Incontinence is estimated to affect over six million people in the UK, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide. However, it is still seen as a taboo subject by many, and around half of women who suffer from urinary incontinence won’t ever seek help or treatment for their condition.
At Elite Aesthetics, we are passionate about breaking taboos around intimate health. Dr. Shirin Lakhani, our practice leader and medical director is an industry leader in the fields of women’s health and intimate health for men and women. We offer a variety of treatments to help improve our patient’s intimate health and provide medically approved solutions for a variety of intimate conditions, including vaginal laxity, erectile dysfunction, sexual dysfunction and incontinence. We treat clients across Kent and the South East, including Bexley, Bexleyheath, Greenhithe, Tunbridge Wells, West Malling, Gravesend, Bromley and the surrounding areas.
As we age, the muscles that hold our bladder and control continence often become weaker, and this can be exacerbated by the steep drop in oestrogen and collagen during the menopause, as well as vaginal childbirth, which puts great strain on the muscles in the area. Normally, these muscles, known as the pelvic floor muscles, hold the bladder tightly to give it support and create a muscular barrier that we need to consciously relax to urinate. However, if these muscles become stretched, weakened or damaged in some way, there isn’t this strong muscle barrier, and it may be harder to control the bladder, leading to leaking, dribbles and difficulty holding urine for longer periods of time.
There are 3 common types of urinary incontinence, urge, stress and mixed. There are a variety of reasons each form of incontinence may manifest, and they all can lead to significant discomfort, embarrassment or loss of freedom and independence. For many sufferers of incontinence, when you go out, you may have to plan your day around managing your symptoms, including where the nearest toilet is at all times, whether you have enough pads and what kind of clothes you should wear. It can also stop people from taking part in their hobbies and the things they enjoy doing, like sports and social activities.
There are generally three common types of urinary incontinence: Stress incontinence, Urge incontinence and mixed incontinence. BTL Emsella technology can be used to treat all three types effectively.
Stress incontinence is the most common form of incontinence, and is characterised by a difficulty holding urine when the bladder is put under physical strain, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, jumping or lifting heavy objects.
Stress incontinence occurs when the pelvic floor muscles and the muscles at the neck of the bladder become weakened. For many sufferers, this is caused by the muscles naturally weakening as we age. As collagen is lost, muscles all over the body weaken and lose tone, and the pelvic floor muscles are no exception.
Stress incontinence can also be caused by vaginal childbirth, as, unsurprisingly, the muscles in this area are put under significant strain during vaginal childbirth. Generally, regular continence is restored from around six weeks to three months after giving birth, however, in cases where there has been a particularly long, complex or difficult birth, multiple vaginal births or birth to larger babies, regular continence may not return without intervention.
Urge incontinence is caused when the detrusor muscles in the wall of the bladder don’t extend and contract in the way they normally should. Normally, the detrusor muscles expand as the bladder fills, and then contract as the bladder empties, in conjunction with the relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles. However, in cases of urge incontinence, the detrusor muscles contract irregularly, causing the sensation of needing to urinate, even when the bladder is empty or nearly empty. This is also known as an overactive bladder.
Urge incontinence is generally caused by an underlying condition, including diabetes, urinary tract infections (UTIs) or neuromuscular conditions.
Mixed incontinence occurs when the symptoms of both stress and urge incontinence are present, and can be caused by a variety of conditions, including a combination of stress and urge incontinence conditions.
Emsella is unique among intimate health treatments as it offers highly successful results in a completely non-invasive treatment. Patients can sit, read a book or magazine, and talk to friends and family fully clothed while having an Emsella treatment, without any embarrassment or discomfort.
Emsella treatment takes less than half an hour per session, and is not at all painful, so your experience with us will always be quick and comfortable.
Emsella also targets the muscles directly, allowing the treatment to be effective for stress, urge and mixed incontinence. This makes the treatment a brilliant alternative to traditional kegel exercises, as they are time consuming, difficult, take a long time to have any significant effects, and in some more severe cases, aren’t actually possible, due to a severe weakness in the pelvic floor muscles. In these cases, Emsella is an effective and simple treatment to help increase the strength of the pelvic floor muscles quickly, and reduce the symptoms of incontinence.
