Author: Dr Teri Johnson

Stress incontinence is a common problem in women. Dr Teri Johnson spent 25 years as a GP in Middlewich, where women brought it to her regularly, particularly around the menopause as the pelvic floor muscles weaken. Cheshire Lasers offers this treatment because of what she saw in general practice.

Is there a machine that does pelvic floor exercises for you?

Yes — and most people do not realise it exists. Search for help with a weak pelvic floor and what comes up are gadgets to buy for home. There is a clinic version. You sit fully clothed on a chair for thirty minutes, and the treatment produces the equivalent of 15,000 Kegel exercises — far more effective and efficient than exercising on your own. There is nothing to insert, nothing to wear, and nothing to remember to do.

Is there a pelvic floor machine at the gym?

Not that we have come across. There is no ordinary gym equipment that trains the pelvic floor — it is not a muscle you can work by pushing against a weight — and we have not found one in any of the gyms we have used. These are clinic machines rather than gym equipment. Ours is at Cheshire Lasers in Middlewich.

Powerform V-Plus Pelvic Floor Treatment at Cheshire Lasers

Cheshire Lasers provides Powerform V-Plus chair treatments for strengthening and tightening the pelvic floor muscles. Treating the pelvic floor can help a variety of problems, the most common being stress incontinence.

The Benefits of Treatment:

What is Powerform V-Plus?

Powerform V-Plus is a powerful, revolutionary pelvic floor and core muscle toning treatment. It uses High-Intensity Focused Electro-Magnetic technology, which creates the equivalent of 15,000 Kegel exercises in a 30-minute treatment.

Powerform V  induces deep pelvic floor muscle contractions equivalent to 15,000 Kegel exercises in just 30 minutes.

The treatment targets the pelvic floor muscle directly and doesn’t require neuromuscular control; the muscle can contract far more than it would consciously, creating highly effective results that could not be achieved using manual Kegel exercise alone.

You may have heard of the Emsella chair. We use a Powerform V-Plus, which works in the same way, using high-intensity electromagnetic energy to contract the pelvic floor muscles far more strongly than you could on your own.

How does Powerform V-Plus Work?

The Powerform V-Plus creates electromagnetic energy fields which trigger the biological effect of exercise in a non-invasive, painless manner. The energy stimulates motor neurone pulses in 100% of the muscle fibre, significantly more than what would be possible in conventional pelvic floor and core muscle exercises.

The treatment engages the Mitochondria which burn off energy, which encourage the muscle to adapt to this increase in energy. The intense muscle contractions stimulate the muscles to create new protein strands and muscle fibres, resulting in increased muscle tone, strength, density and volume.

The treatment not only helps increase fat and calorie burning in the area treated, but it also improves the body’s metabolic rate. Another benefit to the treatment is a reduction in the amount of inflammation in that area of the body.

The overall result increase in:

• muscle tone
• strength
• volume
• density

Contra-indications:

At Cheshire Lasers we do not recommend a Powerform V-Plus treatment if you have the following:

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• Copper coil ( IUD)
• Pacemaker
• Implanted Defibrillator
• Reveal Device
• Active Cancer or undergoing Cancer treatment
• Large Metal Prosthetics near the treatment area
• Infection near the treatment area

You will need a medical assessment from our clinic doctor if you have the following conditions:

• Selected Cardiac or Vascular Diseases
• Thrombosis or Thrombophlebitis
• Prescribed Anti-coagulant medications
• Steroid medication
• Uncontrolled Blood Pressure
• Transplant patients
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Auto-immune Conditions / Immunosuppression
• Fragile Skin
• Skin Thinning medication

How many treatments will I need?

At Cheshire Lasers, we recommend a course of around eight Powerform V-Plus treatments to achieve results.

We recommend a treatment twice a week. It can be three times a week if you prefer, however, you must leave 48 hours between each treatment to allow the muscle to recover.

Would a course of Powerform V-Plus treatments suit me?

At Cheshire Lasers, we recommend Powerform V-Plus to strengthen and tighten the pelvic floor muscles.

The treatment can benefit a range of people and problems:

• Post-pregnancy to improve weakness in the pelvic floor and or abdominal wall muscles
• Weakness due to ageing – to help prolapse symptoms and or stress incontinence.
• Muscle weakness due to medical conditions where exercise is not possible.
• To help pelvic floor weakness problems when  pelvic floor physiotherapy and exercises have failed to help the problem

Is the treatment safe?

Yes! The Powerform treatment transmits consistent electromagnetic fields to the pelvic floor, triggering the biological effect of Kegel exercises in a non-invasive, painless manner.

How long does the treatment take?

