December 11, 2025 • 37 mins
In this empowering episode of Soma Says, Dr. Soma Mandal is joined by Maryellen Reider, co-founder of Yarlap, an FDA-cleared pelvic floor strengthening device designed to help women regain confidence, control, and comfort in their daily lives.
Together, they dive deep into the often-ignored world of pelvic floor health, breaking through stigma and silence surrounding urinary incontinence—an issue that affects millions of midlife, postpartum, and athletic women.
Maryellen shares the origin story of Yarlap, the science behind correctly performed Kegels, and why so many women unknowingly perform pelvic contractions incorrectly. She sheds light on the rigorous process of FDA clearance, user customization, contraindications, and the powerful success stories of women who have transformed their quality of life with the device.
The conversation highlights the profound connection between pelvic health, hormones, menopause, postpartum recovery, and overall well-being. Dr. Soma and Maryellen underscore the importance of early intervention, proper resources, and evidence-based tools to support women at every life stage.
Whether you're navigating postpartum changes, the hormonal shifts of menopause, or simply curious about pelvic wellness, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and hope.
⏱️ Timeline00:00 — Introduction and Disclaimer 00:52 — Meet Maryellen Reider: Co-Founder of Yarlap 01:12 — Understanding Pelvic Health and Incontinence 02:25 — The Creation of Yarlap: A Family Affair 03:44 — Challenges and Misconceptions in Pelvic Health 05:00 — The Importance of FDA Clearance 07:30 — How Yarlap Works: Bridging the Gap in Pelvic Health 11:57 — User Experience and Customization 17:14 — Contraindications and Postpartum Use 18:48 — Personal Stories and Successes 20:31 — Breaking the Silence on Postpartum Incontinence 21:20 — Menopause and Postpartum: A Shared Struggle 21:32 — The Role of Athletes and Active Women 22:00 — Modern Approaches to Incontinence Treatment 23:46 — The Importance of Pelvic Floor Exercises 24:58 — Success Stories: Real Women, Real Results 26:03 — Integrating Yarlap into Daily Life 26:53 — Empowering Women with Knowledge and Tools 27:37 — Navigating Insurance and Financial Options 28:10 — Heartwarming Patient Stories 34:09 — Final Thoughts and Encouragement
🔗 Connect with Maryellen Reider & Yarlap🌐 Website: https://yarlap.com 📸 Instagram: @yarlap 📘 Facebook: Yarlap 🛍️ Shop Yarlap: https://yarlap.com/products/the-yarlap-kegel-exercise-kit-system
🔗 Connect with Dr. Soma Mandal🌐 Website: https://www.somamandalmd.com 🏥 (incoming) Medical Director of Women’s Health — Hackensack Meridian Health, Jersey Shore University Medical Center 📚 Book: Midlife Masala — Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, & BookBub 🎧 Listen to Soma Says: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube (@SomaSays) 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsomamandalmd 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/somamandalmd
⭐ Support the PodcastIf this conversation encouraged you or helped you better understand your pelvic health, please follow, share, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support helps more women access empowering conversations about their bodies and their well-being.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, this is Dr.
(00:01):
Soma.
Just a disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't intended as medical advice.
Always consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.
Let's go to the show.
(00:52):
today on Soma says, I'm joined by Mary Ellen Ryder.
She's the co-founder of Yle, a groundbreaking device that helps women strengthen their pelvic floor and reclaim confidence from the inside out.
We're talking bladder health, sexual wellness, and why pelvic strength matters more than ever in midlife.
Incontinence, urinary incontinence, especially for females, is something that I never thought.
(01:20):
I would be focused on, as an internist, because when I first started medical school and when I became an internist, right? My patients tended to be younger.
Their bladders were fine.
They maybe had, one pregnancy, but they certainly weren't.
In their late forties or their fifties where these things start showing up, and maybe even earlier, right? As my patients started aging with me, I.
(01:50):
Had to be prepared to obviously talk about these things and then help them through it.
And then I came to understand, right? There wasn't a whole lot out there.
Yeah.
And the whole, kegels, right? I don't think I could still do a Kegel myself, Yes.
And then actually implementing that and doing them properly, because those are all three separate things.
(02:15):
And so that's why the R Lab was created and why we've gained so much traction is because it just does those three things for you.
So I understand you work with your father, right? Yes.
he's actually in the other room with my daughter.
Okay.
So he and my mom are actually together.
So you have the founder or the co-founder in the back babysitting your daughter and you're exactly doing the marketing so he is like the, he is like the design, the engineering part.
(02:45):
and then I get to talk to everybody, but I was like, I have this.
Very important podcast.
You at three o'clock, you have to watch her for an hour.
It's gonna be great.
And he's I got this.
And so then he got my mom, who also his, she's a retired professor.
And so the three of them are upstairs.
So what inspired you and your father to start this company? Like what was the inspiration behind it all? So my dad is the medical device engineer.
(03:12):
He does my medical device engineering.
He's done that for about 30, 40 years.
And he was on the design team that designed the sister of the R lab for the National Healthcare Systems of France, Scandinavia, great Britain and Germany.
(03:32):
To tone those pelvic floor muscles.
when I graduated college, I didn't know what to do.
I was interning for Women International, and I was like, I'm going to do something with Women's health, women's rights, something like that.
And he's you should look at urinary incontinence.
Okay.
And I told him absolutely not hard pass.
(03:54):
And he was like, he goes, no serious.
Like I feel like you don't shy away from our topics and you really like to tell everybody to sit down and listen.
I think that we might have something for you.
And so Kind of put away my pride and said, okay, what do I know about urinary incontinence? I know it's for old women and they're in diapers forever, and it's so boring.
(04:22):
And then I did my research and realized that was such a horrible misconception.
Yeah.
It's a horrible myth and it's totally false.
And I spiraled into this like ball of fury and about a week later, busted into my dad's office and was like, we need to change the United States of America's like healthcare perception on this.
(04:53):
This is the energy we want, but maybe not o'clock at eight o'clock in the morning.
And so that's how we started to work together.
Okay.
And he had he brought me in on what the FDA compliance for getting that approval Yeah.
And that is so hard and it takes so much time.
(05:14):
And effort.
Maybe people have this misunderstanding that FDA clearance is given to anybody.
Yeah.
And that you can wake up one day and declare that you're an FDA clear device and the FDA puts a stamp on you and you're on your merry way.
That's not how it works.
(05:34):
It's actually a multi-year endeavor.
Thousands of pages of paperwork.
Clinical studies.
It's not something that you wake up one day and decide you're going to do.
You have to put in a lot of effort and brain power time and paperwork understanding to get that FDA clearance.
So when we say we're FDA cleared, we wear that with a badge of honor.
(05:59):
Because it was really difficult to get.
I'm curious how long did it take to get clearance I think it took, I believe, five years.
