What is Functional Electromagnetic Stimulation for Pelvic Floor
Can sitting on a chair reduce your stress incontinence? There are number of ‘chairs’ coming on the market that aim to strengthen the pelvic floor and reduce stress urinary incontinence. One is the BTL EMSELLA and another is from TeslaFormer. Both are chairs that you sit of which stimulate the pelvic floor to contract between 20000 and 50000 times in 30 minutes – depending on the brand. The result is improved pelvic floor strength, improved sensation and reduced stress incontinence.
How does it work?
These devices use electromagnetic energy to stimulate the deep pelvic floor muscle to contract multiple times – without having to take your clothes off.
What does it do?
Each session brings thousands of Kegel-like contractions which help you train your muscles without any effort on your part. It is useful for:
- People suffering from urinary incontinence following childbirth or as a result of ageing or menopause
- Women with decreased intimate satisfaction.
Is there any downtime?
This is a non-invasive treatment and there is no downtime. Treatments are painless and can be done fully clothed. For a day or so afterwards you may feel like you have had a strenuous workout.
What results can I expect?
You can expect increased muscle strength in the pelvic floor region and core body strength as well with the TeslaFormer chair. Results can be felt after the first session and continue to build as the sessions progress.
BTL Research shows that 95% of incontinent patients reported significant improvement in day-to-day life and 85% improvement was observed in overall intimate satisfaction.
How many treatments will I need?
Treatments are most effective when performed two-to-three times a week. Each session takes 30-minutes. While you may see an improvement after one session it is recommended that you have a minimum of four treatments and as many as ten. To maintain results, you may need one session every month.
People with strong existing muscles will build faster with less sessions required. If there is more subcutaneous fat in area and muscles are weak, more sessions may be required.
Who can’t have it?
This treatment is not suitable for women who:
- are pregnant
- have been diagnosed with cancer
- have a metal implant or IUD (a mirena coil is ok as it is made out of plastic)
- have a cardiac pacemaker or medication pump
- have endometriosis or open wounds near the site of treatment
- are under 18
- have a BMI above 25
- have a cardiac condition.
How much does it cost?
You can expect to pay upwards of £300 per session or £2000 or more for an 8 session course.
Is it worth it?
These are relatively new technologies and the clinical data is based on a small number of trials with a small number of participants. That said the authors of one meta-analysis showed it was a promising and safe technology.
Editor’s note: I have had one session on the TelsaFormer and noticed a considerable improvement in reduced stress incontinence.
