Sickle Cell pain relief

Sickle Cell Anemia is a complex disease characterized by regional pain due to the lack of blood flow (ischemia.) Sickle Cell Pain Crisis is a Vaso-Occlusive Crisis. Pain crisis protocol often involves the use of heat. Using a warm Fomentek bag to deliver heat to the occluded area is a superior method of treatment because the treatment area is well defined and the heat delivery is immediate. There is no chance of being burned by heat buildup as can occur with a heating pad because the Fomentek bag gradually cools down over time.

The red blood cells of a Sickle Cell patient are actually shaped like bananas instead of being shaped like a football. Healthy football-shaped blood cells flow well and easily slide past each other.

A Sickle Cell Pain Crisis occurs when the blood flow within a localized area is restricted. This compromised blood flow is due to the banana-shaped blood cells hanging onto each other. The deep pain of Sickle Cell Anemia is similar to the pain felt when a person sits on their leg for a long time and feels “pins and needles” followed by short-term deep pain. A person without Sickle Cell can simply move around, getting the blood flowing again and the pain stops. A Sickle Cell patient with the characteristic chronic episodes of pain due to compromised blood flow cannot simply move around to gain relief because the red blood cells continue to hang onto each other, keeping the blood from flowing well.

We are often asked, “What is Sickle Cell Anemia?” or, “What is Sickle Cell?” To illustrate what is happening during a Sickle Cell Pain Crisis episode, imagine that a slow-moving river has thousands of crooked logs that are headed downstream. The crooked logs get hung up on each other, drag against the river banks, and quit moving. If the amount of water in the river increases, the river becomes wider and the crooked logs have extra room to flow. As the logs move down the wider river, they begin to untangle and again move down the river.

Let’s compare the river to blood vessels within the body. Ingesting water and heating the painful area with a Fomentek bag causes the blood vessels to dilate or enlarge and the crooked red blood cells have extra room to flow. Staying hydrated is very important for the management of Sickle Cell Anemia.

Sickle Cell Disease has the same general causative factors but is not the same for every patient. The disease presents differently and the treatments vary for different severities and ages. It is imperative that those suffering from this disease be under the care of a physician. Some protocols for treatment call for alternating heat and cold. Talk to your treating physician about using a Fomentek bag if hot or cold treatments are recommended.

REUSABLE, SANITARY, SOFT, AND STRONG

WHY FOMENTEK BAGS ARE IDEAL FOR USE DURING CHILDBIRTH

STRETCHING THE TISSUE DURING VAGINAL DELIVERY

During childbirth, a Fomentek bag can be used as a hot compress for the perineum to stretch the tissue and prevent vaginal tearing and prevent perineal lacerations. The Fomentek bag can be used in conjunction with oils and perineal massage to help decrease the chances of vaginal tearing. Heat can be consistently relied upon to facilitate the stretching of the perineum. The goal is to reduce vaginal and perineal tearing and prevent the need for an episiotomy.

What is an Episiotomy?

An episiotomy is a surgical incision of the perineum made to avoid tearing during childbirth. The episiotomy became ingrained in American hospital obstetric practice beginning in the 1920s. By the 1940s and 1950s, routine episiotomy was little debated and increasingly used. By the 1980s, episiotomy accompanied 64 percent of vaginal births in the US.

The popularity of episiotomy was heavily driven by local professional norms, experiences in training, and individual provider preference. The belief that a smooth incision would be less injurious to the mother was prevalent. During the latter half of the 20^th century, the avoidance of tearing during childbirth became a major consideration in the minds of both mothers-to-be and caregivers alike.

As it turns out, in most cases, small perineal tears heal more quickly and completely than either midline or mediolateral incisions. Also, the evidence has shown that the inherent weaknesses in the scar tissue of healed episiotomies fail during subsequent births.

How can tearing of the perineum be averted or minimized by a Fomentek bag?

How many times have you observed the movie scene where a woman goes into labor and the person in charge yells out, “Go boil some water!” Then yells, “And bring me some clean towels.” Traditionally, the midwife applied hot compresses to the perennial area to aid in stretching, thus minimizing tearing before the baby comes.

A hot wet towel generates a cloud of steam. The rising steam shows evidence of evaporative cooling. Using a hot towel to soften the perineum requires constant reheating. However, the Fomentek bag, with its pliable exterior, larger volume, and having no heat lost through evaporative cooling, serves to heat the perineum with improved efficiency. The Fomentek bag is simply filled with warm tap water and it is ready for extended use. The soft Fomentek bag provides consistent heat transfer and conforms to the treatment area.

FOMENTEK BAGS FOR BACK LABOR / BACK PAIN DURING CHILDBIRTH

A warm comfortable Fomentek bag is ideal for treating the intense lower back pain women can experience during labor, often referred to as “back labor.” Use continuously by using two Fomentek bags in rotation.

What is Back Labor and What causes Back Labor?

The following definition of Back Labor is from the American Pregnancy Association (www.americanpregnancy.org.) :

“Back Labor” refers to the pain and discomfort that laboring women experience in their lower back. Although most women will feel a degree of soreness or slight cramping in the back at some point during labor, about a quarter of women report experiencing severe discomfort in the lower back that is most intense during contractions and often painful between contractions. Back labor can often be accompanied by an irregular contraction pattern, a labor that is slow to progress, and a prolonged pushing stage.

A frequent cause of back labor is the position of the baby. Positions such as occiput posterior (when the baby is facing the mother’s abdomen) can cause pressure from the baby’s head to be applied to the mother’s sacrum (the tailbone).

The result can be intense discomfort during labor. However, a baby in an odd position does not always result in back labor. Similarly, back labor is not always the result of a baby’s positioning. Some research has shown that a woman who experiences back pain during her menstrual cycle may be more likely to experience back labor regardless of the baby’s position.