Author Archives: Jeanne Lowry

Series: Alzheimer’s in Other Countries

Posted by on January 31, 2015 under Caregiver Corner | Read the First Comment

Alzheimer's around the world

The first in a series on Alzheimer’s disease in places beyond the borders of the United States.

There’s a village in Columbia that may give scientists the answers they’ve been looking for in their quest to prevent Alzheimer’s disease before it begins to destroy the brain.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that this information is becoming available because many of the residents of the small town of Yarumal have genes that give them early-onset Alzheimer’s, and it’s been devastating the region for years.

You can read more about this fascinating situation and the study in this Yahoo News article.

Where to Purchase Extra Ostomy Bags

Posted by on January 29, 2015 under Ostomy Care | Be the First to Comment

Ostomy supplies

While a certain amount of ostomy bags may be available and covered through your insurance, Medicaid or Medicare there’s always a set amount of bags you can receive per month. If your stoma requires more changes than what the insurance company deems “normal,” or if you just like to be prepared with extras, TotalHomeCareSupplies.com is the place to order more bags. Additionally, we offer other ostomy supplies. And they can all be shipped right to your door.

On our site, you can find bags from Hollister, ConvaTec and Coloplast, along with bags specifically for urostomies. We also have skin barriers, flanges, ostomy belts, odor eliminator drops and more.

We’d love to hear about what ostomy items you purchase from TotalHomeCareSupplies.com here, or you can leave a review on our product pages. Thanks!

What You Need to Know about Urge Incontinence

Posted by on January 28, 2015 under BladderMatters | Be the First to Comment

Light bladder leakage.

Originally posted by the Live Confidently team on LiveConfidently.com

Our lives are often affected by uncontrollable ailments that can have uncomfortable side effects. Urge incontinence, often times referred to as Overactive Bladder (OAB), is the strong, sudden need to urinate due to bladder spasms or contractions. This condition’s unpredictable nature can leave many feeling embarrassed and helpless, but there are steps you can take to ensure your comfort and wellbeing. Understanding the signs and causes of urge incontinence can be the key to controlling your symptoms and gaining your confidence back.

Do I Have Urge Incontinence?

Urge incontinence is the sudden loss of urine that usually occurs after a strong, sudden urge to use the bathroom. If this describes your symptoms, it can help to keep an incontinence journal and talk with a healthcare provider about what you’ve observed.

What Causes Urge Incontinence?

It’s important to note that urge incontinence is not considered a disease, but an indication of an underlying problem. Common causes of urge incontinence include:

  • Enlarged prostate
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Spinal cord injuries or stroke
  • Parkinsonism

If you’re experiencing overactive bladder, it’s always best to check with your doctor to make sure the rest of your health is in check. Getting to the root cause is key in ensuring a long, healthy life.

How Is Urge Incontinence Treated?

There are a variety of ways to treat urge incontinence, and sometimes the best method is a combination of many different treatments. Approaches for at-home treatments include scheduling regular visits to the bathroom, keeping a bladder and bowel diary, and practicing relaxation techniques. You should also implement Kegel exercises, or pelvic floor exercises, into your daily routine. These will help to strengthen the muscles that support your bladder and provide control over urination. If these at-home methods do not work, you may want to talk to your doctor about surgery and medication options.

Of course, the best thing you can do is make sure you’re protected before you experience bladder leakage. Fortunately, incontinence products have never been better and more suited for people affected with urge incontinence. To find products in your area, check out our product retailer locator for a full list of stores and websites that sell incontinence protection products.

Have you, or has someone you’ve known, experienced urge incontinence? If so, head over to our urge incontinence forum post to discuss this topic with people just like you!

Check Out Our Pinterest Page!

Posted by on January 27, 2015 under Caregiver Corner, Ostomy Care, Resources | Be the First to Comment

Pinterest boards

We have over 1,700 pins, spread out on thirty boards – and it grows every week! Our boards are varied and include “Helpful Senior Videos,” “Laughter: The Best Medicine” and “Top-Rated Ostomy Supplies and Support.” So come visit us on Pinterest and we’ll see you there!

