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I see that Hi Tech Health who market this product in the UK have had the Australian equivalent of the ASA ban thier advertising and rule that they can no longer say it improves circulation. Here is the link http://www.tgacrp.com.au/index.cfm?p...l aintID=1596. I guess it will only be a matter of time before the UK follows ?
I have fresh informaion on this. I understand that the ASA in the UK will be making a ruling this comming week on whether Hi Tech Health are allowed to continue to sell the product on TV.
I'm advocating assessing the evidence for yourself, then make an informed opinion. It's helped my mother - that's my case - full stop...
I can't vouch for anyone else but in this kind of situation when the doctor won't help anymore because she's now in her seventies and her lack of mobility means that she now sits in front on the tv for hours without any movement at all. Her current medication for fluid retention does not alleviate the symptoms. This device does - that's it... I'm sure in years to come it will be prescribed on the NHS - same way tens is.. we need to find non drug answers if possible
anyone who is thinking of purchasing any medical device should do their homework thoroughly - that would be my advice. In the case of parkinsons which my mother has - her physio therapy has also helped - a think a combination of activities is the best - and a positive spirit because it's not only devasting for the person but the family around them too..
I hope this helps
They would not be looking a banning advertising in 2 separate countries if the company could back up their claims.
as an aside 007 snake oil salesman just does not have the same ring to it.
I was a little sceptical about these but i have had a few pts who have resorted to these circulation boosters and all have positive experiences to report, both with circulatory benefits and improvement of swelling, but interestingly i have had 1 pt who "feels" their neuropathic pain has improved.
Personally, the placebo effect may be just as powerful and i can only feel that as more get sold and possibly demand increases they will get cheaper !! may be next years xmas present or car boot item !!
I would like to say I purchased an Electro Flex machine and what a con it really is. Yes it does have CE certification, but as I have since found out every electrical device has that in the UK, including an electric toothbrush. You need to have a Class IIa medical certificate to be classed as a medical device - and the Electro - Flex machine does not have it.
Since finding this out it explained why I was feeling no improvement after using it. Thank goodness for the money back guarantee otherwise I would be stuck with this useless piece of equipment.
Now I have found out this bit of information, I have done my homework and even asked my Podiatrist in Kent what she makes of it all. She recommended the Circulation Booster. The one advertised on TV with Judith Chalmers. The company offers a money back guarantee as well. I have purchased one and will let you know what I think of it....has any one here tried the Circulation Booster? It does have the medical certificate and great reviews so hopefully this one will be better.
These issues are so difficult to see through, but like drug therapy the results and effects can be so idiosyncratic. I struggle to see the logic in prohibiting a company from claiming that TENS therapy may cause increased muscle action.....and that increased muscle action may improve lower limb fluid return, be it blood or other fluids. This does not seem like a very long bow to draw at all?? And yet when drugs don't work for a segment of the people they are prerscribed for nobody gets up in arms about that??
I have used one, you should see those foot and lower legs muscles jump and contract when you dial up the power level a bit. For someone who does little or no activity in a day I have no doubt it simulates some of the benefits of foot and lower leg function. Just exactly what and how much benefit is a completely different question. To buy one of these things is actually pretty cheap.......way less than 50 packets of cigarettes in Aus, and as an experiment to check for personal improvement it only costs about what two 10 minute appointmnets with a medical specialist.....who will probably only tell you that they can't help. I have no doubt whatever that for some people this kind of stimulation will result in feeling better.
regards Phill Carter
I work for High Tech Health and i hope you do not mind me invading your site.
We really care what people think of our Circulation Booster. We are also always looking at improvements.
We would be more than willing for you guys to have a few of the Boosters for you to assess for yourselves.
all that we ask in return is that if positive you can give us a review or testimonial. We will share the clinical evidence we have on it as well as talk to you about some more clinical trials that we are currently conducting.
It is a class2a medical device so we have already jumped thropugh a lot of hoops to get that status.
There are a lot of inferior copy cat devices that do not work and that cannot make the claims that we do.
We have more and more people in clinical settings such as TVN nurses, Physios etc recommending them and our philosophy is that it works and we are more than prepared to put our money where our mouth is and let you guys test them.
please private message me if you are interested in testing the devices for yourself. They work of EMS which is TENS technology which is widely accepted within clinical settings.
I work for High Tech Health and i hope you do not mind me invading your site.