Okay.
But again, I came in at the very end of that procedure.
Okay.
We have in our behind me, I'm sure you can see all the paper, like all the boxes we have like boxes filled of like our FDA compliance.
(06:28):
And it's so many shelves.
So when it comes to FDA clearance and compliance, they don't joke around.
It's very strict on what you can and cannot say what you can and cannot do.
And we're an FDA cleared medical device where class two, there's three different classes and we're class two I know, how long it takes for medication approval and we wait forever for the FDA to clear it.
(06:58):
I'm curious because, you and I started off talking about our.
Impressions of what incontinence is or was for women.
And it sounds like we had a similar.
Belief system about it.
And it took, me getting older and my patients getting older to really realize I was completely incorrect.
(07:20):
One in three women experience urinary incontinence.
especially in midlife or postpartum.
And a lot of them never get any treatment.
What does your lap right set out to do for these women in terms of improvement, in terms of teaching them the correct technique of Kegels? What have you and your father set out to do here? Yeah, so I think we had, we both had this, we bought into the myth, I think.
(07:55):
That it's just for older people.
Yeah.
You're stuck with it.
in reality that's not the case.
It affects anybody with a pelvic floor.
Man or woman.
It doesn't matter what age you are, it depends on that tone of that pelvic floor muscle.
And a lot of people believe that those kale exercises, it's a one size fits all.
You need to do them constantly, all the time.
(08:16):
But that's also not always the case.
It can also be from a, like a hyper toned, very clenched pelvic floor as well.
That can also lead to that.
And you need to learn to relax and massage those muscles as well.
And this, so there's like a full spectrum of two tight, too loose pelvic floor muscle tone.
(08:38):
And we as women.
Know something's up when we accidentally pee ourselves, like we know that's not normal.
But then when we bring it up, we're usually told do Kegel exercises and then we're given a pamphlet.
I'm speaking on behalf of my own experience postpartum.
I given a sheet of paper that says how often to do them.
(08:59):
And basically it was a five minute, it was a five minute appointment and I was on my way I was fine with that because I got cleared for exercise and I knew from Yara Lap I'm fine as long as I use my YA lab.
And so the, what we created the Yara lab for was, there's a huge gap between knowing you have to do these exercises.
(09:20):
Then actually doing them.
And then doing them with the proper protocol.
So just like any exercise, if you're not doing it properly and you're not taking that protocol seriously, you're not gonna get the benefits that you're reading about or you've been told about.
And with written instructions.
Well over 50% of women who try to do Kegels, do them incorrectly.
Because these muscles are isolated.
(09:41):
We cannot see them.
Yeah.
If we're clenching for too long or too short, how often am I supposed to do it a day? The Yala bridges that gap and it does everything for you.
it tells your muscles the proper instruction from the device to itself.
Into those muscles with clinically preset programs, so you're not worrying if you're doing it too much or too little.
(10:04):
The rle takes that guesswork away.
It's not wondering if you're doing it properly or if you're clenching your pelvic floor muscles.
Okay.
It takes away any guesswork.
So it fills that gap of I know I have to do it and I have done it, and I've done it properly.
And I think that's the big thing is most women don't do it properly.
So Yala bridges that.
(10:26):
And for women who are like I wanna learn how to do it properly, the YA lap tells you so you know what that feels like.
You know what that muscle movement feels like.
So when you're not using your YA lap, you can still self-initiate and self engage and you know what those muscles are supposed to feel like.
So let's say.
You're using your butt or your thighs or your abs, you're not using your pelvic floor or you're not engaging all of the pelvic floor.
(10:53):
You're engaging part of it maybe.
But with the R lap, you're engaging the entire pelvic floor throughout the entire duration of that exercise.
Okay.
We work with a lot of pelvic floor physical therapists because they're able to see their patients once a week, most commonly once a month, and they wanna make sure that those patients are in doing the instructions they've been told to do properly between those appointments.
(11:25):
What they do is they tell them to get a RA lap so that between the appointments, they know that they're doing the exercise, whether that is, massaging them and relaxing them or kales, and they're doing it properly so that you're not taking.
One step forward, three steps back every appointment, right? You're taking one step forward every single time.
(11:48):
And you're able to work side by side with your clinician, with your patient.
And so again, there's like another gap that we fill.
And walk me through how the ER lap.
How does it work? So we do not have an app.
We are big into total privacy.
So we don't collect any data, we don't do anything.
(12:09):
It's total privacy.
I think I have a PC to show you, but the R lab, it's a tiny little control unit like this.
Then there's a PC stimulator that is, oh, here we go.
Right here.
And that's inserted into your vagina like a tampon.
Okay.
And it sends a gentle signal into your pelvic floor muscles for you.
(12:32):
So when you're telling your pelvic floor muscle, naturally, you're sending a signal from your brain to your pelvic floor.
And sometimes that gets jumbled.
It feels like atrophy sometimes that direction doesn't even make it.
Yeah.
And sometimes it's like we don't know, again, with that being isolated, we don't know if we're actually control using those muscles.
So what the Rle does is it takes the signal from the control unit, like how your brain does, but it sends it directly to your pelvic floor muscles.
(13:02):
So your muscles are moving as they're supposed to do.
But that signal isn't getting lost because it's directly put in And what does that feel like? Yeah.
yeah, it's similar to tens, but it doesn't block pain because we don't want to block pain in your vulva vaginal area.
Okay.
Yeah, we don't believe in that, but, it depends.
(13:27):
We get a lot of different feeling reports.
So most common people are like, it just feels like a muscle movement.
It doesn't feel anything weird.
It's super comfortable.
It just feels like a muscle movement.
And some people say it feels like a firm handshake.
Some people say it feels like a butterfly.
Yep.
Butterfly sensation.
It's comfortable is the universal thing, is that It's okay.
(13:50):
It's comfortable.
We've actually had some women who call us because they're panicking.
They accidentally took a nap while it was working.
Okay.
And we're like, there's so many safety features in it.
Like after it hits that 20 minute mark actually itself off, so it took one hour.
Yeah.
Even if you took a one hour nap, it just hasn't been doing anything for 40 minutes.
You're fine.
Don't worry about it.
(14:10):
But it's super comfortable.
It is gentle, and I think that's part of the success is that it's so customizable for every vul vaginal sensation that we don't have people who are worried about using it.
Okay.
Got it.
And Does someone on your end help them figure out, how to set it? Or does the pelvic therapist, floor therapist do that with the patient? we do Okay.
(14:39):
all on your user's manual, so I think most of the time the woman is able to do it on their own.
They just press the plus button until they feel a movement and then that's it.
Take your hands off and let the YA lab do the rest.
Okay.
Some people do it with their physical therapist that way their physical therapist can note their number.
End as well.
(15:00):
We do that.
