Reviewed 28 Sep 2026 · Updated 24 Oct 2026 · Dr Ong Jin Khang · MMC 45245 · LCP holder · The Retreat Clinic, Setia Alam
Emsella is a chair-based treatment that strengthens the pelvic floor. The patient sits, fully clothed, while focused electromagnetic energy passes through the pelvic floor and contracts the muscle thousands of times in a single session. It is the simplest device in the clinic to explain, and one of the most useful.
Pelvic floor work, without undressing.
At a glance
Emsella, in six answers.
What it is
A chair-based treatment that strengthens the pelvic floor. You sit fully clothed while focused electromagnetic energy contracts the muscle.
Who it suits
Stress leaks, postpartum recovery and pelvic floor weakness.
Not significant prolapse, or leakage with a warning sign.
Sessions
Six
A course of six sessions over about three weeks, about thirty minutes each.
Downtime
None
Normal activities continue as usual.
Performed by
Dr Ong
He assesses every patient first and decides whether the chair is the right treatment.
Timeline
The sessionAbout thirty minutes, fully clothed, at the clinic in Setia Alam
About three weeksA usual course of six sessions
The end-of-course reviewMaintenance is planned against how the symptoms have responded
How it works
A muscle, worked by the chair.
Emsella uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy, the same family of technology used in muscle-building devices for the body.
0103
01
Energy through the seat
Applied through the seat of the chair, the energy reaches the pelvic floor. You sit fully clothed for about half an hour.
02
Thousands of contractions
The energy triggers supramaximal contractions, driven by the device rather than initiated by the patient. Over a single session the muscle contracts thousands of times.
03
A stronger pelvic floor
The pelvic floor strengthens and densifies, as any muscle does with sustained training. A stronger pelvic floor supports the bladder better and closes it more reliably under sudden pressure.
Who it suits
Who it is for, and who it is not.
The pattern of symptoms, how long they have been present and what has already been tried all shape whether the chair is the right first step.
Where it fits
Stress urinary incontinence: the small leak with a sneeze, a cough, a laugh or a jump.
Postpartum pelvic floor recovery.
Pelvic floor weakness that follows weight change or ageing.
Men as well as women, particularly where continence has weakened after prostate treatment.
Where it does not
Significant pelvic organ prolapse: it needs a urogynaecology opinion.
Leakage with pain, blood, fever or a sudden change in pattern: it needs a medical work-up first.
Pregnancy, a pacemaker, defibrillator or other implanted electronic device, or metal implants near the treatment field.
A change of shape: Emsella is not a weight loss or body contouring treatment.
The full read
Emsella, in full.
Who assesses you for Emsella here
At The Retreat Clinic, Dr Ong Jin Khang (MMC 45245, LCP for aesthetic practice from the Ministry of Health) has been the only doctor since the clinic opened in Setia Alam in April 2013. Every Emsella course at the clinic starts with his assessment: he confirms the pattern of symptoms and rules out anything that needs a specialist before recommending the chair. In 2018 BTL Aesthetics, the maker of Emsella, named the clinic a HIFEM Centre of Excellence, the year the clinic became the first in Malaysia to offer BTL's Emsculpt, and in 2019 Dr Ong spoke about Emsella on television. Emsculpt is no longer offered here. Each first here is dated, with the post that announced it, in Dr Ong's record. His registration and LCP can be checked on the public registers: how to check them.
What it is
Emsella uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy, the same family of technology used in muscle-building devices for the body. Applied through the seat of the chair, the energy reaches the pelvic floor and triggers what are called supramaximal contractions, contractions driven by the device rather than initiated by the patient. Over a single session the muscle contracts thousands of times. The journal explains how Emsella works, the Kegel chair, in more detail.
The pelvic floor responds the way any muscle responds to sustained training: it strengthens and densifies. A stronger pelvic floor supports the bladder better and closes it more reliably under sudden pressure, which is exactly the mechanism that fails when a sneeze or a laugh causes a leak.
