OH! Magazine - Australian Version November 2016 | Page 6

( An OH! Review)

ELVIE: A PERSONAL TRAINER
FOR YOUR PELVIC FLOOR
Analee Matthews roadtests the Elvie pelvic floor exercise tracker – dubbed
the most personal of trainers. Here's her take on this innovative device.
hey’ say that your body is never
the same after having birthed a
child and based on my own experience, I
can concur that ‘they’ are, in fact,
correct!

'T

Prior to my pregnancy, the pelvic floor
was never a group of muscles I gave
much thought to exercising or paying
attention to. But post-natal, it’s at the
forefront of my mind at one time or
another on pretty much every single day.
In both men and women, the pelvic floor
muscles are responsible for supporting
the bladder, uterus and bowel and can
typically be weakened by pregnancy,
childbirth, obesity and the straining of
chronic constipation. Pelvic floor
exercises are designed to improve muscle
strength, but what many of us don’t
realise is that even if you aren’t a mum
– and this applies to males as well – your
pelvic floor plays an important role when
it comes to overall health.

Design Museum in London.
The truth is, it’s challenging to exercise
muscles that you can't see. Think about it
– when you exercise at the gym, feedback
about what you’re doing is imperative so
you know that you’re doing it safely,
correctly and effectively.
So what’s unique about Elvie is that it's a
very simple way to visually measure and
monitor the effectiveness of your pelvic
floor or kegel exercises in real time. The
device is said to ensure less mindless
squeezing and more measurable results.
How does Elvie work?
Elvie is a small pod-shaped device that is
comfortably inserted into the vagina, with
the tail sitting against your pubic bone.
While inserted the tail connects to your
smartphone via Low Energy Bluetooth
(which is lower emission than standard
Bluetooth).
The app is really easy to use and steps

Because of this, when I discovered the
nifty Elvie device from Chiaro (available
from www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au), I
was really intrigued to see what it was all
about.
Elvie is a beautifully designed and
presented new real time biofeedback
device that uses bluetooth technology to
help women with their pelvic floor
exercises. Developed by British company
Chiaro, who used a world class team
combining the expertise of a head
engineer from Dyson and a co-founder of
Jawbone (the market leader in wearable
technology), together, they have set new
standards for women’s technology,
recently winning 'Best R&D Award' at The

6

OH! MAGAZINE ( NOVEMBER 2016 )

DID YOU KNOW?

you through an individualised exercise
session. It also contains a help section to
ensure you correctly perform the pelvic
floor contractions. It also prompts you
every few days, and if you continue to
encounter difficulties can suggest you
see a women's health physiotherapist.
Once you’ve purchased the device
($299), all that is required to use Elvie is
a smartphone (iPhones 4S or newer and
Android phones 4.3 and above, which
support Low Energy Bluetooth).
To find out more or to buy this
life-changing device online visit
www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au

In both men and women, factors weakening the pelvic floor can include ageing,
obesity, constipation/straining on the toilet, pelvic/abdominal surgery, prolonged
heavy lifting, poor exercise technique, and inactivity.
Factors unique to women include hormonal changes, especially the decline of
oestrogen levels through menopause, pregnancy, whether you have a vaginal or
ceasarean delivery, carrying a baby during pregnancy stretches the pelvic floor
tissues, and vaginal childbirth.
Factors unique to men include prostatectomy (surgical removal of the prostate),
prostate treatment (radiation, TURP surgery), BHP (benign enlargement of the
prostate - a much more common condition than actual prostate cancer).
Reference: www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au