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Potential Users:
Q: What does using Athena feel like?
A: When properly placed, the Athena will mimic the sensation a woman feels when she rapidly contracts her pelvic floor muscles in the same manner as when attempting to hold off urination. If you “squeeze” tight your pelvic muscles, then release – it will mimic the feeling of a properly placed Athena. The contraction of the pelvic floor will occur multiple times, followed by a short rest before repeating itself until the session is completed.
Q: Does the Athena hurt when I am using it?
A: No. This should never hurt. It is important to find a level that you can feel the contractions but it should not be sharp. It is important to move the dial 1 notch at a time when you begin to feel it to make sure the pulse does not become too strong.
Q: How far should I insert the trainer?
A: This varies for each person. Some women only insert the length of the trainer in while others insert it further up like a tampon. It depends on your pelvic floor which is where you want the metal rings of the trainer placed.
Q: I have just begun investigating pelvic exercise units. Why is the Athena preferable to any others on the market?
A: The Athena pelvic trainer has the unique quality of being wireless. No other pelvic trainer currently on the market allows a woman the luxury of receiving passive pelvic floor musle stimulation from a wireless device. Athena is also very easy to use and obviously effective. Female patients can reap the benefits of Kegel exercises while resting, watching TV, or simply taking a 15 minute break from her busy day. She does not have to schedule the treatment time, leave her own home, or worry about surgery or medication to achieve a stronger pelvic floor.
Specific Conditions
Q: Can a tipped bladder be corrected without surgery? Mine is tilted up. I had surgery about 10 years ago where the Urologist adjusted it so the opening was where it should be and stitched it to the wall of my lower abdomen (I think). It lasted only two months. If I lie on my back during the night the pad I wear is pretty dry in the morning when I wake up. If I lie on my side to sleep the pad is pretty wet in the morning.
Standing on my feet all day causes me to leak urine unless I go to the toilet every hour or so. It is getting worse. The past several months I am leaking without feeling it while I am standing erect during the day. I am 81 and I cannot have surgery again. I have other problems that pose a great risk for surgery.
A: One of the side effects of a malpositioned bladder is the creation of a valve effect between the urethra and the bladder neck. As a "tipped" bladder fills, it kinks the urethra to help retain the urine and keep it from involuntarily flowing out. Changing positions can cause the bladder to shift just enough to release the kink and allow urine to be lost.
For many reasons, any surgical correction may not last and incontinence may return.
There are few alternatives to surgery with this type of anatomical problem. One popular device is called a pessary. This is a silicone or soft plastic device that is placed into the vagina by a physician in the office and used to support the vagina, bladder and/or rectum. The size and type of pessary is dependent on the patient's needs and diagnosis. A pessary can help to place the bladder into a better position to recreate the valve effect noted above and keep a woman from leaking urine.
Of note, there are new and less invasive surgical techniques available for incontinence that are done vaginally with minimal incisions. This means that most patients go home hours after the procedure and require very little recovery time
Q. I am a 36 year old woman who has had 3 vaginal child births, all of which were completely normal. However, after the 3rd birth I started to have problems. I have had a cyctecele repair and a hysterectomy 3 years ago, only to find my cyctecele returned in 2005. At point of inspection I have been also diagnosed with a rectocele. In October 2005 I re-entered the hospital to repair both areas. The procedure was quite aggressive, as I was told it would need to be in order to last my life, because I am so young. I do not know the proper medical terms, but the procedure involved a pig mesh being placed between my vaginal wall and my bladder, and the same mesh placed between my vaginal wall and my rectum. Also, a synthetic material was used to pull up my vagina by attaching it to where my cervix used to be and then pulling it to my sacrum to where it was then also attached.
I would also like to say that I was told that kegel exercises would not be able to help my situation at best it might prolong the need for surgery...but surgery was a definite. Understanding that surgery was inevitable, and at best I could just be putting it off maybe 5 years. I decided it would be better to undergo such a physical trauma while I was young. I figured the younger, and healthier I am the best chance I have at a successful recuperation.
I am sorry to say that 7 months after surgery, I have gone for another defogram to find that my rectocele is still there, and has 30% retention. This is all to say, at the very least, so disappointing.
I felt as I needed to give you a brief history in order for you to properly answer my question. The question I have is this. Can your product be helpful after surgery has been performed? Also, I have done research on a product called Kegelmaster 2000. As I understand it, kegels performed without resistance is not very productive. Do you agree? And how does your product compare?
Also, I have been suffering from severe tail bone pain. I believe it is related, do you have other patients with tail bone pain as a result from pelvic floor dysfunction?
