Can Emsella Make Prolapse Worse?
Doing your research on Emesella and wondering how it will work for you if you have a prolapse diagnosis?
Let's chat!
What Is Emsella and How Does It Work?
Emsella is a non-invasive medical device that uses high intensity electromagnetic technology to stimulate deep muscle contractions of the pelvic floor.
Effectively, it works to "strengthen" your pelvic floor while you sit on it.
Read all of my thoughts on the Emsella as a pelvic therapist here.
What Is Pelvic Organ Prolapse?
Pelvic organ prolapse is when the organs that sit in the pelvic floor (the bladder, uterus, bowel) sit lower in the pelvic cavity and then push into the walls of the vagina.
This can cause a patient to feel or see a visible bulge, or feel pelvic pressure or heaviness in the pelvic region.
Prolapse is a dysfunction of the pelvic ligaments in combination with poor support from the pelvic floor and core muscles.
How Does the Emsella Chair Treatment Affects the Pelvic Floor?
Emsella causes the pelvic floor to contract thousands of times over the course of 30 minutes while you are sitting on the Emsella chair. Most people would know these pelvic floor contractions as Kegel exercises.
While this sounds like it could help pelvic floor concerns, especially prolapse, treatment for prolapse is a lot more complex that just stimulating the pelvic floor muscles over and over!
First, nobody needs to do thousands of contractions of any muscle. This can lead to painful muscle spasms, which can cause significant discomfort for the patient.
In addition, saying that someone with prolapse just needs more pelvic floor muscle contractions is an over simplification of the diagnosis and places everyone inside of one box: your muscles are weak.
Prolapse has a lot to do with ligament support, in addition to pelvic floor muscle support.
Patients with prolapse also have to learn to use their core properly, as well as how to manage pressure. It's not just about weakened pelvic floor muscles.
Managing pressure means the ability to manage the downward pressure that gets placed on the pelvic floor during activities such as cough, sneezing, jumping, and running.
Unfortunately, the Emsella only works on pelvic floor muscle contractions, but doesn’t tie in the rest of how the body works as a functioning system.
So this effectively means that the treatment will not address the root cause of the issue and provide long term relief as well as an actual improvement in quality of life.
Can Emsella Worsen Prolapse Symptoms?
This is a complicated question.
Emsella won’t make a prolapse worse, but it can make the symptoms of prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction worse.
In other words, Emsella won’t worsen the anatomy of the pelvic organs. However, symptoms of pelvic floor spasms and pelvic floor muscle tightness can mimic symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (pelvic pain, stress urinary incontinence, heaviness, etc.)
So, no, you won’t make the actual prolapse worse.
However, your symptoms might not improve, or might worsen.
Who Should Avoid Emsella
If you are someone that has a history of pelvic floor muscle tightness, spasms, or concerns like constipation, painful intercourse, or have a history of vaginismus, we typically would not advise that you do kegels, let alone thousands of them like Emsella promises.
I know that a lot of folks we work with aren't sure if they have a weak or tight pelvic floor, and that makes sense. So if I'm being honest with you, I'd say that an evaluation with a pelvic floor physical therapist can go a long way before you start this type of treatment.
What to Do Instead of Emsella
Seek out pelvic floor physical therapy!
You need to find a pelvic therapist that is going to look at your pelvic floor with a full body approach.
One that considers how other body parts like your core, hips, back, ribs, and more.
Also, we need to consider factors like stress, lifestyle factors, hormones, sleep patterns, physical activity, and how all of that plays a role in your symptoms.
Prolapse is more complex that a simple pelvic floor muscle problem.
Seeing a hands on expert is the way to go!
How to Get Started With Pelvic Floor Therapy for Prolapse
At Vivid Women’s Health, we offer a blend of pelvic floor therapy and pilates-based treatment in Doylestown and Newtown and would love to help you address your prolapse symptoms.
We proudly put our patients first by offering one-on-one appointments for a full hour. You will have time to be heard and we will take time to listen to your whole story.
You won’t be passed between different professionals, and we will work to get you a holistic solution to your pelvic health concerns.
We choose to participate in a private pay model so that we can focus on putting patients first.
We’d love to work with you. Feel free to schedule online or reach out to us if you have questions before getting started.