With our customer service.
We do have people who will walk you through it step by step to make sure you're using the right.
Program and if you're using the right level of power.
But it's, it is very simple and very comfortable.
that's a great word.
Yeah.
yeah, it's just pretty intuitive.
(15:20):
You just turn it on, pick the program.
Then pick the comfort level, and then the ER lab literally does the entire thing.
It does the timing for you, it does the pattern for you.
You just sit there.
And as it's cleared for the stress urge and mixed incontinence, meaning both stress and urge, right? Yeah.
(15:42):
So is there a time period where a patient.
Uses this device and then they're better, or perhaps they need to keep using it to, because, this is not something that necessarily gets permanently fixed.
can.
Okay.
Yeah, so it's, we're cleared for stress, urge and mixed, and you get the results that you're looking for.
(16:08):
To treat it with through muscle tone and once you get to that point of bladder control that you like, you just go into maintenance mode and you can use it once a week or once every other week.
Once a month, depending on your lifestyle.
So a lot of people, they just wanna keep using it as is, And then some people just wanna use it once a week or once a month, and that's fine.
But it's just like any other muscle.
(16:29):
You wanna make sure that you use it before you lose it.
yes, that's what I was asking.
'cause I couldn't imagine right, that there wouldn't be a maintenance mode just because of the nature of the issue itself.
basically is maintenance.
Okay.
Yeah, you go through treatment and then you go into the maintenance.
And the maintenance is just, you use it as you see fit.
So usually it's once a week or once every other week.
(16:51):
Some people just do it once a month, but it really is just dependent on.
You in your lifestyle and that tone of the pelvic floor.
But we have a lot of people who are just like, they build it into their routine.
And it works.
They've got pelvic floor control.
They no longer pee themselves.
They're just gonna keep what they know is working.
Yeah.
(17:12):
That's totally fine as well.
But what are some of the contraindications to using the, your lab device? Like if someone has a pacemaker Or if they have very advanced prolapse an infection if they're pregnant.
Are these all reasons not to use the yarlap? So if you have a pa, the only contraindication for the R lab is if you have a pacemaker.
(17:37):
Okay? If you have a pacemaker, you cannot use it.
Anybody else? You wanna talk to your doctor and ask about an NMES device and see if that's appropriate for you to use.
'cause again, that was like the sister device for the Yle.
Is that postpartum pelvic floor rehabilitation for the NHS over in Europe.
Okay.
(17:58):
we see a lot of baby shower gifts.
We do we see a lot of people who are like, use it after.
You've been cleared for exercise.
If you've been told to do Kegel exercise, you've been told to relax those pelvic floor muscles, the er laps the perfect tool for you to have because it's gonna do it all for you.
For me personally, postpartum, I was so overwhelmed.
(18:19):
Yeah.
Care for this, like new life that is completely dependent on me.
Like I don't have time to sit and like fully concentrate.
Yeah.
And si but for me to feel my muscles, yeah.
I just don't have the time.
And so that for me, that was when I really started using the yah.
(18:41):
Because I was like, I know this is the time where this is our bread and butter.
Yeah.
Let's do this.
At one point, I remember laughing until I cried because of the image that I think my husband saw, which is me breast pumping up top, doing my ya lap at the bottom, just sitting there watching new girl.
I was literally just sitting there watching my comfort show while I was hooked up to two different machines, I'm like, this must have been such a weird image to walk in on.
(19:12):
I'm sitting on the couch, sitting on a towel on the couch, just like completely naked, just pumping away and doing my pelvic floor exercises.
And he's just like, all right, great.
You do you, whatever you gotta do to keep your mental health and your physical health up.
I'm here for it.
But I was like, this must have been such like an odd.
(19:34):
Image.
And I remember just laughing 'cause I was like, I'm hooked up to two different machines.
Doing everything for me.
It's great.
What have you seen, like the most wins in terms of the types of incontinence? Is it the postpartum stress incontinence that you were talking about? Is it more the menopausal incontinence that women get as the estrogen declines down in the vaginal urethral area? where do you see the biggest successes? Pro? Okay, if I had to rank them, it's really hard because I think in the past five years, so we've been out here for 10 years.
(20:12):
And I would say that there's been a huge shift in women's health, like the there's been like an actual spotlight on it in the past, like three, honestly, three to one year.
before that was like menopause.
Women who were just like, I'm.
I'm 60 and I'm done.
I'm done laughing.
(20:32):
When I'm peeing, I'm done being the butt of the joke.
Okay.
I'm done with the kids saying, ha, mom peed herself when she laughed.
Aw, done.
Let's do something.
And I remember just like constantly being on the phone with women who were like, oh, I've had it since my first kid, or since my second kid who's now, 35 Yeah, let us help you out.
(20:53):
Yeah.
And then postpartum women who are like, this doesn't seem right.
This doesn't seem like a, I'm asking like my mom, if this is normal.
And she's saying, yeah, it's just like a chapter of motherhood.
I'm looking online.
And they're just like, it's part of being a woman.
It's part of that badge of.
Motherhood like that doesn't seem right.
(21:16):
And then like with the access of like social media and stuff, people are like, yeah, this isn't right.
And so I would say like menopause and postpartum are almost even Okay.
Because of the awareness.
Yeah.
been building up over the years.
Yeah.
But we also get athletes.
We get a lot of people who are very active and very proactive about their health.
(21:37):
So I would say it really is dependent.
Yeah, I think I would be split 50 50 for like postpartum and menopause, but the attitude I think has been more like, this isn't normal.
I'm done.
Yeah.
Let's do something.
I think previously there was a lot more shame around it.
yep.
When they Definitely.
(21:57):
And now it's just this is what it is.
What do we do? I've definitely, the way I practice I would be like, okay, time to see a urogynecologist.
Time to see a urologist.
But now, I reel it in a little bit more.
And I asked them more questions, around their hormonal status and all of that.
Are you using vaginal estrogen? And educating them about why it's important to use the safety of vaginal estrogen and perhaps going through pelvic floor therapy, perhaps having them see a Euro GYN if needed.
(22:32):
These are things that.
I didn't necessarily do before, and what I've realized is that this one thing, this incontinence, whether it's stress or mixed or urge, puts women at risk as we get older.
For recurrent UTIs for falls as we get older.
(22:54):
'cause if you can imagine an older woman who's rushing to go to the bathroom they're more falls.
So it's not just about shame and being embarrassed that you've had leakage in your pants.
It's more than that.
it really affects our whole health and Our safety as well, and those are the things I did not appreciate until many years into practice.
(23:19):
how do you suggest integrating your lap with some of the things that I've talked about, like bladder training and estrogen therapy perhaps pelvic floor therapy.
How do you, talk about that perhaps in your advertising or, pitch to other clinicians who use ER lab for their patients.