Finally, can you please explain to me how and if your product can help a rectocele? And does the product have to be used in an alternate manner in order to help that area.
I understand this is a lot. I also am not expecting a diagnosis....just basic answers to these questions you probably receive all the time. You just probably receive them from women 30 years my senior. I would like to get a handle on this, and would like to do this without another debilitating surgery. If you can help me I would be more appreciative than you can possibly know.
A: First, I would like to say how much I feel for your plight. It is very difficult to live with such debilitating problems that affect our everyday activities.
1) The Athena PMT is beneficial to all woman at any stage in life. In your case, yes, Athena can help to maintain the strength of the pelvic floor muscles even after surgery. It can also help weakened areas that need extra support.
2) The Athena PMT is the only wireless passive pelvic muscle trainer to date. This means that it is fool proof!
You only have to insert the PMT and sit back to let the Athena do the work for you. There is no guess work as to whether women are using the correct muscles during the strength training sessions. Other products not only require that women do the work -but must assume they are performing the exercising correctly.
3) Your tail bone pain may be due to your previous surgeries. Some studies have shown improvement of this pain with pelvic floor training and exercises. This means Athena could likely help.
4) Studies have not shown that rectoceles necessarily decrease in size with pelvic floor stimulation. However, properly performed pelvic muscle training at higher stimulation settings - such as those provided by the Athena PMT - have been shown to prevent rectocele progress and prevent worsening of symptoms such as those you are experiencing.
While every woman's body is unique, using the Athena PMT empowers women to embrace their own body and health by strengthening their pelvic floor at an individualized pace in the privacy of their home.
Athena Users:
Q: What do I do if I cannot feel the Athena or the sensation is not as strong?
- First, check to make sure the unit is functioning. If this is the first time this has occurred, remove the Athena, wash it off (per the instructions), and reset it by placing it in the cradle, then insert it and start again.
- Make sure your vagina is relaxed. If you are tensing your vaginal muscles you may not feel the stimulation.
- If you still cannot feel the stimulation, use your fingertip to gently move the Athena towards your tail bone to ensure proper placement. The unit may need to be inserted slightly deeper or may need to be gently rotated to the right or left for you to feel the contractions.
- If you can feel the stimulation through your finger, the Athena is working properly.
- Even if the sensation is decreased from prior sessions, you can rest assured that the Athena is strengthening your pelvic floor muscles. Simply wait 15 minutes for the session to conclude before removing the Athena.
- Some women will feel the Athena more intensely in the morning, some in the evening, and some equally at both sessions. All three scenarios are normal.
- If you are comfortable with your Athena placement and you wish to advance the strength of the stimulation, simply turn the numbered dial slowly to the right in increments of 2 notches at a time until you are comfortable with the intensity.
- A word of caution when increasing intensity: there are times when repositioning your body or the Athena while increasing the intensity that the sensation can quickly change, creating slight discomfort. Simply turn the intensity dial slowly to the left until you are comfortable with the contractions
- If you feel your Athena unit is not working properly, please call our toll free number and we will be happy to assist you.
Q: The light on the cradle does not go on when I take the trainer out
Check the batteries in the back and make sure they are in correctly. If you have been using the Athena for a while it may be time to change the batteries.
Q: The light does not go solid when I press the start button.
If the light remains blinking after you press the start button press the start button harder. Sometimes even though it makes a clicking noise it has not registered. (On 4 battery units although the light blinks throughout the 15 minute session it does remain solid while it is sending the signal from the controller to the trainer)
Q: What if I need to stop the Trainer in the middle of a 15 minute session?
Just press the stop button and wait for the light on the cradle to go out. Then wait 5 seconds and pull the trainer out. It is important to know that it does take ~5 seconds for the signal to get from the cradle to the trainer.
Q: I have scarring from child birth and surgery and sometimes I can not feel the contraction?
The decreased sensation is common, with Athena use when there is vaginal scarring. Continue to use it regularly and be reassured that it is helping and she probably will be able to feel it toward the end of her 3 month treatment period.
Q: Could there ever be pain associated with scarring?
If there is pain it is likely due to the muscle contraction pulling on the scar tissue itself. Make sure that the Athena isn't too far inside and not tilted to one side.
Medical Professionals
Q: How soon after a vaginal delivery can a patient use this?
The usual 6 weeks post partum for the simple reasons we use as OB/GYNS (prevent infection, let the lochia (blood flow) subside and the vagina to heal from the birthing process. If the woman had a big tear or episiotomy - that has to heal first as well (no foreign objects in the vagina until the incision site is healed.
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