Mat
You are welcome, like the representative from any company. Generally speaking, we more interested in 'science' than anecdotes and testimonials (in fact, generally, there is usually a very negative reaction to any product that relies on anecdotes and testimonials). Feel free to keep coming back and point us to any new research as it becomes available.
these things are totally bogus just like weight loss tea and all that other crap in the sunday supplements how come vascular depts arnt giving em to patients cos they dont work no double blind trials only a testimonial off ethel age 901 who says its a wonderfull life changing gadget she would be better buying a rampant rabbit far more satisfied users
The Following User Says Thank You to fishpod For This Useful Post:
I represent WeightWorld.co.uk, a weight loss/healthy living specialist online. I hope you don't mind me using this forum to talk to you about our circulation enhancer. As we continue to see high number of Podiatry Arena readers visit our website, I thought this may be of interest to you.
I wanted to let you know that we now have a new Electroflex Circulation Enhancer which I think is worth you knowing about. The new product was vigorously tested and is approved as a type IIa medical device, compliant with European Medical Device Directive 93/42 EEC. This means it is confirmed to be safe to use and to relieve the symptoms of poor blood circulation.
If you wish to find out more, please visit our website - <a href="http://www.weightworld.co.uk/electro-flex-circulation-enhancer.html?utm_source=Podiatry%2BArena&utm_medi um=Forum&utm_campaign=Podiatry%2BArena%2Bforum">El ectroFlex</a>
Might be worth checking out this UK vascular surgeon - his website is
Treatment of Varicose Veins at The Whiteley Clinic, Surrey UKThe Whiteley Clinic provides treatments and information on Varicose Veins Conditions. www.thewhiteleyclinic.co.uk/
I've seen him on the circulation booster website and he obviosuly knows what he's on about - he's a vascular surgeon
circulation booster is now available at lloyds pharmacy too - I've seen there adverts in the press - I've been using too and it good for cold feet - if you suffer from poor circulation..
here's a link to the research side - a clinical study by Kings College London - (I reckon they know what they're on about - don't you
go to circulation booster website:
The following Independent Clinical Study tested The Circulation Booster in reference to blood pooling in the lower limbs which was undertaken by:
Dr. David A Green*1, Dr. D Paul Sumners2 & Mr. Steve P Hunter2
1. Division of Applied Biomedical Research, Department of Physiology, King's College
London, Guys Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK.
2. London South Bank University, Sport and Exercise Science Research Centre, Faculty
of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment, 103 Borough Road, London, SE1
0AA, UK.
The following paper is titled:
Effect of percutaneous electrical stimulation of the sole upon lower limb blood pooling induced by protracted sitting in man.
To summarise the paper (PDF below).
"Following 10 minutes of electrical percutaneous stimulation of the soles there was no
significant pooling remaining at the level of the foot, sub calf and calf itself. Thus,
percutaneous sole stimulation was effective in ameliorating pooling induced by
prolonged quiet sitting."
This means, in plain english, that only after 10 minutes of using The Circulation Booster®, the participants demonstrated that swelling and fluid retention in the lower limbs was significantly reduced. This means that The Circulation Booster® increases blood circulation.
Intersting to note that Hi Tech who marfket this product have just has thier other main product banned by the ASA because they could not support the claims. Here is the link http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adj...ADJ_49779.aspx.
Also interesting to see that a cheaper product called Circulation Doctor is now on the market which has a Class 11 and medical trials which rather suggests the circulaton booster's price is somewhat inflated !
The ASA have just issued an adjudication on the Circulation Booster which concluded that it could not substantiate the claims made. I guess this concludes the conversation one and for all !
Yeah get asked by patients all the time re: circulation booster....
being a bit naive here, but doesnt this kind of products need their proclaimed benefits substantiated before market release otherwise they can only advertise it as 'may'
I have been thinking about this and reading all the scientific references on the website…all the references were about venous issues and not about approving the arterial circulation.
As I understand it, the Circulation Booster works by electrically stimulating the muscles to help the venous return pump. Going for a walk is going to stimulate them a lot more and be a lot better for you and will have added benefits like actually improve the arterial circulation, prevent osteoporosis, etc etc …. I just do not get it.
If this device encourages people to sit down and have the "circulation" stimulated, is it not then dangerous for public health in encouraging inactivity and increasing the risk for things like osteoporosis?
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The Following User Says Thank You to Craig Payne For This Useful Post:
Just registered here so I could post about this product.
I read through the document they have on the website and I have the following question/comment that someone might comment on if they get a chance to look through the doc.