The comparison patients reach for is Kegel exercises, and it deserves a straight answer. Both work the same muscle. Supervised pelvic floor muscle training, usually physiotherapy-led, is the recognised first-line conservative treatment for stress urinary incontinence, and this clinic does not provide it. The chair is a different way to work the same muscle: it fires the muscle for the patient, and it does not depend on technique or on remembering to practise. The two are not in competition, and Kegels remain worth doing alongside.
What it does well
Stress urinary incontinence is the core indication: the small leak that escapes with a sneeze, a cough, a laugh or a jump, caused by a pelvic floor that can no longer counter a sudden rise in pressure. Postpartum pelvic floor recovery is the other common reason patients arrive, since childbirth stretches the muscle sling and it does not always recover fully on its own.
Some forms of urge incontinence also improve, though the mechanism there involves the bladder muscle itself, so the assessment matters more. The treatment also suits pelvic floor weakness that follows weight change or ageing, and it is used by men as well as women, particularly where continence has weakened after prostate treatment. For incontinence treatment in Setia Alam more widely, the bladder leakage and pelvic floor page sets out the types of leakage and how each is assessed.
None of this is decided from a list. The pattern of symptoms, how long they have been present and what has already been tried all shape whether the chair is the right first step, and that is a conversation, not a checkout.
What it does not do, and who it is not for
Emsella strengthens a muscle. It does not repair structure. Significant pelvic organ prolapse, where the pelvic organs have descended, needs a urogynaecology opinion, and strengthening alone will not fix it. Where the examination suggests prolapse beyond a mild degree, the honest answer is a referral, and that is the answer given.
It is not for anyone whose symptoms carry a warning sign. Leakage that arrives with pain, blood, fever or a sudden change in pattern needs a proper medical work-up before anyone sits on a chair. Incontinence is a symptom, and the cause has to be established before it is treated as a training problem.
The standard exclusions apply: the treatment is not used during pregnancy, or for anyone with a pacemaker, defibrillator or other implanted electronic device, or metal implants near the treatment field. And despite occasional marketing in that direction, Emsella is not a weight loss or body contouring treatment. A patient hoping it will change their shape has been sold the wrong expectation, and we would rather say so before the first session than after the sixth.
Our view
Pelvic floor weakness is one of the most common problems patients carry and one of the least discussed. Many people manage it quietly for years, planning routes around bathrooms, declining the badminton game, avoiding the trampoline with their children, because raising it feels embarrassing. The condition is common, mechanical and treatable, and for most patients the hardest part is saying it out loud once.
My reading is that the chair is a reasonable option to discuss after supervised exercises, or alongside them, and that it has not been shown to replace them.
The treatment itself is undramatic, and that is part of why we rate it. You sit on a chair, fully clothed, and let the device work for about half an hour. There is no theatre to it and no recovery to plan around. As with everything at the clinic, the assessment decides: Dr Ong confirms the pattern of symptoms first, rules out what needs a specialist, and recommends the chair only where strengthening is genuinely the answer.
Practical notes
A session takes about thirty minutes, fully clothed, at the doctor-led clinic in Setia Alam. A course is usually six sessions over about three weeks. There is no downtime, and normal activities continue as usual. All six sessions of a course take place at the clinic in Setia Alam, Shah Alam. The sensation during the session is a strong tugging as the muscle contracts, unusual for the first few minutes, though most patients settle into it and read or answer messages while the chair works.
Like any muscle, the pelvic floor holds its strength with use and loses it without. Some patients maintain the result with pelvic floor exercises after the course; others return for occasional maintenance sessions. Both are conversations for the review at the end of the course, planned against how the symptoms have responded rather than against a brochure.
Side effects and risks
Few side effects have been reported with the Emsella chair. A 75-woman study recorded no pain, downtime or adverse events, and a 27-man study reported only mild, transient muscle discomfort and no major adverse effects. The studies are small, last weeks to months, and enrolled people after screening, so they describe screened people and do not prove that no one is affected.
Muscle soreness or fatigue after a session is a reasonable thing to ask about, and any sharp pain, new bleeding or a change in urinary pattern is a reason to stop and be assessed. The trials also excluded recent pelvic surgery, childbirth in the last 12 weeks, an active urinary or genital infection and fever, so mention any of these, and any implant or device, before the chair is switched on. The full account is in Emsella side effects: who should not sit on the chair, and what the first session is like.
