If I made you guess what kind of chair this is, you would probably never get it right, so I’m going to let you in on a little secret. This is not a fashion chair for the corner of your living room or a super fancy desk chair that helps your posture. This is not a bouncy yoga ball chair for workouts or a low-lying beach chair to work on that tan.
The Emsella Chair is a modern-day invention that improves urinary incontinence problems.
In other words, it improves your quality of life if you suffer from issues such as stress incontinence (leakage when coughing/jumping), overflow incontinence (full bladder with no sensation), frequency incontinence (feeling like you have to go all the time) and even getting up to pee a lot at night. And not only does it help these embarrassing problems, but it’s completely non-invasive! The best part is that it requires no surgery, no doctor fees, clothes stay on and only takes about six 30-minute sessions across three weeks. It’s practically magic while getting 30 more minutes of that book read!
Urinary incontinence and even minor leakage issues are one of those things we joke about but are too embarrassed to actually make known or public. If you are one of my fellow cross-legged sneezers, then read on!
After two vaginal births, a c-section including fallopian tube removal and then a partial hysterectomy, my nether regions have seen better days. My pelvic floor had lost all muscle and anything that required strain (coughing, sneezing, laughing, running, jumping) inevitably resulted in an underwear change. The thrill of removing all feminine products from my life after the hysterectomy was only a tease when I had to start wearing panty liners to remedy my newfound leakage concern.
Of all people to tell me about the Emsella Chair, it was my husband, who had previously worked in women’s health. After thinking six trips to the nearest chair in Nashville were in my future, I happily discovered there is one, and only one, here in East Tennessee at Shea Aesthetic in Oak Ridge.
It’s really as simple as sitting on a chair with a good book. It takes a little getting used to as the “zap” feels intense at first, but it’s really just magnetic pulses. Just don’t play on your phone or iPad as the magnets could scramble your device. Each 30-minute visit is equivalent to doing over 10,000 Kegels. Ten thousand!!! I’m lucky if I remember to do ten every six months! A machine that can force me to do a combined 60,000 Kegels within a total of three hours is my kind of machine. Shortly after my 6th visit, I noticed I could do my workouts, laugh at a joke and choke on my water at a restaurant with little to no issues!
Some questions you may have:
- Is it pricey? Somewhat, but definitely way cheaper than any type of surgery. It’s about $300 per session.
- Is it covered by insurance? No, at least not yet.
- Does it hurt? No. It just takes getting used to. I definitely yelped with each pulse when I started, but it never hurt.
- Can you go fewer than six or more than six times? Yes. They recommend starting with six, but you pay per session, so you can go as little or as much as you want. They also have maintenance packages.
- Is it worth it? Yes. Even if it doesn’t fix your problem 100%, it significantly improves it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And if issues arise again for me, that may just happen!