Each treatment lasts 30 minutes, making sessions suitable for even the busiest of lifestyles!

What will I feel, and do I need to undress?

You stay fully clothed throughout. The treatment is completely pain-free but can sometimes feel a little uncomfortable — you simply sit on the Powerform V chair while it stimulates thousands of muscle contractions.

Why consider a Powerform V-Plus Pelvic Floor Treatment?

The current guidelines recommend pelvic floor muscle training as the first-line conservative treatment for stress incontinence and mild prolapses. Exercises need to be performed regularly every day and continued long-term to make a difference. Some people struggle to do the exercises due to a lack of time/commitment, whereas others have a poor, ineffective technique, so the exercises do not improve the problem.

To help with pelvic floor exercises, your GP can refer you to a physiotherapist who specialises in pelvic floor problems. They can advise you about technique and help you improve the efficiency of the exercises so they actually cause changes and improvement. Physiotherapists can also help you by using a biofeedback device to measure the strength of the pelvic floor muscle to help educate you when you are making strong contractions and also advise if the exercises are making a difference. They can also advise about vaginal cones. Some physiotherapists also use electrical stimulation to help the muscle contract and increase muscle tone.  Despite these interventions, some people still struggle to improve their pelvic floor strength and tone.

Powerform V-Plus targets the entire pelvic floor, unlike the electrical stimulation devices and unlike conscious pelvic floor exercises, which only target a small area of the pelvic floor.  A treatment session of 30 minutes is equivalent to 15,000 Kegel exercises, so each treatment leads to quicker and more dramatic muscle changes compared to any other treatment.

Does the treatment replace Kegel exercises?

Powerform treatment is considered more effective, as Kegel exercises cannot achieve the intensity or number of muscle contractions that the treatment achieves in a 30-minute session.

It is still recommended that you perform some exercises, especially after your course of treatment, so you can continue to maintain the strength and function of your pelvic floor. You can, however, book maintenance treatments if you prefer as an alternative.

What types of incontinence improve with Pelvic Floor Treatment?

Stress incontinence is the most likely to respond to pelvic floor treatment. Mixed incontinence can also improve to some extent.

What is stress incontinence?

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a condition in which there is an involuntary loss of urine on effort, physical exertion, sneezing or coughing. A weak pelvic floor most commonly causes this, hence why pelvic floor exercises are recommended.

How much is pelvic floor treatment?

The course price is simply eight treatments at the same price — there is no discount for booking them together, and nothing to sign up to. We would rather keep the price reasonable and let you pay as you go, so you can fit the treatments around a busy life and come back to it whenever it suits you.

Pelvic floor treatments are sometimes included in our special offers — see this month’s offers.

View all our pelvic floor treatment prices

How do I book a pelvic floor treatment?

Start by completing our consultation form. We go through it to check the treatment is suitable for you, then arrange a short telephone or video consultation to talk it through and book your first appointment.

You stay fully clothed for the treatment. Wear something light and comfortable — leggings rather than jeans — and avoid metal zips, belts and buckles.

Powerform Pelvic Floor Treatment Reviews

Feedback Received 1 week after 8th Treatment:

I have had a week pelvic floor and mild stress incontinence for years and this has got worse over time. I struggle to feel my pelvic floor and therefore find pelvic floor exercises impossible.  So I thought I would give the Powerform a try.
At first, I felt very little during the treatment and was concerned my muscles were past improvement. After a few treatments, I was more aware of my pelvic floor muscles and felt I could contract them slightly better than I could before. On my 6th and 7th treatments the muscle contractions felt more intense and I became more aware of my own pelvic floor contractions in between treatments.

A week after my 8th treatment on the powerform chair I am so much happier with my pelvic floor function. I can feel a significant improvement in the strength of my muscles and the stress incontinence has improved a lot.  I plan to have another couple of treatments over the next month and will definitely continue with the recommended 6-week maintenance

Feedback received on the day of 8th treatment:

Pleased with the results of the powerform pelvic floor treatment. Just had my 8th treatment, my pelvic floor feels tighter and I can feel and use the muscles in this area much more. I have improved control passing urine and it has reduced my stress incontinence. Thank you, TS.

Feedback received on the day of 8th treatment:

I was having several leaks a day whilst coughing, sneezing, lifting, physical exercise and certainly if I didn’t make it to the toilet on time.  Now I think its mostly reduced to just physical exercise as I feel more in control at other times.
I would definitely recommend the treatment as I do feel more confident. I am determined to carry on with pelvic floor exercises and follow up with occasional Power Chair treatments.

View all our  Powerform Pelvic Floor Treatment Feedback here.

Find out more about how we evaluated the treatment here.