The doc is here : http://www.circulationbooster.ie/med...ical-study.pdf
Figure 1 shows the protocol and this is what I have a problem with. Why have the subjects recieved 40mins of rest compared to 10mins of stimulation? If you look at Figure 2 you will see that the increase in volume with the Circulation Booster was ~30% of that without. So after 10 mins you get 30% of the pooling. So if this continues to 40min like the control static test would you get 30*4 = 120% of the static case?
i.e. is the circulation booster actually worse than nothing?
IKN, not sure I understand what you are saying ... but reading that paper throws up lots of issues:
1. It was written up in 2008. I did a medline search and it has not been published following peer review
2. Only 12 subjects; all healthy with no circulation problems
3. Nothing in the protocol is justified for its rationale (ie why 40mins?; why 10 mins; etc)
4. No control group, so we do not know if there was any placebo effect from a 'dummy' circulation booster
5. They used repeated t-tests for the analysis massively increasing the chance of a type 2 statistical error; thats very very bad and you can not trust any of the results just based on that alone
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
1. Yes, this looks like a journal paper, but doesn't seem to be one. Also, look at the stimulation applied in the other papers listed, they had completely different stimulation setups, I see no evidence to suggest this device is doing a comparable job.
2. All healthy subjects - as exploratory research its probably good to start with healthy subjects (first we do no harm) but clearly research with patients with circulation problems is necessary.
3. 40mins static vs 10 mins stimulation. This is my big problem - its not comparing like with like. After 40mins of sitting the subject had a certain level of pooling, after 10mins of stimulation they had ~30% of this pooling. So it begs the question, if the stimulation had been continued for a comparative 40mins would the pooling have been worse than just sitting i.e. 30% after 10 mins stimulation = 120% after 40 mins stimulation.
4. I suppose the subjects act as their own control, but perhaps the two conditions should have been randomly ordered?
5. Yes indeed, but these stats could be improved now.
I've owned one of these for a few years and it often gathers dust however I was told yesterday by my vascular specialist that I had chronic venous hypertension and venous insufficiency. Sometimes it's just too painful for me to get up and have a walk. I'm committed to giving the machine a serious go because I just need something other than compression stockings (in an aussie summer) to help. In the past I've found sporadic relief but I was never persistent so I'm going to try 3 times a day for a month and see if there is improvement. I have been researching on google however to see what vascular specialists thought of the machine and came across this thread.
The thing I found completely mind boggling is this. On the Australian site there is a tv ad with good old aussie swimmer Dawn Fraser endorsing this - in a very artificial stiff way however and the most amazing thing? She says 'let's have a look at what hundreds of thousands of users are saying' - quick shot over to a man saying how much it has helped him followed by a woman. Guess what? They are the owners of the company here in Australia!!! They didn't even go get video testimonials from bona fide customers!! I have to say even if the CB does help me I don't think much of the company and their marketing.
The reason I know it's the owners is there is a press release on the australian website with a pdf of a local paper article showing the same two people!!
The other point I thought I'd mention is that it is very interesting how there is no way for customers to give feedback via social media. No facebook/twitter/blog as far as I can see. Keeping themselves safe from comment is not a very transparent look. Neither is giving bogus testimonials on a television ad!!
cheers
ng.
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tell me it's not the same two people!! who looks after this sort of thing I wonder? Department of Fair Trade? I need to tell someone.....
Yes, it is embarrassing for the company. Those in the video providing the testimonial do appears to be the owners! As for it being legal or breaking any guidelines, it probably doesn't.
Yes, it is embarrassing for the company. Those in the video providing the testimonial do appears to be the owners! As for it being legal or breaking any guidelines, it probably doesn't.
Someone is on to it: mUmBrella is reporting: Circulation device ad features testimonials from close to home
Quote:
The Ad Standards Board has been asked to rule on whether it is acceptable for a circulation product to feature testimonials from people linked with ownership of the company.
Today I received an email from the UK owner of the company that distributes the booster. The owner asks me to remove an old scientific study for circulation booster from the FDUK forum saying the paper is out of date and copyright.
There is no copy of the study on footindiabetes.org - just a link to the Kings clinical study on the company's own website.
I can't give an opinion on the efficacy or otherwise of Circulation Booster because I can't find any solid research to guide me.
The owner also claims to have new research. I've asked to see it. If the company would post the new evidence here I'm sure it will get some attention.
Today I received an email from the UK owner of the company that distributes the booster. The owner asks me to remove an old scientific study for circulation booster from the FDUK forum saying the paper is out of date and copyright.