At Elite Aesthetics, we carry out a full consultation process before any one of our treatments. During this consultation, we will go over the treatment processes, the kind of results you can expect from treatment and how the treatment works. We’ll give you the opportunity to tell us about your condition, any treatments you’ve tried in the past, the results you hope to see and your medical history, to ensure you’re suitable for treatment. The extensive consultation process also allows you to get to know our staff and clinic and make sure that we are the right choice for you.
As a medically led clinic, we don’t ever overtreat patients or give them a treatment that is not medically appropriate for them, and for any patient where we feel this is the case, we will work closely with this patient to find a suitable alternative.
When you arrive at our clinic for your Emsella treatment, you will be greeted by our friendly staff. Emsella treatment is incredibly simple, and all you need to do is sit on the chair for 28 minutes while it works its magic. The treatment isn’t painful, though some patients do feel a muscle tensing sensation during treatment.
After treatment, there is no downtime, and you can get back to your day straight away. Some patients feel results straight away after the first treatment, though others will need to carry our several treatment sessions to feel results.
The Elite Pelvic Floor Package
We also offer a complete package to maximise the results of your Emsella treatment, and help rejuvenate your intimate health. This package includes:
At Elite Aesthetics, we are passionate about intimate health and breaking traditional taboos when it comes to treating intimate issues, such as incontinence. Dr. Shirin is one of the UK’s foremost health professionals in the field of intimate health, specifically women’s intimate health, and is a UK ambassador for several of the intimate health treatments we offer at Elite Aesthetics. She is an ambassador for the Ultra Femme 360 treatment and Emsella chair by BTL, and was the first female doctor trained in carrying out the O-Shot and P-Shot procedures, and is now the UK trainer for these treatments.
We have been featured in The Times Magazine for the various treatments that are available at Elite Aesthetics to help treat issues with intimate health. Dr. Shirin has also been featured extensively in the UK press talking about intimate health and incontinence, and the treatments that are available to help sufferers get their lives back, including in several national newspapers and live on ITV’s This Morning. She is passionate about breaking the taboos around intimate health and incontinence in mainstream public discourse, one treatment at a time.
Dr. Shirin has over 20 years of experience in medicine, and is an experienced and highly-qualified aesthetic doctor. She has also worked as a GP and has carried out specialisms in urology, minor surgery and anaesthesiology, as well as holding a postgraduate diploma from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Since leaving the NHS in 2013 to found Elite Aesthetics, Dr. Shirin has remained fully registered by the General Medical Council (GMC number 4634863), and follows their standards of Good Medical Practice.
She is an award-winning aesthetic doctor, having been recognised by the Kent Health and Beauty Awards as one of the best aesthetic practitioners in the area, and by the My Face, My Body Awards, one of the most prestigious industry awarding bodies. Dr. Shirin is also an advocate for the development of ethical practice in the aesthetics industry, and the clinic is accredited by the CQC, England’s largest independent healthcare assessor, and by Save Face, which is a register of safe non-surgical aesthetic clinics that requires us to follow a stringent set of care and safety standards in everything we do. Save Face put great emphasis on the patient’s right to make safe, client focused, informed care choices when they go for non-surgical aesthetic care, something Dr. Shirin and Elite Aesthetics are completely committed to providing.
At Elite Aesthetics, we are passionate about giving all of our clients safe, high-quality, effective treatments to help free them from the symptoms of incontinence and make them feel like themselves again. We’re dedicated to safe and ethical aesthetic practice, as well as breaking taboos around intimate health to help more women find the solutions to their intimate health concerns.
Elite Aesthetics is situated on the banks of the river Thames, close to the Greenhithe and Ebbsfleet train stations, with quick and easy access into central London. We offer our revolutionary treatments all over Kent and the South East, including the Maidstone, Sidcup, Orpington, Dartford, Kings Hill and Kings Cross areas.
To find out more about our treatments for intimate health and incontinence, any of the other non-surgical treatments we offer at Elite Aesthetics, or to book your consultation, contact Dr. Shirin and the team and see how we can change you life and free you from incontinence.
