EMSELLA for Men in Tampa: Strength After Prostate Surgery

After prostate surgery, many men notice urine leaking when they cough, sneeze, laugh, lift something heavy, or stand up from a chair. Doctors call this stress urinary incontinence. It happens because removing the prostate changes the support system the bladder has relied on for decades. It is one of the most common side effects of prostate cancer treatment, it affects men of every fitness level, and it is nothing to be ashamed of.

The encouraging part is well established in urology. For most men, leakage improves over time, and pelvic floor rehabilitation can support that recovery. The American Urological Association notes in its guideline on incontinence after prostate treatment that bladder control generally improves during the first year after surgery, and it supports offering pelvic floor muscle exercises to men in recovery.

For men who want support beyond exercises alone, device-based pelvic floor care is available in Tampa at Neuromag Institute on North Armenia Avenue. The rest of this article explains how the treatment works, what a session feels like, and what realistic expectations look like.

The pelvic floor is a sheet of muscle that stretches like a hammock from the pubic bone to the tailbone. It supports the bladder and bowel, and it wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body. When these muscles contract, they close the urethra and hold urine in. When they relax, urine can flow.

Before prostate surgery, a man's continence relies on two mechanisms: an internal valve near the neck of the bladder and an external sphincter supported by the pelvic floor. Prostatectomy commonly disturbs that internal mechanism. Afterward, bladder control depends far more on the external sphincter and the pelvic floor muscles around it. That is why strengthening these muscles becomes so important after treatment.

Kegel exercises are the standard first step, and urologists routinely teach them before and after surgery. Many men, however, find it hard to locate the right muscles, contract them strongly enough, or stay consistent for months at a time. That is the gap that device-assisted pelvic floor training is designed to fill.

EMSELLA is a chair-shaped device made by BTL. It uses high intensity focused electromagnetic energy, known as HIFEM, to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles directly. The FDA has cleared the device for the rehabilitation of weak pelvic muscles and for the treatment of urinary incontinence in both men and women.

While you sit on the chair, the electromagnetic field triggers strong contractions of the pelvic floor, the same muscles a Kegel exercise works, at an intensity and repetition rate that voluntary exercise cannot match. BTL, the manufacturer, reports that a single session produces about 11,000 pelvic floor contractions in approximately 28 minutes.

A reasonable way to think about it is supervised, high-repetition strength training for the muscles that hold urine back. There is no undressing, no probes, and no needles. For men recovering from prostate treatment, that matters. Many prefer a seated, fully clothed option they can fit around work and daily life. You can read more about the device on our EMSELLA page.

You sit on the EMSELLA chair in your regular clothes. The provider adjusts the intensity to a level you tolerate comfortably. Most men describe a tingling sensation and strong, involuntary tightening of the pelvic muscles. It feels unusual, not painful, and the setting can be changed at any moment during the session.

There is no anesthesia, no recovery period, and no downtime. You can drive yourself home and go straight back to normal activity. BTL's suggested starting plan is typically about six sessions, usually scheduled about twice a week, although the right plan for you depends on your history and your goals.

Honesty matters more than marketing here. EMSELLA is not a cure-all, and no clinic should promise you a specific result. Muscles strengthen gradually. Improvement, when it comes, tends to build over the course of treatment and the weeks that follow rather than appearing overnight.

Where you are in recovery matters too. In the early months after surgery, natural healing is doing much of the work, and some men regain control with time and Kegel exercises alone. Others reach a plateau, with bothersome leakage that lingers. Pelvic floor strengthening is a reasonable, conservative option to discuss at that stage, before or alongside other measures your urologist may recommend.

Men with severe, persistent incontinence should also know that urology offers effective surgical options, including slings and the artificial urinary sphincter. A device like EMSELLA does not replace that conversation. It is one conservative tool among several, and the best plan is the one built around your specific situation.

EMSELLA works best as part of a coordinated plan. If you had prostate surgery or radiation, your urologist or radiation oncologist remains in charge of that recovery. We encourage men to share their full treatment history, and with your permission our office can communicate with your specialists so everyone stays aligned on timing and progress.

Screening matters as well. Because the chair uses a strong electromagnetic field, BTL's safety information excludes people with pacemakers, defibrillators, and certain metal or electronic implants. A brief consultation reviews your surgical history, your current symptoms, and whether EMSELLA is appropriate for you at this point in your recovery.

Neuromag Institute is led by Dr. Jairo D. Libreros, a board-certified neurologist who has practiced in Tampa for about 30 years. The office is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, and it is located at 4914 N. Armenia Ave. in Tampa. You can learn more about the practice, and when you are ready to talk, contact us with your questions.