Why Shop Online for Medical Supplies?

In our brave new global world, it often seems that everything has changed. Some of those changes disturb and annoy whereas many of them make streamlining our lives possible as never before. Shopping online has become a standard for most people and most households. Following are some reasons for shopping online for medical supplies:

• Discount Prices. Because most online providers are mega-businesses, they can offer Discount Prices on Medical Supplies, sometimes drastically lower prices.
• Comparison Shopping. You don’t need to drive all over the city, the area, or even the country to compare prices and value. This is not only a big time-saver; it is also a big budget-booster.
• Impulse buying. If you’re shopping in a store, you’re inclined to pick up things you don’t need, such as snacks and other foods. You’re also more likely to buy something on impulse rather than planning for it ahead of time. The money seems to dribble away.
• Shipping. If you think it costs too much extra to buy online, be sure to factor in the cost of going to a store to buy the same thing. Even if you don’t need to go far, you will use gas sitting in traffic and trying to find a parking place. If you’re a savvy shopper, you’ll plan to buy around holidays when online sellers offer Free Shipping or discounted shipping.
• Returns. Most online sellers make returns easy. In a store, returns are treated as a bother and there tends to be a series of obstacles in order to get the item returned. Lost your sales slip? Forget it. The item is yours forever when you shop at a retail store. An example of a online medical supply store’s online return policy can be viewed at Vitality Medical Return Policy.
• Security of Information. We’ve had enough experience with identity theft in recent years to be able to say without equivocation that it’s just as safe online as it is when you swipe it in a store to pay for goods.

But shopping for medical supplies? Many of the reasons listed above for buying online apply to medical supplies. Following are some good reasons for buying the medical supplies you need online:

1. Wider variety to choose from. For example, if you are buying a portable oxygen concentrator, Vitality Medical has the Top Five Selling Portable Oxygen Concentrators to choose from, and they are priced lower than you can find them in your local store.
2. Products are reviewed by users. You have the benefit of real-life experience by actual product users. This is almost always not available if you buy over the counter.

Convenience. Your medical supplies are delivered to your front door. If you are unwell, front-door delivery is particularly valuable.

Vitality Medical makes online shopping easy. No hidden prices and strong customer support. Shop online today at Vitality Medical!

What Are the Top Rated Portable Oxygen Concentrators?

Vitality Medical Offers Top-rated Portable Oxygen Concentrators

Vitality Medical offers a Portable Oxygen Concentrator to meet the needs of any oxygen therapy patient. With five models currently available on the website, respiratory patients have a wide range of choices. Treatment for severe respiratory ailments has progressed very rapidly in the past several years. Not long ago, the patient a with severe respiratory impairment was confined to his home. The emergence of the Portable Oxygen Concentrator has changed that.

Vitality Medical’s Portable Oxygen Concentrators

• Invacare Solo 2 Portable Oxygen Concentrator System

This light-weight portable oxygen system is an all-in-one system: it can be used at home and it can meet travel needs. It offers dual modes of output—both continuous and pulse. Continuous flow capacity is .05 to 3.0 liters per minute whereas the pulse dose is up to 1.8 LPM. An easy-to-use control panel makes all options easily accessed. This roll-around device has an adjustable handle that will telescope to fit patients of all heights.

• Inogen One Portable Oxygen Concentrator System

Inogen’s Concentrator reflects current technology. Considered a technological breakthrough by many, it departs from mainstream technologies. It is an all-in-one system that can be used at home as well as when the patient wishes to travel. It’s easy to use and is approved by the FAA for airline travel on any domestic airline and on international airlines when the trip either departs from the USA or arrives here. Its design calls for trouble-free use for years. This is one of the smallest devices and is very quiet.

• Invacare XPO2 Portable Oxygen Concentrator

Invacare is one of the leading providers of oxygen concentrators. The Invacare XPO2 is lightweight for ease of portability. It is approved by the FAA for airline transportation. The small profile makes it easy to store during travel. It has a carrying case, an AC power adapter, a DC power adapter, and a supplemental battery pack. This is one of the smallest portable units available and can be used for a Home Oxygen Concentrator or a portable oxygen machine.

