What You Will Find in This Article
What Is the Pelvic Floor and Why Does It Matter?
The pelvic floor is a layered group of muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues that form the base of your pelvis. Think of it as a muscular hammock stretching from your tailbone at the back to your pubic bone at the front.
These muscles carry significant responsibilities every single day. They support your bladder, bowel, and uterus or prostate. They control when you urinate and when you have a bowel movement. They stabilize your spine and pelvis during movement, and they play an important role in sexual function and sensation.
When the pelvic floor is functioning well, you do not notice it. When it is not, the impact on your quality of life can be profound, affecting your confidence, comfort, relationships, and even your ability to exercise or work without worry.
What Causes Pelvic Floor Problems?
Pelvic floor dysfunction does not have a single cause. It develops gradually, often from a com bination of factors, and can affect people at any stage of life.
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Carrying a baby places sustained downward pressure on the pelvic floor for nine months. Vaginal delivery, especially with prolonged pushing or tearing, can overstretch and damage the muscles and nerves that support th
e pelvic floor. Many women notice symptoms like leaking or prolapse months or even years after giving birth.
Menopause and Hormonal Changes
Estrogen helps maintain the tone, elasticity, and strength of pelvic tissues. As estrogen levels decline during perimenopause and menopause, these tissues become thinner and weaker. This is why pelvic floor symptoms often intensify or appear for the first time in a woman’s forties and fifties.
Prostate Surgery or
Treatment
Men who have undergone surgery or radiation for prostate cancer, or procedures to address benign prostate enlargement, frequently experience urinary incontinence and pelvic muscle weakness as a result. Strengthening the pelvic floor is a standard and highly effective part of recovery.
Age-Related Muscle Loss
Like all muscles, the pelvic floor weakens with age if it is not actively maintained. The natural loss of muscle mass and connective tissue elasticity over time contributes to incontinence, urgency, and reduced sexual function in both men and women.
High-Impact Sport and Overtraining
Runners, CrossFit athletes, gymnasts, and others who perform high-impact or heavy-load exercise repeatedly place downward force on the pelvic floor. Over time, this chronic pressure can exhaust and weaken the muscles, leading to symptoms that seem out of place in an otherwise fit and active person.
Chronic Straining and Constipation
Regularly straini
ng during bowel movements puts consistent pressure on the pelvic floor structures. Over years, this can contribute to muscle weakness and pelvic organ prolapse.
Sedentary Lifestyle and Poor Posture
Prolonged sitting, slouching, and core disengagement all contribute to a pelvic floor that is underactivated and gradually weakens. Many office workers and those with desk-based jobs notice pelvic floor symptoms with
out understanding why.
Recognizing the Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Symptoms vary depending on whether the pelvic floor is too weak, too tight, or uncoordinated. The most common signs include:
Bladder and Urinary Symptoms
Leaking urine when you sneeze, cough, laugh, jump, or lift something heavy A sudden, intense urge to urinate that is hard to hold back Frequent urination, including getting up at night Feeling like your bladder never fully empties Stopping and starting during urination
Bowel Symptoms
Difficulty con Straining or incomplete emptying A sense of heaviness or pressure in the rectum
Pelvic Pain and Pressure
A dragging, heavy sensation in the lower pelvis Lower back pain that does not respond to typical treatment Pelvic pain that worsens with sitting, standing, or exercise
Sexual Symptoms
Pain or discomfort during intercourse Reduced sensation during intimacy Difficulty reaching orgasm For men: difficulty with erection or ejaculation control
If any of these symptoms sound familiar, you are not alone. Studies suggest that one in three women experience pelvic floor dysfunction at some point in their lives, yet the majority never seek treatment because they assume it is simply a normal part of aging. It is not. It is treatable.
How Pelvic Floor Problems Affect Daily Life
The practical impact of pelvic floor dysfunction reaches far beyond physical symptoms. Many people quietly reorganize their lives around their condition without realizing it.
Avoiding exercise, sports, or physical activity for fear of leakage Planning every outing around bathroom locations Wearing pads or protective underwear daily Avoiding social events, travel, or situations that are hard to leave quickly Withdrawing from intimacy due to discomfort, embarrassment, or reduced sensation Experiencing anxiety, low mood, or a reduced sense of confidence and self-worth
These are not small inconveniences. They represent a real reduction in the quality of life that patients deserve to get back, and modern treatment makes that possible.
Ways to Fix Pelvic Floor Issues: From Home Exercises to Advanced Treatment
There is no single fix for pelvic floor dysfunction, but there is a clear spectrum of options ranging from self-directed exercises to professional in-clinic treatment. The right approach depends on your specific symptoms, their severity, and how much support you need.
1. Kegel Exercises
Kegel exercises involve voluntarily contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles to build strength over time. When done correctly and consistently, they can meaningfully improve mild to moderate stress incontinence.
