Discover how the 7 Tesla HIFEM Pelvic Power Chair works
What Actually Happens When You Sit in the 7 Tesla HIFEM Pelvic Power Chair
We know pelvic floor health is not exactly a dinner table conversation. It is the kind of thing people quietly worry about, quietly Google at 11 pm, and quietly wonder whether anything can actually be done. At The Cryotherapy Centre in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, we want to change that quietness, because there is now a genuinely effective, non-invasive answer, and it is more straightforward than most people expect.
The 7 Tesla HIFEM Pelvic Power Chair is one of the most significant treatments we have added to the clinic, and this article is here to walk you through what it actually is, what it does to your body, and whether it might be right for you. If you would rather talk it through in person first, you can find everything about our pelvic floor treatment at Cryotherapy Centre in Birmingham on our service page, including how to book a free consultation.
First, What Does 7 Tesla Actually Mean?
If you have seen the word Tesla and wondered whether it has anything to do with the car, it does not. Tesla is a unit of measurement for magnetic field strength, named after the physicist Nikola Tesla. The number tells you how powerfully the electromagnetic energy can reach into the body.
This matters more than it might first seem. The pelvic floor is not a surface muscle. It sits deep within the pelvis, forming a layered structure that runs from the pubic bone to the coccyx. Stimulating it properly means the electromagnetic energy has to travel through layers of tissue before it reaches the muscles it needs to activate. A lower-powered device may reach the superficial muscles without meaningfully engaging the deeper fibres that are doing the structural work. The 7 Tesla rating of our Pelvic Power Chair places it at the upper end of what is currently available for this type of treatment, which in practical terms means deeper reach, stronger contractions, and results that reflect that difference.
We think it is worth understanding this, not because we want to confuse you with technical detail, but because we want you to feel confident in what you are choosing. At Cryotherapy Centre, we do not believe in keeping clients at arm’s length from the science behind their own treatment.
12,000 Kegel Contractions in 30 Minutes. Honestly.
We know that sounds like a marketing headline. Bear with us, because the science behind it is genuinely fascinating.
HIFEM stands for High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic energy. During a session, the chair generates pulsed electromagnetic fields that travel straight through clothing and into the pelvic floor muscles, triggering what are known as supramaximal contractions. Supramaximal means exceeding the maximum force your body can produce through voluntary effort. In other words, no amount of concentrated squeezing would get you there.
A single 30-minute session produces the muscular equivalent of approximately 12,000 Kegel contractions. And crucially, because the brain is not required to initiate them, the treatment works even for people who have lost their conscious connection to those muscles, which is exactly what happens after childbirth, surgery, or a long period of pelvic floor weakness. This is one of the things we find most encouraging about the 7 Tesla Pelvic Power Chair: it meets people where they are, not where they wish they were.
Over a course of sessions, those contractions re-educate the neuromuscular pathways, thicken the individual muscle fibres, and rebuild the structural foundation of the pelvic floor. The remodelling process continues for four to six weeks after a full course ends, so clients often notice ongoing improvement well after their final appointment with us.
How Does It Compare to Emsella and Other Pelvic Floor Devices?
We get asked this regularly, and it is a fair question. Emsella is the best-known brand in this space, made by BTL, and you may have also seen references to Ultra Tesla-style seat devices. All of them work on the same core principle: seated, fully clothed, electromagnetic stimulation producing supramaximal contractions. The meaningful variable is magnetic field strength.
Emsella typically operates in the range of 1.5 to 3 Tesla. Ultra Tesla devices advertise higher ratings. Our 7 Tesla Pelvic Power Chair sits at the stronger end of what is commercially available for this treatment category. As we have explained above, that difference is not cosmetic. Deeper penetration means more complete engagement of the deep muscle fibres, where the structural work actually happens.
The other thing that sets Cryotherapy Centre apart is that this treatment does not sit in a vacuum here. If it makes sense for your recovery, we can combine sessions with lymphatic drainage therapy at Cryotherapy Centre to support circulation between sessions, or pressotherapy at Cryotherapy Centre Birmingham to help manage inflammation and fluid in the pelvic region during your course. That kind of joined-up thinking is part of how we work.
Your Pelvic Floor Does More Than You Might Realise
We often find that clients come to us focused on one specific symptom, and leave with a much fuller picture of what their pelvic floor actually does. That is not a criticism. It is simply that this part of the body does not get nearly enough attention.
The pelvic floor is a layered group of muscles spanning the base of the pelvis. Its job is considerable: it bears the weight of the abdominal organs, controls the openings of the bladder and bowel, plays a central role in sexual response and sensation for both men and women, and works in constant coordination with the deep core and lower back muscles to stabilise the whole trunk. When it weakens, the effects tend to spread.
Bladder control changes. The structural support for the pelvic organs reduces, which can lead to feelings of heaviness or prolapse symptoms. Core stability and lower back comfort can both suffer. Sexual confidence and sensation can quietly diminish. What the HIFEM chair addresses is the muscular foundation itself. Not one symptom in isolation, but the whole structure that was underpinning them.
For Women at Cryotherapy Centre
Whether you are a few months postpartum and finding that pelvic floor exercises are frustratingly difficult, or you have been managing stress incontinence for years and assumed it was just something to live with, we want you to know that neither of those situations is fixed. The chair works whether or not you can voluntarily engage those muscles at the moment, because it does not need you to. It simply does what your nervous system has been struggling to do on its own.
For women experiencing leaks when coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising, the treatment rebuilds the muscular control that prevents involuntary leakage. For those managing pelvic organ prolapse symptoms or reduced pelvic confidence, the structural strengthening we can offer can form a genuinely meaningful part of their overall approach, always in step with any medical guidance they are receiving.