• Respironics EverGo System

This portable oxygen concentrator weighs 8.5 pounds and is approved by the FAA for flight. It has the longest battery life between charges of any of the top selling portable concentrators. Controls are on an east-to-use touch screen. It looks like an ordinary carry-on bag.

No matter what your needs, Vitality Medical will have the Portable Oxygen Concentrator to meet them. With FAA’s recent ruling regarding POC’s and air flight, it is easier than ever for respiratory patients to live active lives even though they can’t venture far from a concentrated oxygen source.

 

How to Make Life with Obesity Better

Bariatrics is the treatment of obesity. A person is diagnosed as obese when his or her body fat is great enough to have an adverse effect on health. When body mass index is between 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2, the patient is said to be overweight.

Obesity in America is growing, greater and greater demands are being made on healthcare systems to provide care for them. Let’s face it: life is difficult and painful for people who are obese. They are scorned, and they know it. Most were overweight from the time they were children and have endured the cruelty of classmates who made fun of their size.

Obesity is one of the major preventable causes of death worldwide. It seems to be increasing around the world. There have been times in history when obesity stood for wealth and fertility; however, that is no longer true except in very limited areas of the world. Obese people are looked down upon and often ostracized.

The life of the obese person is painful in many ways. The overweight public does not want to be labeled or categorized as “fat people”. Obese people are often shamed because of their condition. Not only does the scorn and shunning of society hurt, the stress on the body caused by excess weight causes many painful and health- and life-threatening diseases such as type 2 diabetes; high blood pressure with all the illnesses that come with it, such as stroke; osteoarthritis; and obstructive sleep apnea. Many obese people suffer from joint deterioration as a result of their bearing too much weight. The misalignment of the skeleton as a result of the excess weight causes back pain, typically severe.

The most common cause of obesity is dietary excess—the patient eats too many calories—and a sedentary lifestyle. Genetics may also set some people up to become obese although genes, endocrine disorders, or psychiatric illness, all of which are rarely the sole cause.

The standard treatment for a bariatric medical condition is diet and exercise. There are some anti-obesity drugs that may reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. If the case is severe enough, surgery is sometimes performed or a balloon inserted to reduce stomach capacity or the length of the bowel. The rationale for this is that these treatments will lead to quicker satisfaction and a reduction in the ability to utilize nutrients from food.

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Along with the increase in numbers of obese people has come an increase in aids to make their lives better. For instance, Vitality Medical has a range of heavy-duty scooters and wheelchairs designed specifically for larger bodies. This online medical supply company also has inexpensive back supports and knee supports to ease the pain experienced by many larger people. Vitality Medical also has oversized beds to improve the sleep of the overweight person as well as bath chairs to make taking a shower more comfortable. Walkers and canes designed specifically for larger people are available on Vitality Medical’s website.

For the caretaker, Vitality Medical has Hoyer lifts to help move the extra-heavy patient. There are also extra-large commodes. Oversized toilet seats can be purchased on this website as well as special bariatric scales for weighing a patient who cannot be weighed on a standard scale.

Life can be better for the bariatric patient with these special items, and they can be purchased from the privacy of your own home, a special bonus.

How To Remove Scars

Scars do not yield to improvement easily, especially red, dark, or raised ones. The disfigurement from a scar depends on how large it is, where it’s placed, how high it is raised, and, especially, how dark it is. The discovery of silicone gel sheeting has transformed the treatment of scars; and even patients with disfiguring scars from an old wound can find some hope here.

Silicone gel combines a silicone membrane and a gel, a combination that makes it durable; it also makes it comfortable to wear. Other silicone gel sheets tend to crumble. Since they are so durable, silicone scar reduction sheets can be applied to the scar both day and night although it is recommended that it be applied for only four hours the first time with wearing time increasing by two hours each day. The purpose of this is to get the patient’s skin used to the compound.

The sheet should be cleaned twice daily and more often if the patient is very active or the atmosphere is warmer. Cleaning is accomplished with a mild soap and dried with a lint-free cloth. It’s also a good idea to clean the scar. Silicone gel sheets do not interfere with bathing since they can be removed and then reapplied.

One side of the sheet has an applied adhesive, so no other bandaging is necessary. It can be applied to any part of the body, even sensitive ones. It’s especially useful for healing old and new scars since it will conform to any body area.

