Do your current intermittent catheters leave behind a mess or make you feel sticky after using them? Are they difficult to lubricate? Do you encounter friction during cathing and wish you had a more comfortable catheter option? You may want to learn about FeelClean Technology™ and how it may aid in a cleaner, more comfortable catheterization.
What is FeelClean Technology™?
So, what exactly is FeelClean Technology™? This unique technology can only be found in GentleCath™ Glide hydrophilic catheters.
Many catheter manufacturers today create hydrophilic catheters by dipping them into a coating and leaving them to cure. This coating then adheres to the outside of the catheter tube. This works well enough, although this may make the catheter more prone to drying or getting sticky.
However, GentleCath™ Glide catheters are different. Glide catheters have their hydrophilic (water-friendly) properties embedded within the actual material of each catheter.
This ultimately aids a faster, cleaner, and more comfortable cathing experience for many catheter users.
Benefits of GentleCath™ Catheters with FeelClean Technology™
PVP-free
GentleCath™ Glide catheters are the only hydrophilic catheters not made with PVP, a glue that is often used in manufacturing that can make catheters sticky when they dry out.
No sticking
As PVP-coated hydrophilic coated catheters dry, they can become sticky, which makes removal uncomfortable.
GentleCath™ catheters made with FeelClean Technology™ cause 30% less damage to the urethra on withdrawal compared to the leading PVP-coated hydrophilic catheters.*
Minimal mess and residue
Because FeelClean Technology™ locks in the hydrophilic properties and doesn’t require a coating, users can enjoy more comfort without the unpleasant mess or residue associated with coated catheters.
How Can Catheters with FeelClean Technology™ Benefit Me?
Some of the common problems that people have with their current hydrophilic-coated catheters may include the following:
- Feeling messy
- Taking too long to soak and activate
- Feeling sticky or drying out quickly
- A painful or uncomfortable catheterization experience
GentleCath™ Glide catheters, made with FeelClean Technology™, directly address many common cathing issues.
Instant Hydrophilic Activation
First, many hydrophilic-coated catheters need to be soaked before use. This can be anywhere from 15 seconds to a full minute of waiting.
However, when using GentleCath™ Glide catheters, you only have to break the included water packet. When water touches a catheter with FeelClean Technology™, it’s ready to use immediately.
Less Mess and Residue
Because FeelClean Technology™ is a part of the catheter, not just a coating, this helps reduce the residuals and mess often left behind by cathing.
In fact, in in vitro testing, the GentleCath™ Glide catheters had less residue than competing products.
What does this mean for you? Less residue, stains, or mess on your hands, body, and clothes.
No Stickiness and No Drying Out
Have you ever used a hydrophilic catheter that dries out while using it? That doesn’t happen when you use a GentleCath™ Glide Catheter made with FeelClean Technology™.
Glide catheters don’t dry out during use or get sticky. The GentleCath™ Glide catheter is designed to help reduce discomfort, bleeding, and the risk of urinary tract infections**.
What Catheters Are Available with FeelClean Technology™?
Using catheters isn’t something you choose to do, right? You do it because you have to stay healthy. So cathing should never feel painful, sticky, inconvenient, or messy.
If you’re ready to try a catheter with FeelClean Technology™, you may wonder what’s available.
180 Medical is proud to carry the entire GentleCath™ catheter line from Convatec.
This includes the GentleCath™ Glide Female Length Hydrophilic Catheter. It’s ideal for women who use catheters at 6 inches. Plus, it comes in a range of French sizes small enough to work for female children and adolescents, too.
For men or anyone who caths, you may prefer the male-length version of the GentleCath™ Glide Straight Hydrophilic Catheter. At 16 inches long, it offers plenty of length for manipulation and flexibility. Children who need pediatric-sized catheters with French sizes starting at 8 Fr or above can also use the GentleCath™ Glide in male (unisex) length.
Additionally, 180 Medical carries an option for those who have difficulty passing a standard straight tip catheter. If you need a comfortable coudé catheter, try the GentleCath™ Glide Coudé Catheter, which is also available in male/unisex length.
Where Can I Get GentleCath™ Catheters?
From our beginnings, 180 Medical has specialized in catheter supplies. As a company founded by Todd Brown, a real catheter user living with a spinal cord injury, we understand and emphasize the importance of being able to choose the catheter brand that best suits each person’s individual needs and preferences.
That’s why we carry one of the widest varieties of catheter brands and types in our inventory, including the popular GentleCath™ catheter line.
If you’d like to try a free sample of GentleCath™ Glide or any one of the many other high-quality catheter products we carry, we encourage you to reach out and contact us.
Our Catheter Specialists are ready to help you find the products that can turn your quality of life around.
* Reference: 1. Burns, J, Pollard, D, Ali, A, McCoy, CP, Carson, L & Wylie, MP 2024 ‘Comparing an integrated amphiphilic surfectant to traditional hydrophilic coatings for the reduction of catheter-associated urethral microtrauma’, ACS Omega. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c02109
** 2. Pollard D, Allen D, Irwin NJ, Moore JV, McClelland N, McCoy CP. ‘Evaluation of an Integrated Amphiphilic Surfectant as an Alternative to Traditional Polyvinylpurrolidone Coatings for Hydrophilc Intermittent Catheters. Biotribology. 2022;32 (Dec 2022): 100223.