Comparing Adult Diapers to Protective Underwear

Posted by on January 26, 2015 under BladderMatters, Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

Most absorbent adult diapers

While both adult diapers and protective underwear (also known as pull-ups) do a great job of keeping the user dry and leak-free, they differ in other ways, including how they’re worn and more. Let’s explore the differences so you can discover what will work best for yourself or your caree.

Adult Diapers Protective Underwear
Keeps the user dry ✔ ✔
Leak-free ✔ ✔
Can put on without the removal of pants/shoes ✔
Small and medium sizes (20 inches to 79 inches in waist size) ✔ ✔
Larger sizes (over 80 inches in waist size) ✔
Maximum overnight absorbency ✔
Cloth-like material for the outer shell ✔ ✔
Gender-specific ✔
Can be easily disposed of (either by removing the tabs or ripping the sides apart) ✔ ✔
Look more like regular underwear ✔
Slimmer profile ✔
Soft, stretchy sides ✔ ✔

 

For those looking for something that provides the look and feel of underwear with the adjustability of an adult brief, try Prevail’s Adjustable Underwear: these have the close fit and slim line of a pull-up, but also have Easy Lock Fasteners (ELF)’s that makes it easier to put on and take off the underwear. And the fasteners are non-sticky, so there’s never any worry of the tabs sticking to items other than the underwear.

The most important thing to keeping leak-free in either a pull-up or an adult diaper is to have the right fit. For Prevail products, you can consult their Sizing Guide.

Conflicts in Caregiving: Siblings

Posted by on January 22, 2015 under Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

Caregiving familly

Several children are a joy in many families for a lot of reasons, but one of them is because the parents can relax, knowing it’s likely one of their kids will be able to take care of them in their old age. But this can also create conflicts later on, because with more children come more opinions about Mom and Dad’s later life.

Much advice has been given about having regular family meetings before care becomes necessary, and regularly after that. But oftentimes, people have so little time when they’re together for holidays or birthdays that a meeting (let alone a meeting about uncomfortable topics) just isn’t a priority. That’s where video-messaging can come in handy. While it’s possible to conduct meetings over the phone, having a video chat can make things a little easier since facial reactions can be seen. To schedule these video chats, try using Doodle, a scheduling website that’s easy to use.

Once you have a meeting time set, you should figure out what there is to discuss. If possible, a draft agenda should be sent out by the sibling that is the most involved in the parents’ care. If sent out early enough, replies can be sent by the others of what items they would like added or questions they would like addressed.

The siblings who are not caregiving should try their best to be at least peripherally involved in the decision processes. The more people who are actively participating, the less alone the main caregiver feels. This might prove difficult, as the main caregiver should still be making the day to day decisions, but it’s really just like how it is in all families: a balancing act of not hurting anyone’s feelings while doing what’s best.

Controlling Incontinence with Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises

Posted by on January 21, 2015 under BladderMatters | Read the First Comment

Kegel exercises

Originally posted by the Live Confidently team on LiveConfidently.com

If you experience occasional light bladder leakage, it may be due to weakened pelvic floor muscles, which support the bladder and provide control over urination. As our bodies mature, our pelvic floor muscles can lose strength, leaving both men and women more susceptible to leaks during everyday activities. Mothers who have experienced multiple births are also at increased risk, regardless of age.

Fortunately, there’s a simple exercise you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and decrease the risk of leaks. We call them pelvic floor exercises, but some people know them as Kegel exercises. Often touted as beneficial for menopausal women, these exercises are just as useful to men and women of all ages. If you haven’t already started doing these pelvic exercises, you can begin as soon as you finish reading this post! Not only are these exercises known to help you control your bladder leakage from getting worse, but they could even prevent stress incontinence from ever happening in the first place.

Let’s Get Started!

To begin your Kegel exercises, sit down and identify your pelvic floor muscles by flexing as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine. Once you’ve found your muscles, contract and hold them for 5-10 seconds, then release. Relax for a few seconds, then repeat the process four or five times in a row. For best results, try to perform at least 30 pelvic floor muscle contractions every day. You should begin to see results after a few months.

