Hello all, and welcome to my very first blog post! My name is Hannah, and I am a specialist in intimate health. I also run the New U Clinic in Nottingham, where we are proud to offer revolutionary non-invasive treatment for incontinence and sexual rejuvenation using the amazing new BTL Emsella chair.
This blog article is the first of a series I have decided to write on the important issues surrounding women’s health that just don’t get talked about enough. Ultimately, the blog is aimed at sharing information, encouraging discussion, and breaking down the taboos surrounding intimate health for us ladies!
It isn’t intended to be just about me and what we do at New U though – as much as I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to talk about such important issues, what we do, and why I feel so passionately about my work, I also want to hear from you! Please feel free to respond at any time with any questions, share your own experiences, and email me on hannah@newu.uk.com if there are any topics that you would like to see discussed. We also have some fantastic guest blogs in the pipeline from experts on menopause, pelvic health, and intimate wellness, which I can’t wait to share with you all!
So now that you all know what myself and the other ladies who will be writing in this blog are hoping to achieve in it, I’d like to add one important thing: to all of you wonderful people out there affected by those little leaks, accidents, or embarrassing oops! moments, I’d just like to say: don’t give up hope! It’s absolutely not just something you just have to put up with. There are some amazing treatments available to rebuild our pelvic floor muscles and improve continence, and the results are fantastic – I see them every day, and it’s an absolute joy to see the changes it makes to women’s lives.
As I’m sure you know, this is no small issue; incontinence is a life changing problem for over 200 million people worldwide, and sadly one that is rarely talked about. Too embarrassed to speak to doctors or even friends about the problem, most women affected by urinary incontinence simply suffer in silence, with only half of them ever seeking help.
When our pelvic floor muscles aren’t strong enough to sufficiently support the pelvic organs, we are no longer able to control the bladder, and the involuntary loss of urine inevitably follows. The deconditioning of these muscles can be for a number of reasons, from the natural ageing process, to the stress put on the body by childbirth. Consequently, millions of women, of all ages and apparent fitness, are affected and have to live with incontinence.
There are three main types of incontinence; firstly, urge incontinence, which has sufferers relentlessly checking (and running!) for the nearest loo, and living with being exhausted from constantly getting up throughout the night. Secondly, stress incontinence, which is characterised by involuntary leaks occurring as a result of everything from coughing, sneezing, lifting, exercising, and laughing, and finally, mixed, which results in a combination of the two. Whichever form you experience though, the effects on the lives of the women affected by incontinence is no laughing matter.
Whilst there has been a great deal of research on the area, until recently, the help that doctors have been able to offer has been somewhat limited. I’m sure we’ve all heard about kegel exercises, and how they can help build the strength of our pelvic floor – I even heard Lorraine Kelly discussing the ’Pelvic Floor Challenge’ on Women’s Hour not so long ago! But while it is fantastic to hear more people discussing the subject these days, and beginning to break down the stigma attached to the subject, for many women, all the kegels in the world aren’t going to be enough to put an end to the leaks and loss of bladder control they experience each and every day.
So – a bit about what we do at our clinic to help get those pelvic floor muscles fighting fit again! When I heard about the amazing new Emsella chair, developed by medical technology group BTL, achieving an impressive rate of 95% of treated patients reporting significant improvement in their quality of life, I had to find out more.
The chair uses electromagnetic energy to cause deep pelvic floor muscle stimulation, rebuilding the deconditioned muscles to support your pelvic organs, and ultimately restoring control of the bladder. In one 28-minute session, the BTL Emsella chair stimulates the equivalent to 11,000 supramaximal kegels. This is far past the level any person would be able to achieve without the chair, however determined they might be with their exercise regime!
The results have been astounding, with the newly reconditioned muscles giving a significant and lasting restoration of bladder control, to help significantly reduce and even stop urinary incontinence. Many patients report a noticeable positive effect on their bladder control even after just the first session. What’s more, is that these results are consistently achieved day in, day out, for women of all ages, and with all of the common causes for their incontinence.
Another mayor advantage of treatment for incontinence using the Emsella chair, is that is it quite so easy. Whilst many are put off seeking help by the idea of embarrassing and painful procedures, this treatment is completely non-invasive, and is quick, painless, and highly effective. You remain fully clothed, and simply sit on the Emsella chair and read a magazine, whilst the chair does all the work for you!
Needless to say, before long, plans were in action to bring this treatment to my hometown of Nottingham. I opened the New U Clinic only last year, where I offer this treatment, and already amount of people whose lives have been changed for the better has been incredible. Every day I hear another heart-breaking story of how a wonderful strong woman has been held back, embarrassed, and had her self-confidence, physical health, social, or intimate life destroyed by incontinence. And every day, I’m able to help another lady take back control, get her life back
on track, and face a brighter future without the worries of incontinence!
Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to read the first in this series of women’s health blogs. Though this one serves mainly as an introduction to what I’m hoping to achieve, why it’s so important to me to promote discussion around these areas, and what I do at New U, future posts will be covering all sorts of areas surrounding intimate health. I look forward to sharing a fantastic guest blog with you shortly for our second article!
I hope you find this blog to be interesting and informative, and that hearing about the options available out there might give some of our readers the confidence to reach out for help if they need it. As we all share our experiences and talk to our nearest and dearest about these issues without embarrassment, the more the power of the stigma is removed, and the more people will find their ways towards effective treatment. And if you, or anyone you know is affected by incontinence, we’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch on the email below for a free confidential consultation or just to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, or to find out more, see www.stopincontinence.co.uk.
Hannah Fleming-Hill
New U Clinic, Nottingham
hannah@newu.uk.com