LITTLE CURRENT—The Edgewater Pharmachoice pharmacy is offering surgery and injury patients a cool new healing tool that promises to improve recovery times by as much as two weeks: the Aircast Cryo/Cuff.
“We’ve had this product available for about six months. A gentleman brought this to our attention when he was going in for an operation, we sourced the product and he was thrilled with the result,” says Kelli Hobbs, manager of Edgewater Pharmachoice in Little Current.
The pharmacy offers rentals of the motorized unit which provides cold and compression therapy. A cooler holds ice-cold water and its built-in circulation pump ensures a fresh, cold water supply circulates through the system. Tubes from the unit connect to a wrap that’s similar to a blood pressure cuff which gets wrapped around the problem area.
It’s important to note that the item for rent is only the motorized cooler unit—not a complete system. For hygiene reasons, patients looking to use the machine must purchase their own cuffs that can be attached to the cooler.
“We have all the braces in stock and, if needed, we’ll gladly get more coolers in. We’re happy to support whatever this community and the Island needs,” says Ms. Hobbs.
“From the couple of people I’ve talked to, it’s reduced recovery time by a minimum of two weeks, which is incredible,” she adds.
One of the firm believers in the benefits of Cryo/Cuff therapy is nurse and retired midwife Mary Buie, who recently underwent minor knee surgery to repair her meniscus. The procedure involved scraping out the torn parts from within her knee, a relatively minor operation compared to a total knee replacement. She says she figures the Cryo/Cuff reduced her recovery time by two to three weeks.
“My daughter Jen is a physiotherapist; she suggested Cryo/Cuff therapy would be very helpful. I had never heard of it before in my life,” says Ms. Buie.
She says the prospect of the Cryo/Cuff was intriguing so she contacted the physiotherapy department at the Little Current hospital about how far she might have to travel in order to find the equipment. They told her that Edgewater Pharmachoice had recently begun offering rentals of the system.
“I thought, good heavens, that’s just absolutely incredible that it was a pharmacy in Little Current,” says Ms. Buie.
She went into the pharmacy to get fitted for her cuff and to purchase the right size for her knee. She walked out with the rental machine in hand, which costs $20 per month. The cuffs themselves can be rather expensive, with some sizes running well over $100.
“This is very efficient because it goes all the way around and fits like a blood pressure cuff,” says Ms. Buie. “To begin with, I used it every two to three hours after surgery for a day or two. It helps recovery and makes inflammation and swelling go down.”
She adds that she slowly “weaned herself off it” after about a month. Standing put a lot of strain on her knees after surgery and soon she was just using it for short-term relief from when her knee started to bother her.
“It feels very good after doing your exercises and it can reduce the rehab time after surgery,” says Ms. Buie. “I would thoroughly recommend it. It’s a more efficient way of using ice and it really works. Having this is good for Manitoulin and good for Little Current.”
Manitoulin Physio clinic director Derek Debassige says the tool has proven useful and fits in well with recovery strategies.
“Studies have shown patients report less post-operative pain using cold compression devices such as the Cryo/Cuff. Effective pain and swelling control is an important part of a good rehabilitation plan,” he says.
The Expositor has contacted other pharmacies on the Island but has not found any other locations that offer Cryo/Cuff rentals.
