Emsella: ‘After baby number four, I was going to the bathroom 12 times a day or more’

“At the age of 36, I became pregnant with my fourth baby and suffered a difficult pregnancy. I suffered from PGP, otherwise known as ‘pelvic girdle pain’, and needed to use crutches towards the end of the pregnancy. My lower back and pelvic muscles took a beating and throughout that pregnancy and into the months after the birth I really struggled.”

Mum of four, Cliona, recalls that at the time she needed to go to the bathroom as many as 12 times a day. “Sometimes even more! I noticed my tolerance for caffeine had reduced significantly and although I didn’t suffer any leakage per se, I felt a dropping sensation regularly as though it could happen at any moment.” This resulted in a good deal of undue anxiety – “it’s fair to say I was completely consumed with it. I would be nervous about going on long journeys and was always looking for the next loo.”

After trying a series of physio sessions Cliona was still not satisfied and so was keen to try Emsella. “I heard Emsella promised 11,000 Kegels in half an hour and was really keen to give it a try.”

Magic waves
“Arriving at the Beacon Face & Dermatology Clinic, I immediately felt at ease, as the team of women working there were exceptionally warm and welcoming. It’s not every day you go for a treatment for your pelvic floor and so there’s a certain vulnerability about embarking on such a journey.

“Walking into the treatment room, the first thing I saw was a chair that resembled a closed-over toilet with two big armrests. Still fully dressed, I was instructed that my only job was to sit myself and my birthing zone right over the seat of the chair and relax. Once you’re seated on the chair, you feel a tapping sensation, which is a prelude to the magnetic waves that follow and work their magic. The tapping and the waves come alternatively throughout the session and it’s the magnetic waves that cause everything to contract and relax. You can go from 0 to 100 percent intensity, with 100 percent giving you the best results. It is a total mind-over matter-scenario in that if you can handle 70 percent you can absolutely handle 100! If you’re feeling a bit of a tug down there, it’s working!”

The science
“When I asked how it worked, the team explained that the Emsella chair uses HIFEM (high-intensity focused electromagnetic) frequencies to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles, causing them to contract and release, in the same way as standard Kegel exercises do – one 28-minute session on the chair is equivalent to no less than 11,000 Kegels. The waves pulsate in different patterns throughout the session to give the muscles a well-rounded workout.”

Back on the jogging track
“After the course, I definitely noticed a difference in my toilet habits. Things felt generally, not as low, for want of a better explanation. I was going to the bathroom less, and from that my confidence was restored and my day-to-day experience was not nearly as stressful as it had been. I also began jogging again minus the overwhelming anxiety, which was a huge plus for me!

It’s helpful to know also that although six treatments, booked close together, are recommended as a course, you will usually be offered one or two more to get you over the line of feeling yourself again. Each person is different and can require more than six to feel the full effects. In saying that I noticed mine at about the 5th session but was happy to take as many sessions as I could.”

Would you recommend it to a friend?
“Absolutely! I’ve recommended it to two already. One of whom had stress incontinence and is now happily back running after trying the treatment. The other is yet to try it out. I would say, that most of us busy mums probably don’t make time to focus on our Kegels in the way that we probably should. This is one way of showing yourself a bit of “self-care” after bringing those little lives into the world.”

What you need to know
Contact beaconfaceanddermatology.ie to book an appointment, or tel: (01) 213 6220.

Photography by Unsplash.