We can never say this enough, but all women can be affected by pelvic-floor problems. Whatever their age, fitness level or weight. Whether they are going through menopause or have one or more children.
Some time ago, Elisa contacted us on Instagram to tell us she was thrilled with Emy Trainer. Thanks to the pelvic floor trainer, she felt her pelvic floor was stronger and therefore that she could keep doing sport. You may be thinking, “Yes, sure, just like the other users sharing their stories on your blog!”
Well, yes and no... Elisa is 27 and has a condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It is a rare genetic disorder that affects connective tissue and impacts her body, especially her muscles and joints.
We are very happy she agreed to share her story so we can keep breaking the taboo around this important pelvic floor!
The key points of Elisa’s journey:
- A rare genetic condition: Elisa has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and lives with generalised hypermobility, which affects her joints and weakens her muscle tone every day.
- The challenge of intense sport: As a triathlete who also did lots of crunches, she started to experience urine leaks and was warned about her high risk of pelvic organ prolapse.
- Regaining independence at home: After sessions with a specialist physiotherapist, she uses the Emy Trainer pelvic floor trainer to do her pelvic floor training at home, at her own pace, and her leaks have gone away.
Elisa, can you tell us about your condition?
My condition is called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It is a rare genetic disorder that affects collagen production. This protein gives elasticity and strength to connective tissues such as the skin, tendons and muscles in general.
How did it all start for you?
This condition started in my teenage years, but it really became apparent 3 or 4 years ago. It is a very hard condition to diagnose. It usually takes around 10 years. The doctors I saw treated my problems one after another, when it was actually just one issue.
The condition shows up as hypermobility. In other words, as soon as I raise my arms, I dislocate my shoulders. I also have delayed proprioception. To explain, imagine you have to walk across a room and reach an open door.
Your brain will tell your limbs to go through the middle of the doorway. For people with “EDS” (people living with this condition), the brain struggles to locate the body in space.
How does the condition progress?
Doctors say it is not a progressive condition. But we can see that, unfortunately, it is. The more time passes, the less I can write. I think that at some point I won’t be able to do it anymore. You need to know that the condition is disabling and that you can very quickly end up in a wheelchair.
That is why I decided to do a lot of sport.
Today, I do triathlon. This sport helps me keep going and stay focused on a goal.
Of course, there are still ups and downs. I sometimes have flare-ups. There are times when I can’t cope any more and I stop going to the club. But it passes and afterwards I feel better.
It is not easy to do sport in my case because it is rare for me to be able to do any.
When I introduce myself in specific Facebook groups, some people think I’m not really ill. To them, I shouldn’t be able to do everything I do today. And that is when I realise that, after all, I’m very lucky.
And how did you come to focus on your pelvic floor?
My pelvic floor is looser than normal. At the start, I didn’t even know what a pelvic floor was. During my Pilates classes, I was told to “contract your pelvic floor”! The thing is, I kept wondering where on earth this “thing” was 🙂
For example, when we sneeze, our pelvic floor naturally contracts. But in my case, I do it too late (because of my proprioception issue), so my pelvic floor contracts after I’ve already finished sneezing.
Until then, I’d never had any problems. The specialists looking after me often asked whether I had ever had any pelvic floor issues. I would answer “no” because I didn’t know what it was. Another problem is that I do a huge amount of ab exercises. I can do 250 crunches in one go, and that is not very good for the pelvic floor, especially when you don’t contract it... I started to feel like I was going to pee myself. One day, during my drills (bounds, jumps), I thought: “Right, this is getting a bit embarrassing... I need to do something about it.”
Then I remembered what they told me in hospital: in my case, I was much more at risk of pelvic organ prolapse. So I talked to my physiotherapist, who had been following me for years. She couldn’t help because she wasn’t specialised in pelvic-floor care.
So I went to see another fantastic physiotherapist, this time specialising in pelvic floor rehabilitation. She treated me manually and then with a pelvic floor trainer. She really taught me what the pelvic floor was.
The problem was that I had three months of sessions with her and then we had a break. I had to continue my sessions at home, and that’s when I found Emy Trainer.
Emy Trainer made that sensation of leaking disappear and helped me keep doing sport despite my condition. You should know that I have been seeing physiotherapists for 12 years, two to three times a week. And that’s before you add all the other medical appointments. As you can imagine, it’s all very demanding and time-consuming.
Discovering Emy Trainer saved me precious time.
How did you hear about Emy Trainer?
I have an Instagram account dedicated to sport, and I follow accounts of people I like. I follow the “This Perfect Day” account, which talked about the trainer, which I didn’t know about. So I went to your website and thought it was great. Emy Trainer could be my solution to keep doing sport and reduce the leaks linked to my condition. In the end, it was my partner who convinced me to buy it. He told me it would save me from going to my physiotherapist and that I could do my training at home and at my own pace.
So I received it a month ago and now I’m doing what you could call maintenance.
At first, it was a bit difficult. I felt like I wasn’t necessarily making progress. But for some time now, I can see the difference and it’s getting easier and easier.
Now, when I sneeze, I no longer worry about leaks. The reflex to contract my pelvic floor has kicked in. I think I’ll be paying attention to my pelvic floor for the rest of my life now.
Can you sum up Emy Trainer in a few words?
I thought that if you didn’t have children, you couldn’t use the trainer. But actually, not at all! Having this wireless trainer at home is really practical. Regardless of my condition, I found in Emy Trainer an ally to keep doing sport. Yes, it’s a cost, but my peace of mind is priceless. If everyone could invent things like this, it would make life so much easier for people.
In the end, I’m super happy with the trainer. It’s small, you can take it travelling, and it’s super fun and easy to use.
Thank you, Elisa, for this lovely feedback!
What to remember from Elisa’s story:
- The pelvic floor concerns all women: Even without children, factors such as tissue fragility or intense physical training can weaken muscle tone.
- The importance of addressing muscle delays: When a condition delays natural reflex contractions, urine leaks can set in if the pelvic floor is not actively strengthened.
- Technology as a path to independence: Faced with an already overloaded daily healthcare journey, the connected Emy Trainer pelvic floor trainer stands out as a practical, flexible maintenance solution for successful pelvic floor training at home.
