Imagine this.

You wake up in the morning and shuffle to the washroom. You recall being here just hours before, another sleepless night in the books. You begin getting dressed, carefully selecting an outfit with dark bottoms. You slip on a liner or pad, placing extra in a bag for later. Cautiously you decide on your breakfast, bringing your coffee and water bottle to go, not to be sipped until you get to work. Arriving at the office, you head for the elevator; stairs are always avoided when possible. At your floor, you make a beeline for the bathroom, taking a pit stop before reaching your desk. As the day goes on you lose track of how many of these breaks you take and how many 360-degree mirror checks you’ve done. After an outfit change, you scan the room for eyes on you that may have noticed and avoid interaction for fear of being asked why. You’re already dreading tonight’s workout, and not because of the intensity of the class. You hope your thoughts about not including jumping squats or lunges in the circuit today have telepathically reached your instructor.

You might not have had to work hard to imagine some, or all of this scenario. Perhaps parts are all too familiar with some of your own experiences. If so, you are not alone!

An epidemiological survey published in 2020 with the University of Alberta and the Canadian Continence Foundation found that 1 in 4 Canadians experience overactive bladder and/or stress urinary incontinence. Someone experiencing stress urinary incontinence may have unintentional loss of urine in response to physical movement that places pressure on your bladder, such as laughing, sneezing, coughing, running, or jumping. Those who experience urge urinary incontinence struggle to control urine. They get sudden urges to go and frequently need to empty their bladder throughout the day. Many people are challenged with a mix of both stress and urge urinary incontinence.

Urinary incontinence may result from events that cause trauma to the tissues such as childbirth or surgery, overweight and obesity, underlying neurological factors, other illnesses, and even just the natural effects of ageing. Treatment varies depending on the degree of incontinence.
We offer a non-invasive, non-surgical treatment option for urinary incontinence. Using high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy, our EMSELLA chair treats weakened pelvic floor muscles by allowing you to experience 11,000 perfectly completed Kegels in only 28 minutes.

Dr. Erin Lovett, B.Sc., M.D., FRCSC