Continence Awareness Week 2008

Continence Awareness Week 2008 will take place on 15th-19th September this year with an overall theme of ‘Dispelling the Myths’.

It will aim to get the message across to the public that bladder and bowel problems can affect anyone.

Other messages include that problems can be cured or effectively managed to improve quality of life and most importantly, that people don’t need to suffer alone or in silence.

Treating pelvic floor problems can be done in a variety of ways, with each offering the possibility of full recovery or improvement of the condition.

We stock a wide range of women's pelvic health treatments, including Enraf-Nonis Biofeedback machines and accessories, Pericalm, Periform and ultrasound scanning equipment.

It is estimated that 14m people in the UK are affected by bladder problems and 6.5m suffer from bowel problems.

It affects more people than asthma, diabetes and epilepsy put together, and is twice as likely to affect women as men.

Bladder and bowel problems can cover a wide range of conditions, particularly women’s pelvic health, and it is a sensitive topic with only 25% of people with a problem seeing their doctor.

There many effective self-treatments for incontinence, including Aquaflex Vaginal Cones and the Pelvic Floor Educator, which are useful in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles.

They can be used with pelvic floor exercises to improve results and are easy for patients to do by themselves. We also offer a selection of useful and informative books about incontinence, which can help your patients to understand their problems.

Despite being seen as a condition in the elderly, the B&BF found that 4.8m people under 24 years old in the UK have problems with bladder and bowel control.

Continence Awareness Week 2008 will also provide the ideal platform from which a new UK charity for bladder and bowel disorders will be launched.

The newly formed Bladder and Bowel Foundation (B&BF) was set up in June 2008, combining InContact and the Continence Foundation to create the UK’s largest non-profit making charity for incontinence.

It forms the objectives of the National Action on Incontinence and the Continence Foundation, and aims to break down the stigma associated with bladder and bowel problems, and encourage more people to talk openly about it by raising awareness.

For more information, visit www.bladderandbowelfoundation.org.