Yeah.
(23:39):
So like we talked about earlier of filling that gap between appointments, the ER lab does do that.
So let's say you have somebody and you're like, they need to do pelvic floor exercises.
we'll follow up, maybe in a month or so and there's just absolutely no difference because it is just so hard, especially as women to do these exercises.
(24:01):
And then that's kinda like where we come in, Self-initiated ones aren't doing the trick, or like maybe it's moved the needle in the right direction, just a tiny bit.
But they swear up and down that they're doing the exercise properly because they probably think that they are.
(24:22):
They're hard to do.
Yeah.
most women try to do them, they end up clenching, butt abs or your inner thighs.
And if you're engaging any of those, like you may be connecting with the pelvic floor muscles, but are you connecting them in their entirety? Yeah.
You have to genuinely sit there and engage those muscles with purpose every single time, every day.
(24:46):
Yeah.
That's so hard.
And who has the time? And so that's where we come in is you've been told to do Kegel exercises.
Let's do them properly, let's do them together with the, yeah.
Okay.
We have women who have really atrophied pelvic floor muscles.
We've had some women who have had absolutely no control of their pelvic floor muscles for like decades.
(25:09):
I remember one specifically, like for 40 years she just and by the time she talked to us, she had no control and she would only know that she's gone to the restroom when she changed her pants.
Because she had no control.
And even when she tried to do those pelvic floor exercises, it wasn't happening.
Yeah.
(25:29):
She just had no control anymore.
Aw.
And so that's where the YA lap again can fit in beautifully.
Is that okay? You have severe atrophy.
That's okay.
The R ips still gonna send that signal into your pelvic floor muscles.
It might take a little bit longer in that rehabilitation timeline.
But you're still getting the benefits, the r ips doing that pelvic floor exercise for you.
(25:51):
Okay.
And you're still getting that instruction and that protocol that you're a licensed healthcare professional wanted you to get even though it's not your self engaged one, it's a device sending it into it.
And we have people who are like, they use it alongside with their estrogen cream.
They just wait.
The day after.
And they just wait till the day after and then they use it in the morning.
(26:11):
Okay.
Got it.
And that's okay.
There's no contraindication for that.
The only contraindication that we have is no pacemaker.
If you have a pacemaker, you cannot use the R lab.
But we have people who report that they use it with their estrogen cream.
They just wait until the next morning.
But it's all about building that tone again.
And if you've been told to build that tone, the RA is a great tool again to have.
(26:34):
'cause it does that for you We've seen and had a lot of reports from clinicians that like, they wanna make sure that what the patient's being told to do is actually getting done.
And the ER lab is just essentially the training wheels to make sure that they're not falling off on that.
Okay.
Yeah.
I can feel my future perimenopausal and menopausal women listening very carefully to what you're saying, right? cause you have that like huge hormonal shift.
(27:02):
And you have a lot of that.
and your body's on fire basically.
Yeah.
And then everything is now shifting.
Then now you're peeing yourself again.
Yeah.
And it just feels like blow after blow.
(27:23):
What do we do? Yeah.
And our thing is like tone those pelvic floor muscles.
They need the assistance, they need the help.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Welcome to the fam.
You don't need a doctor's script for it.
Nope.
And can women use their H-S-A-F-S-A cards to get it? Yeah.
(27:44):
So you can use their FSA, it's FSA and HSA eligible.
We do that every single day.
Yes.
if you have insurance, we don't bill insurance in the office.
We're a small little company, so we don't have anybody who's Bills insurance in the office.
We have people who do self claims.
And so if you're.
Wondering about that? You can call your insurance and see if you are eligible through a self claim.
(28:06):
Okay.
we do that every day.
Okay.
Yeah.
And you talked about one woman who had lost total control, of her bladder.
What's your favorite patient story? That allows my listeners to feel some confidence that, they can have some control over this.
(28:26):
Like when they're traveling, when they're exercising, when they're being intimate.
Can I give three? Because they're all separate and they're all, I'll make 'em all quick.
But my favorite, she was the nicest woman and she would call, she was in her eighties and she would call us regularly, like once a month.
And.
(28:48):
That was fine by us.
Sure, absolutely.
But she was like in her eighties and she got one for she would urinate at night.
And she like no control.
Okay.
And the ER lab actually does help with sexual performance and expression.
Okay.
that ties in with this is she was all of a sudden, like I orgasmed for the first time in 15 years.
(29:10):
Oh my.
And that was our reaction.
And she goes phenomenal doing it all the time.
And we're like, are you serious? Good for you.
And she goes, lemme tell you a story.
And we're like, oh, okay.
This is gonna get very intimate.
Okay.
And she goes, we went to grocery store shopping and we turned into high school sweethearts again and did it in the back of the car.
(29:35):
We have this 80 something woman who's telling us that she's going back to her sweetheart days doing it in the back of the car at the grocery store parking lot.
I think that is like the greatest story, like just that.
She got her confidence back.
She got the pelvic floor cone back.
She got her bladder control back.
Orgasming like that is so wonderful.
(29:57):
Yeah.
And it tells you like all these muscles they're not just used in isolation to urinate.
they serve a broader purpose.
and a lot of these things that happen to women as we get older, it's all connected.
Yes.
And your clitoris runs along your pelvic floor muscles.
Yes.
Like when you're orgasming and you feel that pulsing.
(30:18):
Yes.
That's your pelvic floor muscle contracting.
So when you have that ability to clench and relax at a higher level, you have that intensity response at a higher level.
Yeah.
So the other one is a friend of mine postpartum she was on her second, she had a shower.
(30:39):
Like a sprinkle.
And she goes, GI had a, for like marketing, I had a USB on my key chain in my, for my car.
I had it so I would never forget it.
And it was a PowerPoint of the pelvic floor muscles, what they look like, why they're so important, and all the different spots, right? It's not just the G spot.
There's like the o and all these other spots.
(31:01):
And she comes up to me, she goes hey, do you have that PowerPoint? And I was like, yeah, I do.
I was like, do you need it? I can email it to you after the shower.
Not a problem.
And she goes no.
I just talked to like my mom and she's really curious about it.
and then my mother-in-law is also curious and then my grandma definitely needs to hear about it.
I hooked it up, I hooked my computer up to the tv, can you just really quick do a PowerPoint? And I was like.
(31:24):
You want me to do a PowerPoint at your baby shower on the pelvic floor right now? And she goes yeah.
So in the middle of a baby shower, instead of doing baby shower games, I gave a presentation of the pelvic floor muscles and why they're so important to a group of women.
And it was so wonderful.
They all had like very personal antidotes that they wanted to share.
(31:45):
One of the grandmas actually bought it from me.
Afterwards, she's I need to have your email.
We really do need to talk.
And she ended up getting one.
Yeah.