How it works

First of all, because of its ease of use, it is usually more successful than other treatments simply because the patient is willing to use it. Many question how silicon gel sheets work and why they are so effective. What it does is seal off the scar area and provide hydration to it. The moisture that is locked into the skin around the scar reduces blood supply to the area. This reduction in blood supply in turn reduces the amount of collagen in the area, causing the scar area to become paler and to slowly approximate the natural color of the skin.

How effective is it?

Silicone gel sheets are widely used by hospitals, dermatologists, and surgeons and have been proven to be 90% effective. They work effectively on old scars as well as new ones. Even an itchy scar can be improved. The sheets are 12cm x 15cm, but they can be cut into pieces to fit the scar. Twenty-eight days seems to be the life of a piece of a silicone gel sheet and average treatment time is two to four months. Many patients find that their scars can be effectively treated with only one sheet.

What are the Silicone Gel Sheet Options?

Smith & Nephew is the leader in Silicone Gel Sheets, selling the very popular Cica Care brand. Cica Care Silicone Gel Sheeting sells for $44.50 for a 5 by 6 inch sterile sheet at Vitality Medical. Molnlycke also manufacturers a very poplular silicone dressing called the Mepitel Self Adherent Silicone Dressing. A 2 by 3 inch dressing costs $17.03 at Vitality Medical. NM Technologies manufactures custom silicone scar reduction sheets under the brand name RETOUCH. These silicone scar sheets come in various sizes, including a Tummy Tuck Scar Sheet and Breast Anchor Scar Sheet. A 1.4 by 2.4 inch sheet is sold for $10.90 each.

Vitality Medical offers discount and wholesale pricing to consumers, clinics and hospitals. For over 10 years, Vitality Medical has offered online discount medical supplies for the home or facility at reduced prices. They take medical supply orders online and over the telephone toll-free at 800-397-5899.

How To Prevent Injuries To Aging Parents

For aging parents, their homes are certainly not the safest places for them to be. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that nearly one million people over 65 come into emergency rooms for injuries sustained in their own homes. In fact, accidental injuries in the home for older people is three times greater than it is for anyone else—60 deaths for every 100,000 people 65 and older as compared to only 20 deaths per 100,000 for people under 65.

Slips and falls are the main cause of injuries sustained in the home. Carpets and rugs that slip are a frequent cause for a falls. Bathtub mats with grippers and grab bars in the bathroom can reduce that number as can handrails on both sides of stairs.

It’s not uncommon to see patients who have been injured by hot water to have burns severe enough for hospitalization. The CPSC suggests that water heaters be kept no higher than 120˚ F to prevent scalding and the installation of at least one smoke detector for every floor. Flame-resistant nightwear is also recommended.

The reason so many older people are injured is that they don’t see the hazards. Many of them are easy to fix, but they must be identified first.  One of the areas not often checked is cords. They should not be stretched across any open area lest they become a tripping hazard. It’s wise to avoid extension cords altogether if at all possible. Make certain there is no furniture resting on a cord. In addition, a cord under carpeting presents a fire hazard. Stapling or nailing a cord down is discouraged because a damaged cord can cause a fire.

Phones should be placed strategically so that if there is an accident, help can be obtained quickly. An alternative to the telephone which may not be accessible in the event of a fall is an emergency alarm that can be worn around the neck.

Aging parents easily get cold easily and resort to portable heaters for additional warmth. Space heaters can be big offenders. A three-prong plug on a heater should never be plugged into a two-hole receptacle. These heaters should have the safety feature that turns them off in case they are tipped over. If the heater uses kerosene or gas, correct installation and operation are important. If such heaters are unvented, a door or window should stand slightly open to provide ventilation. A carbon monoxide alarm is wise with one of these space heaters.

Elderly people die frequently in fires. Wearing short sleeves or rolling back long sleeves in the kitchen is a wise preventive measure.

Vitality Medical carries a wide range of safety products for older people including patient safety alarms and senior medical alarm systems. Vitality Medical also carries devices to help people be safer in their bathrooms such as grab bars, shower chairs, hand-held showers, and raised toilet seats.

Visit the patient care store at Vitality Medical for everything a caregiver of elderly patients will need. The advantages of ordering at Vitality Medical are that the prices are right, and everything you need can be ordered online without leaving your home or in the case of the caregiver, the patient’s home.