Who should be doing this
Emsella is an electromagnetic pelvic-floor device rather than one of the aesthetic procedures in the Ministry of Health's lists, but it is a medical device, so it must be registered with the Medical Device Authority; the regulation hub shows how to check a device on the public register. How to check the registration of the doctor supervising any treatment is set out in how to check an aesthetic doctor in Malaysia. How to weigh a doctor's experience with a treatment is set out in how to choose an experienced doctor.
What it costs and why
Pelvic floor chair sessions are priced per session and usually planned as a course, set at assessment. The class is not on the cost table, but the cost guide explains how device treatments are priced here and what to ask.
Strengthening the pelvic floor. The common reasons are stress incontinence, the leak that happens with a sneeze, cough, laugh or jump, postpartum pelvic floor recovery, some forms of urge incontinence, and pelvic floor weakness that follows ageing or weight change. It is used by both women and men.
Do I need to undress for Emsella?
No. You sit on the chair fully clothed for about thirty minutes while the device works. There is no gel, no probe and no downtime.
Does Emsella hurt?
It is not usually painful. The sensation is a strong tugging as the pelvic floor contracts, which feels unusual in the first minutes and then settles. Most patients read or answer messages during the session.
How many sessions of Emsella are needed?
A course is usually six sessions over about three weeks. The plan is confirmed at assessment, where Dr Ong first establishes that Emsella is the right answer, or whether a specialist opinion is needed before anything else.
How is Emsella different from Kegel exercises?
Same muscle, different dose. A session produces thousands of supramaximal contractions, fired by the device rather than by the patient, and it does not depend on technique or on remembering to practise. Supervised pelvic floor muscle training is the recognised first-line conservative treatment for stress urinary incontinence and this clinic does not provide it. Kegels remain worth doing alongside.
Does Emsella work for men?
Yes. The pelvic floor supports continence in men as well, and strengthening can help, particularly where continence has weakened after prostate treatment. The assessment is the same: the pattern of symptoms first, then whether the chair fits.
How long do the results last?
The pelvic floor behaves like any trained muscle: it holds strength with use and loses it without. Some patients maintain the result with exercises, others with occasional maintenance sessions. We plan that at the end-of-course review rather than promising a fixed figure, because there is not one.
Who should not have Emsella?
It is not used during pregnancy, or for anyone with a pacemaker, defibrillator or metal implant near the treatment field. Significant prolapse needs a urogynaecology opinion, and leakage that arrives with pain, blood, fever or a sudden change in pattern needs a medical work-up first. Those cases are referred, not seated.
Where can I do pelvic floor recovery treatment near Setia Alam?
At The Retreat Clinic in Setia Alam, Dr Ong offers Emsella, a pelvic floor strengthening chair that uses focused electromagnetic energy to contract the pelvic floor muscles. It suits postpartum recovery, stress incontinence and similar concerns, and whether it is right for you is confirmed at assessment first.
Who assesses patients for Emsella at The Retreat Clinic?
Dr Ong Jin Khang assesses every patient for Emsella at The Retreat Clinic himself and decides whether it is the right treatment. In 2018 BTL Aesthetics, the maker of Emsella, named the clinic a HIFEM Centre of Excellence, the year the clinic became the first in Malaysia to offer BTL's Emsculpt, and in 2019 Dr Ong spoke about Emsella on television. Emsculpt is no longer offered here. He has been the clinic's only doctor since it opened in Setia Alam in April 2013; his Malaysian Medical Council registration (MMC 45245) and his Ministry of Health LCP for aesthetic practice can both be checked on public registers.
Disclosure: In November 2018 BTL Aesthetics, which makes Emsella, Emsculpt and Vanquish, named the clinic a HIFEM Centre of Excellence, and in April 2019 Dr Ong spoke at the Malaysian launch of BTL Unison. How he thinks about ties like these: The quiet we kept: what shapes what your doctor recommends.