And everything is I became the girl who would give presentations at baby showers.
Was the second one.
And then the very last one is a quick tidbit, but it was a woman and she needed to be able, she was going to Ireland and she needed to Yeah.
(32:08):
And she had been peeing herself and she knew she had a time constraint between each incident.
And she said, I am going.
To go on this excursion.
I've paid money for it and we're gonna go see, I think it was birds.
I see birds and I don't wanna miss a single thing and I don't care that I have 45 minutes between things.
(32:33):
I need to up that and I need to make sure I can sit and I can enjoy and I can get my money's worth on this excursion.
And I'm doing something every day up this cruise.
And I said, okay.
And she.
It was like six months ahead of this thing.
And she would call us once every two months and give us updates and like tip tips and tricks.
(32:54):
What do I need to do? Yeah.
And she's I am bringing this with me on my trip.
And she goes, I can go on this, I can go on an all day excursion and I can hold it if I need to wait for a bathroom.
I can wait for the bathroom.
If it's a two hour excursion, I can wait that's not a And she's I, this is what I needed because now I don't have to like basically bathroom map.
(33:14):
For entire vacation.
And I loved that just being able to be part of that story of like freedom of of her own personal jail at that point.
Yeah.
Was so great.
something she had saved up for and that she was so excited about.
And preemptively thinking about this part of that trip.
(33:35):
Yeah.
And being able to give that to her.
Just great.
Yeah these are the stories that we don't really hear about, that we don't appreciate.
Until we have a mom who, tells us that she can't go on a trip because of the urinary frequency or the leakage.
Or you can't on the road trip because there's not enough stops or not enough, restrooms.
(34:00):
what about if I have an accident or something like that? No, again, like these are not things that I appreciated admittedly, but I certainly do now.
You may see good amount of, people looking into, after listening to this podcast, watching it on YouTube, reaching I talk to people about their vaginal areas all day, every day yes.
(34:22):
Totally welcome that conversation.
This was not only fun, but it was, very educational.
If they wanted to look into your lab for themselves, where do they go? Do you and your dad have any influence in terms of social media, Facebook, Instagram Twitter.
(34:42):
Yeah.
So if you wanna get ahold of us, you can go to our website.
It's www.er
lap, Y-A-R-L-A p.com.
Got a bunch of our information and you can write us a message, send us an email or something like that.
We're also available on Facebook and Instagram and then newly on TikTok because of our social media intern who was having me constantly send her videos of me.
(35:07):
Doing random things.
So if you're on TikTok, you can also catch us on there as well.
Okay, great.
Great.
Perfect.
Thank the big thing I hope everybody takes away from this is that.
The bladder control leaks isn't just a chapter.
Or it's not your new physical quality trait that you have to carry on for the rest of your life.
It is treatable.
(35:28):
You just need to have the right resources and tools.
And your doctor or your physical therapist, they're working with you.
Yeah.
They're your partner in this.
And in that same vein, so is the R lab.
I just wanna bring that statistic of one in three women way, way down.
It's way too high.
It's way too high.
And here's the other thing I don't think I talked about is that, there are medications for overactive bladder and incontinence but unfortunately a lot of them.
(35:57):
have side effects? I'm not knocking medications, but especially for older patients it can be an issue in terms of feeling sedated.
They're usually on a bunch of other medicines.
So the side effects tend to also, be more you know that for them as well.
So I think this is a great option, maybe alongside medicines if they really need it.
(36:19):
But I think this is a great way.
To get treated right.
And that's why I was very carefully asking you about, what it felt like, because I think that's the biggest hesitance Is it gonna stimulate? No, it doesn't stimulate It really just, you just sit there and it's like any other muscle movement is just a pulse.
(36:40):
Yes.
So I think that's the biggest impediment for most women.
They don't wanna feel pain down there.
But what, the way you've described it is very clear that it's not painful.
And I think that should be a selling point.
it's comfortable.
You guys Try it.
Yeah.
we offer a 60 day money back guarantee.
So if it's something and you're like, yeah, this isn't for me, we have a very generous 60 day money back guarantee, but most people, once they get it and they build it into their routine, yeah.
(37:08):
It's like best friends forever.
And don't forget to like, share and review my podcast.
Remember, it's always ladies first on Soma Says.
Let's make a difference one conversation at a time.
Hi, this is Dr.
(00:01):
Soma.
Just a disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only and isn't intended as medical advice.
Always consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or health regimen.
Let's go to the show.
(00:52):
today on Soma says, I'm joined by Mary Ellen Ryder.
She's the co-founder of Yle, a groundbreaking device that helps women strengthen their pelvic floor and reclaim confidence from the inside out.
We're talking bladder health, sexual wellness, and why pelvic strength matters more than ever in midlife.
Incontinence, urinary incontinence, especially for females, is something that I never thought.
(01:20):
I would be focused on, as an internist, because when I first started medical school and when I became an internist, right? My patients tended to be younger.
Their bladders were fine.
They maybe had, one pregnancy, but they certainly weren't.
In their late forties or their fifties where these things start showing up, and maybe even earlier, right? As my patients started aging with me, I.
(01:50):
Had to be prepared to obviously talk about these things and then help them through it.
And then I came to understand, right? There wasn't a whole lot out there.
Yeah.
And the whole, kegels, right? I don't think I could still do a Kegel myself, Yes.
And then actually implementing that and doing them properly, because those are all three separate things.
(02:15):
And so that's why the R Lab was created and why we've gained so much traction is because it just does those three things for you.
So I understand you work with your father, right? Yes.
he's actually in the other room with my daughter.
Okay.
So he and my mom are actually together.
So you have the founder or the co-founder in the back babysitting your daughter and you're exactly doing the marketing so he is like the, he is like the design, the engineering part.
(02:45):
and then I get to talk to everybody, but I was like, I have this.
Very important podcast.
You at three o'clock, you have to watch her for an hour.
It's gonna be great.
And he's I got this.
And so then he got my mom, who also his, she's a retired professor.
And so the three of them are upstairs.
So what inspired you and your father to start this company? Like what was the inspiration behind it all? So my dad is the medical device engineer.
(03:12):
He does my medical device engineering.
He's done that for about 30, 40 years.
And he was on the design team that designed the sister of the R lab for the National Healthcare Systems of France, Scandinavia, great Britain and Germany.
(03:32):
To tone those pelvic floor muscles.
when I graduated college, I didn't know what to do.
I was interning for Women International, and I was like, I'm going to do something with Women's health, women's rights, something like that.
And he's you should look at urinary incontinence.
Okay.
And I told him absolutely not hard pass.
(03:54):
And he was like, he goes, no serious.
Like I feel like you don't shy away from our topics and you really like to tell everybody to sit down and listen.
I think that we might have something for you.