The challenge is that Kegels have significant limitations. Many people are unable to correctly identify and isolate their pelvic floor muscles, meaning they practise the exercise without actually engaging the right muscles. Progress is slow, requiring months of daily consistency, and Kegels are difficult to maintain long-term without visible feedback or motivation.
2. Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy
A trained pelvic floor physiotherapist can assess the specific nature of your dysfunction: whether the muscles are too weak, too tight, or uncoordinated, and design a personalized exercise program. Physiotherapy may include manual techniques, biofeedback, and bladder retraining strategies. However, patients must be committed to attending regular sessions over several weeks or months.
3. Lifestyle and Dietary Changes
Certain habits can significantly worsen pelvic floor symptoms. Reducing caffeine and alcohol, increasing dietary fibre, managing body weight, avoiding heavy lifting with poor technique, and improving posture all contribute to better pelvic floor function over time.
4. Bladder Training
Bladder training is a behavioural technique that involves gradually increasing the time between bathroom visits to re-educate the bladder and reduce urgency. While it is effective for overactive bladder and urgency incontinence, it does not treat the root cause and should be used alongside other treatments.
5. Medications
Several medications can reduce bladder overactivity and urgency, helping to manage urge incontinence. While they can provide symptomatic relief, they do not address the underlying muscle weakness and
often come with side effects such as dry mouth, constipation, and cognitive changes in older adults.
6. Pessaries and Supportive Devices
A pessary is a silicone device inserted into the vagina to provide mechanical support for the bladder or uterus in cases of mild prolapse. It is an option for women who are not ready for surgery or who are not good surgical candidates, though it requires ongoing management and fitting adjustments.
7. The Pelvic Floor Chair (HIFEM Treatment)
The pelvic floor chair, most commonly the Emsella Chair, is a Health Canada and FDA-approved non-invasive treatment that uses High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology to trigger thousands of deep, powerful pelvic floor contractions in a single seated session. It delivers results comparable to months of Kegel exercises in just a few 28-minute appointments.
This is covered in depth in the next section.
8. Surgery
Surgical options, such as mid-urethral sling procedures for stress incontinence or surgical repair for pelvic organ prolapse, are typically reserved for severe cases that have not responded to conservative treatment. Surgery comes with meaningful risks and a recovery period, and is generally not the first choice for patients who have not yet tried non-invasive options.
What Is the Pelvic Floor Chair?
The pelvic floor chair is a revolutionary non-surgical treatment device for pelvic floor rehabilitation. You sit fully clothed in a specialized chair while it delivers focused electromagnetic energy deep into your pelvic floor muscles. This means no undressing, no internal devices, no needles, and no downtime.
A single 28-minute session on the pelvic floor chair triggers over 11,000 deep pelvic floor muscle contractions — the equivalent of thousands of perfectly performed Kegels done in one sitting.
How It Works
The chair uses HIFEM technology, the same technology used in body contouring devices, but focused specifically on the pelvic floor. The electromagnetic pulses penetrate through clothing and skin to reach the deep pelvic muscle layers directly.
These pulses cause what are called supramaximal contractions: contractions that are far more powerful than anything the brain can voluntarily produce. This intensity forces the muscles to work, fatigue, and rebuild at an accelerated rate, while also re-educating the neuromuscular pathways between the brain and the pelvic floor.
For people who have never been able to feel or engage their pelvic floor, this re-education component is often the most transformative part of treatment.
What Does It Feel Like?
Most patients describe a firm tingling or pulsing sensation and an awareness of their muscles contracting rhythmically. It is not painful, and intensity can be adjusted to your comfort level. Many clients read, check their phone, or simply relax during the session. You walk in, sit for 28 minutes, and walk out ready to continue your day with no restrictions.
How Many Sessions Are Needed?
A standard course of treatment is six sessions, typically scheduled twice per week over three weeks. Many patients notice improvements in bladder control within the first two to three sessions, with continued improvement following the completion of the full course. Maintenance sessions can be scheduled periodically to sustain results.
Pelvic Floor Chair vs. Surgery: Why More Patients Are Choosing Non-Invasive Care
For patients with significant pelvic floor dysfunction, surgery has historically been presented as the most reliable long-term solution. But the landscape has changed, and many patients no longer need to undergo such an invasive procedure. The pelvic floor chair offers a compelling alternative and in many cases, a superior one. Here is an honest comparison.
No Surgical Risks
Every surgical procedure carries risks: anaesthetic reactions, infection, bleeding, nerve damage, and complications specific to pelvic surgery, such as mesh erosion, urinary retention, and inadvertent injury to surrounding structures. These risks are not hypothetical, they are well-documented in the medical literature.
The pelvic floor chair carries none of these risks. It is non-invasive, requires no incision, and has an excellent safety profile with no serious adverse events in clinical studies.
