Yes, for most women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence in the published studies, and urge leaks improve too, more slowly. The Emsella chair uses HIFEM, high intensity focused electromagnetic energy, to make the pelvic floor muscles contract thousands of times in a 28-minute session while you sit fully clothed. In the main published study of 75 women, bladder symptom scores fell by about 64% three months after the course, and 81% reported a significant reduction in symptoms after the sixth session. At Emsella Clinic we measure your own symptom score before the course and at the end, so the answer for you is a number, not an average.
What the studies measured
- The main study (2019, 75 women, average age 55): six 28-minute sessions, twice a week. Symptom scores on the standard ICIQ-SF questionnaire fell by about 50% after the sixth session and by about 64% three months later, measured in the 61 women assessed at three months. Of the 43 who used pads, pad use fell by about half, and 44% needed no pads at all at three months. Half the women had stress incontinence, 40% mixed and 11% urge only; at three months the stress group had improved by 67% and the mixed group by 70%, and the urge-only group by 27% after the sixth session and 54% at three months. The main study reported no treatment-related adverse events, only minor side effects such as muscle fatigue.
- 35 women (2024): symptom scores 60% lower one month after the course.
- 27 men after prostate surgery (2025): scores about 60% lower at one month, with no adverse events reported.
- 95 women who had given birth (2021): the 50 who had ten HIFEM sessions improved on a pelvic floor distress score by 52%, against 18% for the 25 on electrical stimulation.
- A 2025 pooled analysis of seven studies found ICIQ-SF scores about three points lower with the chair than in the comparison groups, on a scale that runs from 0 to 21.
The studies are small, and larger sham-controlled trials of the chair are registered and recruiting, so we measure your own score before and after your course and you see your own numbers.
What the clearance covers
The chair is FDA-cleared in the US for the treatment of urinary incontinence, in women since 2016 and in women and men since 2018, by electromagnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor to rehabilitate weak pelvic muscles and restore neuromuscular control (the nerves' control of the muscles). The clearance does not name stress, urge or mixed incontinence, childbirth or the menopause; those are the situations the studies above looked at.
Why it works
Incontinence after childbirth, with age or after prostate surgery is most often a pelvic floor that has weakened. Pelvic floor exercises work when they are done correctly, often and for months, and in our experience many people find that hard to keep up. The chair contracts the whole pelvic floor at an intensity and a rate you cannot reach voluntarily, which is why BTL, the manufacturer, describes a session as the equivalent of thousands of Kegel-like contractions, with its 2019 figure at 11,000. The how it works page explains the session.
What it does not do
Emsella does not fix an overactive bladder on its own, and it is not for overflow incontinence, a neurological bladder problem or a prolapse. The urge incontinence page explains where it helps and when to see your GP first.
How we check it worked
You fill in the ICIQ-SF questionnaire at your free consultation, at the end of the course and again at your six-month review. If the score has not moved, we say so. Our patients have reviewed the clinic on review.clinic, the review service we use, where Emsella at our clinic holds 4.9 out of 5 from 107 reviews, with 98% saying the treatment was worth it (November 2026).
Book a free consultation
Call Emsella Clinic on 0207 099 9659 or use the form below. The clinician goes through your symptoms, checks that nothing rules the chair out for you, and tells you plainly what to expect. The full Emsella guide covers the rest.