And so Kind of put away my pride and said, okay, what do I know about urinary incontinence? I know it's for old women and they're in diapers forever, and it's so boring.
(04:22):
And then I did my research and realized that was such a horrible misconception.
Yeah.
It's a horrible myth and it's totally false.
And I spiraled into this like ball of fury and about a week later, busted into my dad's office and was like, we need to change the United States of America's like healthcare perception on this.
(04:53):
This is the energy we want, but maybe not o'clock at eight o'clock in the morning.
And so that's how we started to work together.
Okay.
And he had he brought me in on what the FDA compliance for getting that approval Yeah.
And that is so hard and it takes so much time.
(05:14):
And effort.
Maybe people have this misunderstanding that FDA clearance is given to anybody.
Yeah.
And that you can wake up one day and declare that you're an FDA clear device and the FDA puts a stamp on you and you're on your merry way.
That's not how it works.
(05:34):
It's actually a multi-year endeavor.
Thousands of pages of paperwork.
Clinical studies.
It's not something that you wake up one day and decide you're going to do.
You have to put in a lot of effort and brain power time and paperwork understanding to get that FDA clearance.
So when we say we're FDA cleared, we wear that with a badge of honor.
(05:59):
Because it was really difficult to get.
I'm curious how long did it take to get clearance I think it took, I believe, five years.
Okay.
But again, I came in at the very end of that procedure.
Okay.
We have in our behind me, I'm sure you can see all the paper, like all the boxes we have like boxes filled of like our FDA compliance.
(06:28):
And it's so many shelves.
So when it comes to FDA clearance and compliance, they don't joke around.
It's very strict on what you can and cannot say what you can and cannot do.
And we're an FDA cleared medical device where class two, there's three different classes and we're class two I know, how long it takes for medication approval and we wait forever for the FDA to clear it.
(06:58):
I'm curious because, you and I started off talking about our.
Impressions of what incontinence is or was for women.
And it sounds like we had a similar.
Belief system about it.
And it took, me getting older and my patients getting older to really realize I was completely incorrect.
(07:20):
One in three women experience urinary incontinence.
especially in midlife or postpartum.
And a lot of them never get any treatment.
What does your lap right set out to do for these women in terms of improvement, in terms of teaching them the correct technique of Kegels? What have you and your father set out to do here? Yeah, so I think we had, we both had this, we bought into the myth, I think.
(07:55):
That it's just for older people.
Yeah.
You're stuck with it.
in reality that's not the case.
It affects anybody with a pelvic floor.
Man or woman.
It doesn't matter what age you are, it depends on that tone of that pelvic floor muscle.
And a lot of people believe that those kale exercises, it's a one size fits all.
You need to do them constantly, all the time.
(08:16):
But that's also not always the case.
It can also be from a, like a hyper toned, very clenched pelvic floor as well.
That can also lead to that.
And you need to learn to relax and massage those muscles as well.
And this, so there's like a full spectrum of two tight, too loose pelvic floor muscle tone.
(08:38):
And we as women.
Know something's up when we accidentally pee ourselves, like we know that's not normal.
But then when we bring it up, we're usually told do Kegel exercises and then we're given a pamphlet.
I'm speaking on behalf of my own experience postpartum.
I given a sheet of paper that says how often to do them.
(08:59):
And basically it was a five minute, it was a five minute appointment and I was on my way I was fine with that because I got cleared for exercise and I knew from Yara Lap I'm fine as long as I use my YA lab.
And so the, what we created the Yara lab for was, there's a huge gap between knowing you have to do these exercises.
(09:20):
Then actually doing them.
And then doing them with the proper protocol.
So just like any exercise, if you're not doing it properly and you're not taking that protocol seriously, you're not gonna get the benefits that you're reading about or you've been told about.
And with written instructions.
Well over 50% of women who try to do Kegels, do them incorrectly.
Because these muscles are isolated.
(09:41):
We cannot see them.
Yeah.
If we're clenching for too long or too short, how often am I supposed to do it a day? The Yala bridges that gap and it does everything for you.
it tells your muscles the proper instruction from the device to itself.
Into those muscles with clinically preset programs, so you're not worrying if you're doing it too much or too little.
(10:04):
The rle takes that guesswork away.
It's not wondering if you're doing it properly or if you're clenching your pelvic floor muscles.
Okay.
It takes away any guesswork.
So it fills that gap of I know I have to do it and I have done it, and I've done it properly.
And I think that's the big thing is most women don't do it properly.
So Yala bridges that.
(10:26):
And for women who are like I wanna learn how to do it properly, the YA lap tells you so you know what that feels like.
You know what that muscle movement feels like.
So when you're not using your YA lap, you can still self-initiate and self engage and you know what those muscles are supposed to feel like.
So let's say.
You're using your butt or your thighs or your abs, you're not using your pelvic floor or you're not engaging all of the pelvic floor.
(10:53):
You're engaging part of it maybe.
But with the R lap, you're engaging the entire pelvic floor throughout the entire duration of that exercise.
Okay.
We work with a lot of pelvic floor physical therapists because they're able to see their patients once a week, most commonly once a month, and they wanna make sure that those patients are in doing the instructions they've been told to do properly between those appointments.
(11:25):
What they do is they tell them to get a RA lap so that between the appointments, they know that they're doing the exercise, whether that is, massaging them and relaxing them or kales, and they're doing it properly so that you're not taking.
One step forward, three steps back every appointment, right? You're taking one step forward every single time.
(11:48):
And you're able to work side by side with your clinician, with your patient.
And so again, there's like another gap that we fill.
And walk me through how the ER lap.
How does it work? So we do not have an app.
We are big into total privacy.
So we don't collect any data, we don't do anything.
(12:09):
It's total privacy.
I think I have a PC to show you, but the R lab, it's a tiny little control unit like this.
Then there's a PC stimulator that is, oh, here we go.
Right here.
And that's inserted into your vagina like a tampon.
Okay.
And it sends a gentle signal into your pelvic floor muscles for you.
(12:32):
So when you're telling your pelvic floor muscle, naturally, you're sending a signal from your brain to your pelvic floor.
And sometimes that gets jumbled.
It feels like atrophy sometimes that direction doesn't even make it.
Yeah.
And sometimes it's like we don't know, again, with that being isolated, we don't know if we're actually control using those muscles.
So what the Rle does is it takes the signal from the control unit, like how your brain does, but it sends it directly to your pelvic floor muscles.
(13:02):
So your muscles are moving as they're supposed to do.
But that signal isn't getting lost because it's directly put in And what does that feel like? Yeah.
yeah, it's similar to tens, but it doesn't block pain because we don't want to block pain in your vulva vaginal area.
Okay.
Yeah, we don't believe in that, but, it depends.
(13:27):
We get a lot of different feeling reports.
So most common people are like, it just feels like a muscle movement.