The key to success with these exercises is repetition, repetition, repetition. To truly improve your bladder control and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, you should continue practicing even after you’ve seen an improvement. Kegel exercises should be a part of your daily routine, as strong pelvic floor muscles are beneficial to everyone!

Exercises to Avoid

When choosing an exercise plan that best suits your lifestyle, you should try to avoid high-impact sports that put extreme pressure on your pelvic floor muscles. This includes activities like jogging and aerobics. It’s best to choose low-impact exercises such as yoga or Pilates, as these focus on strengthening the core through slow and controlled movements. On top of your low-impact exercise routine, you should always be practicing your pelvic floor exercises, as this is the best way to strengthen the right muscles to improve your bladder control.

Have some tips to add? Head over to our incontinence forum to discuss this topic with people just like you!

Additionally, you can find varying levels of products for incontinence at TotalHomeCareSupplies.com.

Keeping Medications Safe at Home

Posted by on January 16, 2015 under Caregiver Corner | Be the First to Comment

Prescriptions safe

There are several reasons why people do not take care to put medications in safe locations in their home. They may rarely have small children around. They may think, “Oh, I have so few medications that there’s no way I could mix any of them up,” or “I’ve never made a mistake before.” They may think that since their meds are so low dose anyway, the occasional overdose won’t affect them.

Unfortunately, none of the reasons are good enough to leave medications out and about. Or even in a place called “the medicine cabinet.” Mistakes can be made by anyone. You never know when you’re going to be sleep deprived but determined to take the days pills – and the next day find that you’ve made a mistake. The best practice with medications is prevention.

While pill boxes are convenient and make taking multiple pills per day, sometimes at several different times per day, easier, there is some risk about taking the pills out of their bottle. Relying on pills just based on their look can be dangerous, as some pills looks similar. A safer method is to keep a checklist in the place where the medications are located (which is preferably a locked box, out of the way). This checklist can double as a list of medications you take that someone else should be aware of, in case it is needed by a doctor or paramedic.

Additionally, over-the-counter medicines should be put away after each time they are used. While it’s convenient to have the cough syrup out on the kitchen counter during a bad cold, it does pose a risk to be abused or misused.

Keeping medications in specific places, like locked boxes, high closet shelves or closed nightstand drawers reduces the risk of medication errors and keep your family and friends safe.

Baby Diaper Troubleshooting

Posted by on January 15, 2015 under Everything Baby | Read the First Comment

Troubles when diapering infant

On the surface, diapering a baby doesn’t seem that hard. Take diaper off baby. Wipe baby. Put new diaper on baby. But there are all sorts of issues that can come up during what should take less than a few minutes. Here are just a few suggestions for what to do when you hit a trouble spot, and links to other helpful topics.

Diaper Leaks
The number one reason why diapers leak is because they don’t fit correctly. They may either be too small or too large, or it could be possible that the brand you’re using just doesn’t fit your child in any size, though that is rare. You can find all sorts of answers about which diaper size to buy in our blog post, How To Choose The Right Size Baby Diaper. And you can have lots of different sizes on hand if you order some of our samples.

Diaper Rash
It’s so tough to watch your poor baby suffer through diaper rash. Adding creams can help, but another option is to allow the area to dry out, when possible. If your baby doesn’t move around too much while they nap, it might be worth it to try to lay them down, on their back, on an underpad (also known as chux). If you have a boy, place a cloth over the groin area. All urine should be absorbed , and after the nap you can give them a quick bath (warm water, mild soap or no soap) and apply cream.

Making a Mess
From a baby’s point of view, reaching to the diaper area during a change makes sense: what’s going on down there? You’re futzing around in the area, so it must be fun! But now is not when you want your baby to be exploring. And telling them no will only create confusion, or just plain not work. Try distraction instead. The next time your child seems to take an interest in a toy, put it away after the play session. Then, only take that toy out when it’s diaper changing time. Your child will hopefully be distracted enough by this limited-time-only object to let you finish up the change quickly.

What issues have you encountered while diapering your child? Or what tips do you have for the above problems? You can also find more hints in our blog post, Baby Diaper Basics.