Sydney Morning Herald feature

The Sydney Morning Herald shines a light on the significant impact bowel disorders have on everyday life and the urgent need for greater awareness and access to care.

Highlighting Ins&Outs Amazing Gut and our mission to change that. By bringing hospital-grade bowel therapy into the home, we're making treatment more accessible and helping people get the care they need sooner.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-embarrassing-health-condition-that-stops-people-leaving-the-house-20260605-p604ca.html

Jenny Greer holds the new medical device which helps her manage a bowel disorder.

Excerpt from the article

At least one in four people live with a condition like Jenny Greer’s, but almost none of them talk about it and most don’t seek help.

The Campbelltown resident has lived with chronic constipation for decades, since the birth of her two sons in her late 20s. She is forced to schedule her life around a weekly laxative, which can leave her feeling nauseous and can “muck up a whole day” on the weekend.

Now, she’s trialling a new world-first bowel physiotherapy device developed by Western Sydney University clinical researcher Dr Jerry Zhou, named Ins&Outs. The device lets patients complete bowel physiotherapy at home and was recently awarded more than $1.3 million by the NSW Medical Devices Fund.

Dr Jerry Zhou said many patients see treatment as “inconvenient, uncomfortable” and “a bit embarrassing”

While functional bowel disorders don’t hold the same life-or-death stakes as cancer or diabetes, Zhou said they have a profound impact on the millions of Australians living with constipation and faecal incontinence: “Yes, they’re not life-threatening, but this really impacts quality of life.”

Zhou estimates only 1 per cent of Australians seek biofeedback physiotherapy treatment for bowel disorders. There is a long wait for a place at a handful of public hospital clinics that offer the treatment, and even at private physiotherapy practices, demand can be high.