It doesn't feel anything weird.
It's super comfortable.
It just feels like a muscle movement.
And some people say it feels like a firm handshake.
Some people say it feels like a butterfly.
Yep.
Butterfly sensation.
It's comfortable is the universal thing, is that It's okay.
(13:50):
It's comfortable.
We've actually had some women who call us because they're panicking.
They accidentally took a nap while it was working.
Okay.
And we're like, there's so many safety features in it.
Like after it hits that 20 minute mark actually itself off, so it took one hour.
Yeah.
Even if you took a one hour nap, it just hasn't been doing anything for 40 minutes.
You're fine.
Don't worry about it.
(14:10):
But it's super comfortable.
It is gentle, and I think that's part of the success is that it's so customizable for every vul vaginal sensation that we don't have people who are worried about using it.
Okay.
Got it.
And Does someone on your end help them figure out, how to set it? Or does the pelvic therapist, floor therapist do that with the patient? we do Okay.
(14:39):
all on your user's manual, so I think most of the time the woman is able to do it on their own.
They just press the plus button until they feel a movement and then that's it.
Take your hands off and let the YA lab do the rest.
Okay.
Some people do it with their physical therapist that way their physical therapist can note their number.
End as well.
(15:00):
We do that.
With our customer service.
We do have people who will walk you through it step by step to make sure you're using the right.
Program and if you're using the right level of power.
But it's, it is very simple and very comfortable.
that's a great word.
Yeah.
yeah, it's just pretty intuitive.
(15:20):
You just turn it on, pick the program.
Then pick the comfort level, and then the ER lab literally does the entire thing.
It does the timing for you, it does the pattern for you.
You just sit there.
And as it's cleared for the stress urge and mixed incontinence, meaning both stress and urge, right? Yeah.
(15:42):
So is there a time period where a patient.
Uses this device and then they're better, or perhaps they need to keep using it to, because, this is not something that necessarily gets permanently fixed.
can.
Okay.
Yeah, so it's, we're cleared for stress, urge and mixed, and you get the results that you're looking for.
(16:08):
To treat it with through muscle tone and once you get to that point of bladder control that you like, you just go into maintenance mode and you can use it once a week or once every other week.
Once a month, depending on your lifestyle.
So a lot of people, they just wanna keep using it as is, And then some people just wanna use it once a week or once a month, and that's fine.
But it's just like any other muscle.
(16:29):
You wanna make sure that you use it before you lose it.
yes, that's what I was asking.
'cause I couldn't imagine right, that there wouldn't be a maintenance mode just because of the nature of the issue itself.
basically is maintenance.
Okay.
Yeah, you go through treatment and then you go into the maintenance.
And the maintenance is just, you use it as you see fit.
So usually it's once a week or once every other week.
(16:51):
Some people just do it once a month, but it really is just dependent on.
You in your lifestyle and that tone of the pelvic floor.
But we have a lot of people who are just like, they build it into their routine.
And it works.
They've got pelvic floor control.
They no longer pee themselves.
They're just gonna keep what they know is working.
Yeah.
(17:12):
That's totally fine as well.
But what are some of the contraindications to using the, your lab device? Like if someone has a pacemaker Or if they have very advanced prolapse an infection if they're pregnant.
Are these all reasons not to use the yarlap? So if you have a pa, the only contraindication for the R lab is if you have a pacemaker.
(17:37):
Okay? If you have a pacemaker, you cannot use it.
Anybody else? You wanna talk to your doctor and ask about an NMES device and see if that's appropriate for you to use.
'cause again, that was like the sister device for the Yle.
Is that postpartum pelvic floor rehabilitation for the NHS over in Europe.
Okay.
(17:58):
we see a lot of baby shower gifts.
We do we see a lot of people who are like, use it after.
You've been cleared for exercise.
If you've been told to do Kegel exercise, you've been told to relax those pelvic floor muscles, the er laps the perfect tool for you to have because it's gonna do it all for you.
For me personally, postpartum, I was so overwhelmed.
(18:19):
Yeah.
Care for this, like new life that is completely dependent on me.
Like I don't have time to sit and like fully concentrate.
Yeah.
And si but for me to feel my muscles, yeah.
I just don't have the time.
And so that for me, that was when I really started using the yah.
(18:41):
Because I was like, I know this is the time where this is our bread and butter.
Yeah.
Let's do this.
At one point, I remember laughing until I cried because of the image that I think my husband saw, which is me breast pumping up top, doing my ya lap at the bottom, just sitting there watching new girl.
I was literally just sitting there watching my comfort show while I was hooked up to two different machines, I'm like, this must have been such a weird image to walk in on.
(19:12):
I'm sitting on the couch, sitting on a towel on the couch, just like completely naked, just pumping away and doing my pelvic floor exercises.
And he's just like, all right, great.
You do you, whatever you gotta do to keep your mental health and your physical health up.
I'm here for it.
But I was like, this must have been such like an odd.
(19:34):
Image.
And I remember just laughing 'cause I was like, I'm hooked up to two different machines.
Doing everything for me.
It's great.
What have you seen, like the most wins in terms of the types of incontinence? Is it the postpartum stress incontinence that you were talking about? Is it more the menopausal incontinence that women get as the estrogen declines down in the vaginal urethral area? where do you see the biggest successes? Pro? Okay, if I had to rank them, it's really hard because I think in the past five years, so we've been out here for 10 years.
(20:12):
And I would say that there's been a huge shift in women's health, like the there's been like an actual spotlight on it in the past, like three, honestly, three to one year.
before that was like menopause.
Women who were just like, I'm.
I'm 60 and I'm done.
I'm done laughing.
(20:32):
When I'm peeing, I'm done being the butt of the joke.
Okay.
I'm done with the kids saying, ha, mom peed herself when she laughed.
Aw, done.
Let's do something.
And I remember just like constantly being on the phone with women who were like, oh, I've had it since my first kid, or since my second kid who's now, 35 Yeah, let us help you out.
(20:53):
Yeah.
And then postpartum women who are like, this doesn't seem right.
This doesn't seem like a, I'm asking like my mom, if this is normal.
And she's saying, yeah, it's just like a chapter of motherhood.
I'm looking online.
And they're just like, it's part of being a woman.
It's part of that badge of.
Motherhood like that doesn't seem right.
(21:16):
And then like with the access of like social media and stuff, people are like, yeah, this isn't right.
And so I would say like menopause and postpartum are almost even Okay.
Because of the awareness.
Yeah.
been building up over the years.
Yeah.
But we also get athletes.
We get a lot of people who are very active and very proactive about their health.
(21:37):
So I would say it really is dependent.
Yeah, I think I would be split 50 50 for like postpartum and menopause, but the attitude I think has been more like, this isn't normal.
I'm done.
Yeah.
Let's do something.
