What is the Peritone?

The Peritone unit is designed to measure the activity that is coming from your pelvic floor muscles.

It picks up how hard the muscles are working and then helps to set targets for your pelvic floor exercise regime. It’s designed to be used as part of a specialist therapy programme but once you have been assessed, you can use the unit every day at home. Many hospitals and clinics have larger biofeedback units that require you to come into the hospital every week but the Peritone offers the same benefits with the added benefit of removing the need to make a journey to the hospital. By using the machine at home every day, you will see an improvement in your condition much earlier than if you have to wait for your weekly hospital or clinic appointment.

Who can use it?

For many women, their pelvic floor muscles are not working enough to be able to control urine escaping from the bladder or to support their pelvic organs (bowel, bladder and womb.) For other women, their pelvic floor muscles are working too hard and find it difficult to relax and this can cause problems with pain or an over-active bladder. The Peritone can help with both cases. The Peritone is not suitable for you if you are pregnant. It’s also not designed to be used when you have your period or if you have an infection in your bladder or vagina.

How do I use the Peritone?

The Peritone is designed to be used with the Periform. The Peritone is a hand held device that has two leads: one that attaches to the Periform and the other that attaches to a sticky backed electrode that you place over a bony point (usually your hip). At the beginning of your treatment, you do a pelvic floor contraction. The Peritone ‘reads’ this and sets this as your baseline. It is then used to set a programme that is appropriate for you. This might be to strengthen your muscles or to help them relax. The Peritone then shows your progress by recording what you have achieved.

An optional extra is to buy a separate computer programme that then enables you to track this on your computer.

Can I use the Peritone if my muscles are really weak?

The Peritone is very sensitive and because it sets a baseline based on your individual muscles, it can be used even with a very weak pelvic floor.

How will it help my Physiotherapy Programme?

The Peritone can record all of your activity. This is useful as it lets your Physio know what you have been doing and how you have progressed at home. She can then adapt your programme to fit in with your individual circumstances and condition.

By Alison Bourne MA (Cantab) BSc MCSP ACPWH

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