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Requesting opinions on Pelvic Floor Trainers

Posted by tmitch @tmitch, 3 days ago

Hello Everyone!

Has anyone had experience with electronic pelvic floor trainers? It's all in the quest to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles to improve urinary incontinence and help with improving ED.

I have been reading about a couple such as the KGoal Boost or the PelviPulse? They claim they send vibration pulses to the pelvic floor muscles to either help us do them correctly via an app or do the kegal exercises for you by contracting the muscle via the function of the device.

I've read lots about them but most of the info seems to come from the company themselves which is easy to question the real effectiveness of the product. They are all different prices and it could be a spendy gamble. I'm just hesitant to hit the "go" button on ordering one of these.

Just wondering if anyone had experience with any since we are all searching for the answers for these symptoms we never thought we would ever have to deal with in life.
Todd

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

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climateguy | @climateguy | 1 day ago
In reply to @peterj116 "@climateguy Well, when the first physio left, I was referred to another one. That referral was..." + (show)
Profile picture for peterj116 @peterj116

@climateguy Well, when the first physio left, I was referred to another one. That referral was declined because I wasn't going to get any better at this & recommended an AUS.

Peter was seen today. He is three months post his radical prostatectomy. He is doing his
level best to try and find his pelvic floor. He is really unable to essentially isolate or perform
a pelvic floor contraction. It sounds like he also has difficulty with the posterior component
also of the pelvic floor. His PSA is undetectable with reference to his 4+3 prostate cancer. I
think given his current situation using so many pads that it is quite likely that he will end up
with an artificial urinary sphincter. We will therefore ask him to see Mr Mundy in three
months’ time for his next review to meet him initially and then put him on the waitlist for an
artificial urinary sphincter.

Kind regards
David Merrilees
Urologist
Department of Urology

(that was quite depressing to read again actually)

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@peterj116 I'm sorry. My comment seems thoughtless. Given your situation, I'd be trying those devices you've asked about. I sure wouldn't like being in a situation where I need to wait for an appointment to get on a wait list.

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peterj116 | @peterj116 | 1 day ago
In reply to @climateguy "@peterj116 I'm sorry. My comment seems thoughtless. Given your situation, I'd be trying those devices you've..." + (show)
Profile picture for climateguy @climateguy

@peterj116 I'm sorry. My comment seems thoughtless. Given your situation, I'd be trying those devices you've asked about. I sure wouldn't like being in a situation where I need to wait for an appointment to get on a wait list.

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@climateguy No worries. The KGoal device might be useful for others & is worth a try - especially if you're already doing Kegels correctly & just want to visualize the movement to make sure it's effective.

Biofeedback like KGoal this gives you instant visual feedback & the games are good for encouraging you to use it regularly.
You also get regular emails like:

Your 3 Day Streak Is Amazing!
You've been consistent with your workouts recently, and that is something to celebrate! And can you believe you've already done 182 squeezes with Boost? Keep up the great work!

So if you're already doing Kegels correctly, this is a great device.

Unfortunately for me, my pelvic floor is made of concrete, so this device would never have helped.

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nikolai57 | @nikolai57 | 20 hours ago
In reply to @edinmaryland "I really agree 1. you are correct about the information (disguised as research) try to find..." + (show)
Profile picture for edinmaryland @edinmaryland

I really agree
1. you are correct about the information (disguised as research) try to find a good article supporting the electronic trainers and now the Enselma chair (for good research add 'pubmed' to the end of your search terms and watch the commercial and self-serving static disappear. I could not find any research supporting it. The research that is there more or less attests to insufficient evidence.
2. My pelvic floor therapist and a consult I had with a urologist at a leading teaching hospital strongly advised against any such devices siting serious problems (google emselma chair males post prostatectomy) lack of good results and danger of problems
3. I wish there were some good short cuts out there.
4 I do think biofeedback is useful and you can purchase a probe and tool to make sure you are doing Keegles correctly.
If you can find a good PT trained in pelvic floor muscle rehab-retaining +++ (core training.l bladder re-training etc) with experience with males can really help. It definitely helped me

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@edinmaryland, I couldn’t agree more about finding a PT who specializes in pelvic floor and understands male issues. Apparently, I had a situation that is not uncommon: my pelvic floor muscles were unbalanced and therefore unaligned. My PT worked with me to address these problems. I doubt that these devices are able to make this kind of analysis and suggest appropriate remedies.

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climateguy | @climateguy | 18 hours ago

I've never looked into, or thought much about, Artificial Urinary Sphincters prior to this. I happened to have listened to the audio of a University of California TV youtube video entitled "Prostate Cancer Survivorship: Urinary and Sexual Wellness" recently. The host, Dr. Lindsay Hampson, goes over the topics of incontinence and ED. She gets into the AUS starting at minute 13:45.

Excerpt: "It's really nice because it can get pretty much anyone dry or nearly dry. No matter how much leakage you have, no matter if you've had radiation, this can be very effective.

There are definite downsides, and that's always something that we talk to with people because often when you put a device like this in, we know that you're probably going to end up needing to have a surgery at some point to fix it or replace it or remove it because of different reasons and then put it back in again."

I will say that when we do come across these situations where they stop working or we have to remove them, the question from people always is, when can I get it put back in? Because people like it so much and it's such an impactful way to change your quality of life. Really high success and satisfaction rates."

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anosmic1 | @anosmic1 | 18 hours ago

I had RP in November 2024 and the incontinence did not go away for months, including after working with a therapist. I went through 39 radiation sessions this year (December until February) and it has come back. Frustrating. I have to get back to the kegels but it's not something I remember to do every day. The good news is that I went from Gleason 9 with some adverse factors 18 months ago to undetectable now. But the incontinence and hot flashes remain as my daily reminder.

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