femtech:brief #15: Pelvic Health
👋🏽👋🏽 Hello and welcome to the 15th edition of femtech:brief. This week we talk about pelvic health and the startups in that space.
Nearly half of women will experience urinary incontinence in their lifetimes, according to a survey published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Many women experience it after childbirth, or as they age. Yet the issue can, in the majority of cases, be resolved with correct and regular pelvic floor muscle exercises.
There’s also a podcast breaking the stigma around pelvic pain and keeping the conversations going - Why moms don’t jump? Go listen to all stories of women around pelvic health.
“The wonderful thing about pelvic health is there are a lot of things you can do that will improve the situation, through natural methods – exercise, diet, knowing how to help your bowel empty well, knowing how the bladder fills and empties. There’s a lot one can do to help oneself. It’s a shame when people haven’t found out about those things they could be doing, and they are, like, ‘Why did nobody tell me this 10 years ago?’”
Amanda Savage, a pelvic-health physiotherapist
Our aim here is the same, to break the silence and open conversations around it.
Startup of the week
Elvie. Elvie Trainer is a fun and effective tool for building strength, so you get to the core of the problem.
Elvie Trainer helps you visualize a hidden set of muscles that support everything from core stability to bladder control, postnatal recovery, and intimate wellbeing. Each exercise on the app is gamified to keep you moving consistently and enjoy in the process.
Startups to look out for
Renovia. Renovia was formed to provide products for better first-line diagnosis and treatment to improve the condition-specific quality of life for millions of women with pelvic floor disorders. Boston-based startup Renovia developed a device to help women track if they’re doing exercises correctly. Renovia raised $17 million for its digital therapeutic, designed to help people with exercises for pelvic floor disorders. The company plans to use the funds to market its lead product, which received FDA clearance in late 2019.
Joylux. Joylux, uses red-light devices to treat vaginal tissue and pelvic floor muscles affected by childbirth, menopause, and aging. Read about the device on their blog.
Kegg. Kegg is a two-in-one device that combines fertility tracking with pelvic floor exercising.
Mama mend. Based in the US, startup MamaMend is a personalized, evidence-based, week-by-week guide to childbirth recovery and postpartum health. Though not entirely focused on pelvic health, the app covers various topics pertaining to postnatal health including pelvic floor conditions.
Junofem. The femfit® by junofemis a wearable, intravaginal device that is thin, flexible, and embedded with eight sensors, which measure internal pressure along the wall of the vagina and send real-time feedback to a mobile app. It came out of the research led by Dr. Jenny Kruger, who is internationally recognized for her pelvic floor health research.
Tightra. Silk’n, a global leader in home-use medical aesthetics devices is helping women reclaim control over common pelvic floor health concerns with their latest product innovation, Tightra. It is estimated that up to 35% of adult women in Canada experience bladder control and other intimate health-related issues. This translates into millions of women who are experiencing symptoms that can be improved with Tightra. Tightra utilizes Radio Frequency energy, medically proven technology that increases blood flow and boosts elastin and collagen production, tightening the pelvic floor muscles and reducing urinary incontinence.
Squeezy. Squeezy is a multi-award-winning app supporting people with their pelvic floor muscle exercise programmes.
💡 Interesting fact
So where are your pelvic floor muscles?
While we may not be able to see these muscles, you use them all the time. The most recognizable example is suddenly stopping your flow of pee midstream – ever had to answer the phone while on the toilet or had someone walk in on you suddenly? Well, that’s you contracting your pelvic floor muscles.
Read some more interesting facts about pelvic muscles here.
👁️ Bonus read
You would have heard people saying “Do your Kegels for strong pelvic health” but then there are a lot of digital devices for pelvic floor exercises, how do you pick the right one?
Read here: How do I pick a Kegel exerciser?
That’s all for this week. We hope you enjoyed this edition.