And for women who have noticed changes in sexual sensation or satisfaction, a stronger and more responsive pelvic floor makes a real difference. This is something clients tell us about regularly, and something we are very happy to talk through openly in the privacy of the clinic.
For Men at Cryotherapy Centre
Pelvic floor weakness in men is far more common than most men realise, and far less discussed. Post-void dribbling, urgency, reduced confidence around exercise, and difficulties with bladder control following prostate surgery are all rooted in the same structural issue. The muscles involved in erectile function and urinary control sit within the pelvic floor, and when they are strengthened through HIFEM stimulation, the circulatory and neuromuscular function of the whole region can improve.
For men navigating recovery after a prostatectomy, this is often the point where standard advice runs out. Pelvic floor exercises are recommended, but performing them effectively requires a muscular connection that many men do not have before surgery and struggle to rebuild independently. The 7 Tesla Pelvic Power Chair bypasses that barrier completely. We have seen men leave sessions genuinely surprised by how manageable the experience is, and encouraged by what becomes possible when the right tool is applied to the right problem.
Combining the Pelvic Chair with Other Treatments at The Cryotherapy Centre
One of the things we are most proud of at the Cryotherapy Centre is that no treatment exists in isolation here. We think about the whole person, and we build recovery plans that make sense as a whole.
Many clients ask about combining their course with our oxygen therapy sessions, and it is a pairing we often recommend. Oxygen delivered under increased atmospheric pressure reaches soft tissue at concentrations that are simply not available under normal conditions, and this can actively support the muscle repair and remodelling that follows each pelvic floor session.
We also often suggest booking hands-on sports massage work at the clinic alongside the pelvic chair, focused on the lower back, glutes, and hip flexors. These are the muscles that tend to carry compensatory tension when the pelvic floor has been underperforming, and many clients find that as their pelvic strength grows, lower back discomfort that had become background noise starts to ease, too. Releasing those surrounding tissues manually can help that process along.
For clients who combine pelvic floor rehabilitation with an active training routine, a session in the cryo chamber works well alongside it, supporting the body’s natural inflammation response and keeping overall recovery on track.
In the days between pelvic floor sessions, time in our sauna offers a gentler complement, promoting circulation and giving the muscles a warm, restorative environment to continue their recovery.
If you would like to explore what a combined programme might look like for you, the team will talk you through it. You can also browse the full range of wellbeing treatments at Cryotherapy Centre Birmingham to get a feel for what else is available under one roof.
What the Evidence Shows, and What We Would Never Overstate
We believe in being honest with our clients about what this treatment can and cannot do, because we think that respect is the foundation of a good experience.
HIFEM pelvic floor technology has been studied in peer-reviewed research, primarily in the context of stress urinary incontinence and urge incontinence. The available evidence supports measurable improvements in pelvic floor muscle thickness, neuromuscular activation, and bladder control in appropriate candidates. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy recognises pelvic floor muscle training as the first-line approach for stress urinary incontinence, and HIFEM delivers that training at a volume and intensity that voluntary exercise simply cannot replicate.
What we would not overstate is the outcome for every individual. Your age, history, hormonal status, previous surgery, and how long the weakness has been present all play a role in how and how quickly you respond. Some clients notice meaningful change within the first two or three sessions. Others find the most significant improvement arrives in the weeks after completing a full six-session course. What we can tell you is that the treatment is doing real structural work from the first session, even when the visible results take a little longer to appear.
This treatment is not a medical procedure and does not replace clinical diagnosis. Anyone with a pacemaker or implanted electronic device, metal implants in the pelvic area, an active infection, or who is pregnant should not use the chair. If you have ongoing, unexplained, or severe pelvic symptoms, please begin with your GP or a pelvic health physiotherapist. We screen for suitability before every course of treatment, and we will always tell you honestly if we do not think the chair is the right next step for you.
What to Expect at the Cryotherapy Centre on the Day
We know the unknown is often the most daunting part of trying something new. So here is exactly what your session at Cryotherapy Centre looks like.
You arrive in comfortable, everyday clothing. There is nothing to change into, nothing invasive, no awkward gowns. You sit down on the chair, which is positioned to direct the electromagnetic field towards the pelvic floor region, and the session begins. The first few minutes involve gentle pulses as the intensity gradually builds to your comfort level. The sensation is a strong rhythmic engagement of muscles you are not consciously controlling, with a tingling quality that shifts as the programme moves through different contraction patterns. Most clients tell us it is more manageable than they expected. Some find the first session takes a little getting used to, and others are surprised by how unremarkable it feels.
Sessions last approximately 30 minutes. You can go straight back to work, the gym, or anywhere else. Some clients notice a mild sense of pelvic muscle awareness afterwards, which is simply the muscles telling you they have been worked. It passes quickly.
The team is with you throughout, adjusting intensity, answering questions, and making sure you are comfortable. We do not leave you to get on with it alone. That is not how we work.
A full course of six sessions, typically two per week over three weeks, is recommended for the best structural outcome. Results continue developing for four to six weeks after that final session, and many clients return every few months for maintenance.
Ready to Have a Conversation About It?
If any of this has resonated, the next step does not have to be booking a full course of treatment. It can simply be a conversation. The team at Cryotherapy Centre will take the time to understand your situation, answer your questions honestly, and help you work out whether the 7 Tesla HIFEM Pelvic Power Chair is the right fit for you. There is no pressure, and no script. Just a straightforward, private chat about what you are experiencing and what might help.
We are at 108 Northwood Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. Call us on 07418 609953, or head to our pelvic floor treatment at Cryotherapy Centre in Birmingham page to book your free consultation directly.
This article is intended for general information and does not constitute medical advice. If you have a diagnosed pelvic health condition, are pregnant, have had recent surgery, carry an implanted electronic device, or have any health concern, please speak to a healthcare professional before booking any treatment.