Revolutionary technology to help women with a “shameful” and debilitating disorder is now available in Australia.
As one in four Australians, Catherine Davis suffers from an uncomfortable, embarrassing and debilitating disorder.
The Sydney mother of two is experiencing incontinence, a loss of bladder control, as more than half are under the age of 50 and one in three women have given birth.
During World Continence Week, the 36-year-old spoke about her condition and admitted to seeing a psychologist because it was traumatic for her after the birth of her two children, now 9 and 5 years old.
“It’s been horrible since I had the boys. Whenever I go out I need to know where the toilets are and how quickly I can get there,” Ms Davis said.
“Being incontinent has had a huge impact on my life, and I can only wear loose pants, usually black, in case I have an ‘accident’. Anything tight and brightly colored is noticeable too.
“It has also affected me to spend quality time with the children, I can’t even go to the trampoline with them.
“It’s terribly embarrassing … People joke about it, but it’s actually debilitating.”
The treatment of incontinence was previously limited, painful and invasive, but since then, Mrs Davis has tried the revolutionary radio frequency technology that was only launched in the country last month.
Empower RF uses radiofrequency technology to treat weak pelvic floor muscles, stress, urgency, and mixed urinary incontinence in women.
During the sessions, three complementary energies are used – submucosal fractional radiofrequency, intravaginal electrical muscle stimulation and bipolar radiofrequency – and different applicators that are inserted internally.
The treatment, designed to address bladder dysfunction, menopausal genito-urinary syndrome, sexual dysfunction or improvement, and pelvic aesthetic indications, has been used previously in the United States or America, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
Ms Lowe has had four sessions and said she noticed a difference after the first.
“It’s changed my life. If I’m out and I need to pee, I can hold it until it gets to the toilet, and I can laugh, cough, and sneeze without worrying I’ll get wet,” he said.
“It also feels tighter ‘down there’ in general, and I feel like I’m back to normal like before I had kids.”
Obstetrician Elizabeth Golez, who is undergoing treatment in Sydney, said the radiofrequencies strengthened the pelvic floor muscles and returned collagen liquidity to the vaginal walls.
“Patients’ response so far is that it has shown a noticeable difference after a single treatment. But it is imperative that, depending on the severity of their problems, patients should continue to be treated for a certain period of time to ensure that the results are amplified, ”Dr. Golez said.
“We know that over time the female anatomy evolves due to multiple factors: pregnancy, childbirth, hormonal transformations, menopause and aging, so inevitably, the pelvic floor is negatively affected, causing weakness and stress urinary incontinence.
“The use of EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) using the Vtone applicator provides muscle reeducation and rehabilitation for weak pelvic floor muscles.”
InMode Australia provides EmpowerRF technology to Australian doctors.
The company’s managing director, Dennis Cronje, said the device was revolutionary because the treatment could be done in the office with “amazing” results instead of in a hospital.
“There are so many women who suffer in silence but no longer need them. EmpowerRF restores self-confidence and patient quality of life without surgery or prolonged downtime, ”Cronje said.