make their own assessment and even discuss suitability with their health practitioner before deciding. However the Uno certainly does provide a welcome addition to the range of vaginal weight devices available. Smartballs Teneo Duo is priced at a highly competitive $44.95 and Uno at $34.95.

Juno Weighted Pelvic Exerciser and Isis Beginner Pelvic Exerciser: two products from sex therapist Dr Laura Berman. Both products are made from Lucite, a translucent-effect, trademarked plastic. Both fall into the "barbell" category, with the Juno incorporating steel balls for additional weight. The Isis is one of the smaller diameter products in our range, and may be a useful supplement to our vaginal dilators for some women. Juno (135g) and Isis (62g) are economical buys at $49.95 and $39.95 respectively.

What's news on our website?
Our website now includes a whole new section on hysterectomy, covering how to prepare for a hysterectomy and how to facilitate recovery, with content contributed by physiotherapist Michelle Kenway, author of Inside Out: the essential women's guide to pelvic support.

With an increase in the number of weight-based exercisers that we stock (and more coming soon), we've restructured the menu in our online shop into three different categories: Vaginal weights, Vaginal Balls, and Vaginal Barbells. We hope this restructuring will make it easier for our website visitors to find what they are looking for.

2009 product leaflets
Our product leaflets are always available for bulk distribution. Please email us on if you would like to receive bulk copies of our product leaflet for distribution to clients and patients.

Practitioner services
Just a reminder tht practitioners are always welcome to borrow a sample set of our products to familiarise themselves and colleagues with what's available, or to use in a display. And our practitioner discount price list continues to offer product discounts to practitioners. Email us or phone us on 1300 76 39 40 if you'd like to know more.

For more information about these, or any other products or services, please contact us by email.

Please feel free to pass this newsletter onto colleagues who might be interested. To subscribe to future newsletters, please visit http://www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au/aboutus.htm#subscribe.

The Pelvic Floor Exercise Team
PFE Pty Ltd
now PFLEX Pty Ltd t/a Pelvic Floor Exercise
PO Box 7094 Sippy Downs Qld 4556 Australia
Tel: 1300 76 39 40
Fax: 1300 79 44 39
www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au