No Anaesthesia Required
Pelvic floor surgeries are performed under general or regional anaesthesia, which carries its own set of risks, particularly for older patients, those with cardiovascular conditions, or anyone with a history of anaesthetic sensitivity. The pelvic floor chair requires nothing of the sort. You arrive, sit, and leave.
No Recovery Period
Surgical procedures for stress incontinence or prolapse typically require four to six weeks of restricted activity during recovery. Patients are advised to avoid lifting, exercise, driving, and sexual activity during this period. Many take time off work.
After a pelvic floor chair session, you face zero restrictions. You can return to all normal activities immediately, including work, exercise, and daily responsibilities, with no recovery time at all.
No Hospitalisation
Surgery requires hospital admission, theatre time, nursing care, and post-operative monitoring. The pelvic floor chair is an outpatient treatment performed in a clinic setting in under 30 minutes per visit.
Comparable and in Some Cases Superior Results
Clinical studies on HIFEM pelvic floor treatment have shown significant improvements in incontinence severity, quality of life scores, and patient satisfaction. A majority of patients report a meaningful reduction in leakage episodes, and many achieve full continence following a standard course of treatment.
For mild to moderate stress and urge incontinence, the pelvic floor chair consistently delivers results that match or exceed surgical outcomes, all without the risks, recovery, or cost associated with an operating room procedure.
It Is Reversible and Repeatable
Surgery, particularly procedures involving mesh or permanent sutures, creates changes that are not easily reversed if complications arise or if you change your mind. Whereas pelvic floor chair treatment simply strengthens existing muscles and can be repeated or topped up as your needs change over time.
It Addresses the Root Cause
Surgery for incontinence typically works by repositioning or supporting structures that have prolapsed or lost integrity. It does not rebuild the pelvic floor muscles themselves. The pelvic floor chair, by contrast, directly strengthens the muscle tissue and addresses the underlying cause of weakness rather than compensating for it mechanically.
Less Psychological Burden
Many patients feel significant anxiety about surgical procedures, post-operative pain, and the uncertainty of recovery. The pelvic floor chair removes this psychological burden entirely. The treatment is straightforward, predictable, and comfortable from the very first session.
For our patients who want lasting results without the risks, downtime, or stress of surgery, the pelvic floor chair represents one of the most significant advances in pelvic health treatment available today.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Pelvic Floor Chair Treatment in Barrie?
The pelvic floor chair is appropriate for a wide range of patients. You may be a good candidate if you:
Experience stress urinary incontinence: leaking when you sneeze, cough, laugh, or exercise Have urge incontinence or overactive bladder Are postpartum and experiencing pelvic floor weakness Are going through or have completed menopause and noticing new symptoms Are recovering from prostate surgery Want to improve intimate wellness and sexual sensation Have tried Kegel exercises without satisfying results Want to avoid or delay surgery Are looking for a comfortable, convenient treatment that fits around your schedule
The treatment is not recommended for patients who are pregnant, have a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device, have metal implants in the pelvic region, or are currently experiencing active infection or inflammation in the treatment area. A consultation at Simcoe Cosmetic Clinic in Barrie will confirm whether it is right for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the pelvic floor chair painful?
No. Most patients describe the sensation as firm and unusual rather than painful. The electromagnetic pulses cause noticeable muscle contractions, but the experience is well-tolerated. Intensity is adjustable from the very first session.
How many sessions will I need?
The standard protocol is six sessions over three weeks. Your provider at Simcoe Cosmetic Clinic will recommend a schedule based on your individual symptoms and goals.
When will I start to see results?
Many patients notice improvements in bladder control after two to three sessions. The full benefit is typically felt two to four weeks after completing the course of treatment, as the muscles continue to rebuild and strengthen.
Do I need to undress?
No. Treatment is performed fully clothed. You simply sit in the chair for the duration of the session.
Is pelvic floor chair treatment available for men?
Yes. The treatment is effective for men experiencing urinary incontinence, particularly following prostate surgery, as well as for men seeking to improve intimate wellness and pelvic stability.
How does it compare to doing Kegel exercises at home?
A single 28-minute session delivers over 11,000 supramaximal contractions, far beyond what voluntary Kegel exercises can achieve. For many patients, six sessions produce results equivalent to months of consistent, correctly performed Kegels, and without the challenge of isolating the right muscles.
Is it safe?
Yes. The technology has been approved by Health Canada and the FDA. Clinical studies have demonstrated a strong safety profile with no serious adverse events. It is non-invasive and does not involve any internal components.
Where can I get pelvic floor chair treatment in Barrie?
Simcoe Cosmetic Clinic in Barrie offers pelvic floor chair treatment as part of a comprehensive wellness program. To find out whether treatment is right for you, book a consultation with our team today.
