PATIENT FOCUSSED

What we’ve noticed from time to time, is that our patients reported being prescribed treatment plans by their urologists or general practitioners that required the use of certain devices and products aimed at post prostatectomy rehabilitation or for erectile dysfunction (often where the patient has other health concerns such as high blood pressure, multiple medications, diabetes and more).

What we’ve found was that patients were often buying the wrong equipment; poorly constructed, and frequently inappropriate for their intended use. This pertains more so to the purchase of vacuum erection devices aka pumps. Beyond this, there was a distinct lack of understanding of both what they needed to do and WHY, what could be considered a realistic expectation, how to talk about it with their partner and often their GP and where to go when things weren’t going as perhaps they’d thought or hoped they would.

In order to procure such prescribed devices, patients were often directed towards sex shops or the internet. The advice provided by poorly trained and service indifferent sales staff in such stores was often either non-existent, inappropriate or simply incorrect. Even when people managed to buy the “appropriately suited” equipment, the advice that they received with regards to correct usage was often non-existent or confusing. The result of this was that the patient was left frustrated and confused; the end point being the purchase of an expensive device that was never used.