There is no copy of the study on footindiabetes.org - just a link to the Kings clinical study on the company's own website.
I can't give an opinion on the efficacy or otherwise of Circulation Booster because I can't find any solid research to guide me.
The owner also claims to have new research. I've asked to see it. If the company would post the new evidence here I'm sure it will get some attention.
There is nothing wrong with linking to research! They put it in the public domain in the first place! I hope you did not remove it!
On a related note, a blog post about the Circulation Booster on a site totally unrelated to us got an email from them (they forwarded it to me) claiming that the link that they had to this thread on Podiatry Arena was a breech of their trademark and asked that they remove the link! Fortunately the owner of that blog just told them that they will see them in court as it was nothing to do with trademark. They just did not like the publicity (do a google search for Circulation Booster and see where this thread ranks!)
The link is dead now (they must have since removed the pdf) so I've taken it off anyway.
I haven't received any papers on new research yet. Just an offerr to meet up but without any proper research available to me I can't justify any time spent on it.
My concern is over sustained use by people with neuropathic conditions, in particuler diabetes.
The reason being, that continued vibration (eg power tools, etc) can cause nerve damage and mononeuropathy. So people who report 2-3 hrs daily use of these devices are putting themselves at risk of further nerve damage.
Any ideas on this?
__________________
Duct tape is like The Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
I am new her and am not surprised by the comments. EMS has been used as a muscle stimulation. It was recommended for me for a sore upper back caused by whiplash.
Using it to attempt to mimic muscle contractions in the calf will work and it might increase blood flow out. This should cause an increase in arterial flow due to the pressure differential. However it should not work for anyone who has venous insufficiency due to weak vales in the veins. The study I read claimed the people studied were healthy subjects, implying they had good valves and normal circulation. The results would have been real but for healthy people only.
The ads I have seen are by older people none of which talk about poor circulation.
I am involved with a company which has developed a mechanical device which has been tested and is now approved for use in the USA, Canada and the EU. Due to forum restrictions I will not mention it by name, but if anyone wants to find out more they will have to email me. I know it works because my mother used one to help heal her diabetic ulcer after having lost her other leg to a similar wound. I am also on twitter
Curiously the Canadian Flag bearer , Simon Whitfield, saw someone wearing one and thought it would help him recover faster so he and some of his teammates will be using them at the Olympics.
Hope this link works. I query the muscle stimulation hypothesis, thinking more along the lines of electrical stimulation promoting tissue repair.
I have heard of Mr Whitely, mutual patients speak well of him and, as for the device, my patients speak well of that too.
Short term peripheral circ boost can be obtained pharmacologically......nicotinamide is sometimes prescribed for that, do you want long term or short term action? Anything that demonstrably achieved vasodilation is going to help isn't it? If this is achieved by electrical stimulation then why not? I think saying that if it worked then surgeons would promote it is very naive......how many orthopaedic surgeons actively promote soft tissue rehab via physio?.....plenty don't bother, does that mean its worthless?
regards Phill
As a T1D for 53 years now i developed numbness in my feet 25 years ago. It occurred during my running after about 2 km. Later I noticed the numbing during long hikes of over 4 miles. The sensation would resolve after about 15 minutes of rest, and recur at the same distance as I resumed running or hiking. My ENDO put it down to neuropathy and suggested there was little to be done about it.
I began taking 2 500mg tablets of Vit B3 Niacinthree just over 2 years ago to help with removing arterial plaque. Much to my surprise I discovered that the numbness I had been experiencing for hiking or running had completely disappeared. The only conclusion that I can make is that the numbness, pain and tingling is because the nerves were "falling asleep" due to a lack of oxygen; the same situation people get when they cut off circulation to their arms by laying on them .
It is well know that Niacin boosts the production of HDL, which in turn reduces the LDL. It has also been cliniclly shown to reduce the thickness of arterial plaque. The niacin flush can be eliminated by taking as little as 81 mg of asperin 30 minutes before taking the Niacing. In Canada Nicin costs $ 12 for 100 x 500 mgs. It is very cheap and just as effective as more expensive patented drugs and it has no effect on the liver as do many of the prescribed drugs.
Re: Circulation boosters, good or bad?
anyone who is thinking of purchasing any medical device should do their homework thoroughly - that would be my advice. In the case of parkinsons which my mother has - her physio therapy has also helped - a think a combination of activities is the best - and a positive spirit because it's not only devasting for the person but the family around them too..
Re: Circulation boosters, good or bad?
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