This is a guest post on the EasyStand Blog by Ginny Paleg, DScPT, MS, PT. Ginny is a pediatric Physical Therapist from Silver Spring, MD. This post will be of interest to physical therapists, physicians, and others with a clinical background. For the next few months, the EasyStand Blog will feature a blog post from Ginny monthly citing the evidence backing up each of the health benefits of standing.
Seven articles relating passive standing to bowel function and digestion were retrieved. Nine studied adults with spinal cord injury with one looking at residents in a nursing home. The Hoenig study is a shining example of clinical research that has meaning and immediate application. Ask anyone who has ever worked with patients who spend most of their day in bed and/or sitting, and they will tell you that as soon as these patients stand up, they “go”.
Hoenig was able to show eloquently with an ABA single case study design that passive standing decreased time needed for bowel care and increased bowel movements. Netz conducted an exercise group 5 day/wk for 30 min each. The participants, residents of the nursing home, used a passive standing device that placed their feet on the floor and allowed them to weight shift and move. The FIM reflected statistically significant improvement in sphincter control. Shields conducted an ingenious 2 year study in which an electronic monitor was placed in the subject’s standing wheelchair. The subject reported increased bowel motility with standing. The last four studies are survey studies. Dunn and Walter used the same data set as did Eng and Huston. The data was collected using non standardized and validated surveys that were sent to subjects who returned their stander warranty cards to the manufacturer. Two manufacturers participated and the researchers determined different criteria for which subjects to include in their study. Walter was able to show that positive bowel changes occurred after only 30 minutes of daily standing. The other three were able to document positive reports of the effects of standing on bowel function, digestion, decreased bowel care time and constipation.
Positive bowel changes occurred after only 30 minutes of daily standing.
When taken as a whole, this body of evidence supports the use of standing as a non-invasive treatment to maintain regular bowel function, decrease constipation and impaction, and decrease time spent in bowel care for adults with spinal cord injury.
Do you think standing has had a positive impact on your client’s bowel function or digestion? What have you noticed?
Read more blog posts from Ginny Paleg, PT
Can a Standing Program Improve Motor Skills?
Can a Standing Program Improve Hip Integrity?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
do you have a vendor in our area we are 33418, we are interested in your easystand,pricing and would like to see it. thanks
Hi Diane, to try an EasyStand, contact the rep in your area, which is MSL Associates at 877-827-0028. They have EasyStand samples for demonstrations, in-services, etc. If you have problems reaching them or have other questions, you can also call Altimate Medical directly (we are the manufacturer of the EasyStand) at 800-342-8968. Thanks and good luck!
I am a physical therapist and love Easystand products. My only issue is that it is very difficult for Medicare and Medicaid pts. to purchase, because the base model is not always appropriate for them. Is there anyway that there could be a rent to purchase program, where pts. could rent one which could be bought over time? Private insurances may be reimbursing for these, but in Vermont, Medicare and Medicaid are not and the only pts. that get them are those who can afford to purchase them privately or who have fundraisers to purchase them. I have many pts. who could benefit from them. The local PT outpt. offices do not have them either, in Lamoille County.
were do I obtain a standing machine
All the information on our standing frames is available on our website, including a list of suppliers. Visit http://www.easystand.com/supplier-locator to locate suppliers in your area.