I think previously there was a lot more shame around it.
yep.
When they Definitely.
(21:57):
And now it's just this is what it is.
What do we do? I've definitely, the way I practice I would be like, okay, time to see a urogynecologist.
Time to see a urologist.
But now, I reel it in a little bit more.
And I asked them more questions, around their hormonal status and all of that.
Are you using vaginal estrogen? And educating them about why it's important to use the safety of vaginal estrogen and perhaps going through pelvic floor therapy, perhaps having them see a Euro GYN if needed.
(22:32):
These are things that.
I didn't necessarily do before, and what I've realized is that this one thing, this incontinence, whether it's stress or mixed or urge, puts women at risk as we get older.
For recurrent UTIs for falls as we get older.
(22:54):
'cause if you can imagine an older woman who's rushing to go to the bathroom they're more falls.
So it's not just about shame and being embarrassed that you've had leakage in your pants.
It's more than that.
it really affects our whole health and Our safety as well, and those are the things I did not appreciate until many years into practice.
(23:19):
how do you suggest integrating your lap with some of the things that I've talked about, like bladder training and estrogen therapy perhaps pelvic floor therapy.
How do you, talk about that perhaps in your advertising or, pitch to other clinicians who use ER lab for their patients.
Yeah.
(23:39):
So like we talked about earlier of filling that gap between appointments, the ER lab does do that.
So let's say you have somebody and you're like, they need to do pelvic floor exercises.
we'll follow up, maybe in a month or so and there's just absolutely no difference because it is just so hard, especially as women to do these exercises.
(24:01):
And then that's kinda like where we come in, Self-initiated ones aren't doing the trick, or like maybe it's moved the needle in the right direction, just a tiny bit.
But they swear up and down that they're doing the exercise properly because they probably think that they are.
(24:22):
They're hard to do.
Yeah.
most women try to do them, they end up clenching, butt abs or your inner thighs.
And if you're engaging any of those, like you may be connecting with the pelvic floor muscles, but are you connecting them in their entirety? Yeah.
You have to genuinely sit there and engage those muscles with purpose every single time, every day.
(24:46):
Yeah.
That's so hard.
And who has the time? And so that's where we come in is you've been told to do Kegel exercises.
Let's do them properly, let's do them together with the, yeah.
Okay.
We have women who have really atrophied pelvic floor muscles.
We've had some women who have had absolutely no control of their pelvic floor muscles for like decades.
(25:09):
I remember one specifically, like for 40 years she just and by the time she talked to us, she had no control and she would only know that she's gone to the restroom when she changed her pants.
Because she had no control.
And even when she tried to do those pelvic floor exercises, it wasn't happening.
Yeah.
(25:29):
She just had no control anymore.
Aw.
And so that's where the YA lap again can fit in beautifully.
Is that okay? You have severe atrophy.
That's okay.
The R ips still gonna send that signal into your pelvic floor muscles.
It might take a little bit longer in that rehabilitation timeline.
But you're still getting the benefits, the r ips doing that pelvic floor exercise for you.
(25:51):
Okay.
And you're still getting that instruction and that protocol that you're a licensed healthcare professional wanted you to get even though it's not your self engaged one, it's a device sending it into it.
And we have people who are like, they use it alongside with their estrogen cream.
They just wait.
The day after.
And they just wait till the day after and then they use it in the morning.
(26:11):
Okay.
Got it.
And that's okay.
There's no contraindication for that.
The only contraindication that we have is no pacemaker.
If you have a pacemaker, you cannot use the R lab.
But we have people who report that they use it with their estrogen cream.
They just wait until the next morning.
But it's all about building that tone again.
And if you've been told to build that tone, the RA is a great tool again to have.
(26:34):
'cause it does that for you We've seen and had a lot of reports from clinicians that like, they wanna make sure that what the patient's being told to do is actually getting done.
And the ER lab is just essentially the training wheels to make sure that they're not falling off on that.
Okay.
Yeah.
I can feel my future perimenopausal and menopausal women listening very carefully to what you're saying, right? cause you have that like huge hormonal shift.
(27:02):
And you have a lot of that.
and your body's on fire basically.
Yeah.
And then everything is now shifting.
Then now you're peeing yourself again.
Yeah.
And it just feels like blow after blow.
(27:23):
What do we do? Yeah.
And our thing is like tone those pelvic floor muscles.
They need the assistance, they need the help.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Welcome to the fam.
You don't need a doctor's script for it.
Nope.
And can women use their H-S-A-F-S-A cards to get it? Yeah.
(27:44):
So you can use their FSA, it's FSA and HSA eligible.
We do that every single day.
Yes.
if you have insurance, we don't bill insurance in the office.
We're a small little company, so we don't have anybody who's Bills insurance in the office.
We have people who do self claims.
And so if you're.
Wondering about that? You can call your insurance and see if you are eligible through a self claim.
(28:06):
Okay.
we do that every day.
Okay.
Yeah.
And you talked about one woman who had lost total control, of her bladder.
What's your favorite patient story? That allows my listeners to feel some confidence that, they can have some control over this.
(28:26):
Like when they're traveling, when they're exercising, when they're being intimate.
Can I give three? Because they're all separate and they're all, I'll make 'em all quick.
But my favorite, she was the nicest woman and she would call, she was in her eighties and she would call us regularly, like once a month.
And.
(28:48):
That was fine by us.
Sure, absolutely.
But she was like in her eighties and she got one for she would urinate at night.
And she like no control.
Okay.
And the ER lab actually does help with sexual performance and expression.
Okay.
that ties in with this is she was all of a sudden, like I orgasmed for the first time in 15 years.
(29:10):
Oh my.
And that was our reaction.
And she goes phenomenal doing it all the time.
And we're like, are you serious? Good for you.
And she goes, lemme tell you a story.
And we're like, oh, okay.
This is gonna get very intimate.
Okay.
And she goes, we went to grocery store shopping and we turned into high school sweethearts again and did it in the back of the car.
(29:35):
We have this 80 something woman who's telling us that she's going back to her sweetheart days doing it in the back of the car at the grocery store parking lot.
I think that is like the greatest story, like just that.
She got her confidence back.
She got the pelvic floor cone back.
She got her bladder control back.
Orgasming like that is so wonderful.
(29:57):
Yeah.
And it tells you like all these muscles they're not just used in isolation to urinate.
they serve a broader purpose.
and a lot of these things that happen to women as we get older, it's all connected.
Yes.
And your clitoris runs along your pelvic floor muscles.
Yes.
Like when you're orgasming and you feel that pulsing.
(30:18):
Yes.
That's your pelvic floor muscle contracting.
So when you have that ability to clench and relax at a higher level, you have that intensity response at a higher level.
Yeah.
So the other one is a friend of mine postpartum she was on her second, she had a shower.
(30:39):
Like a sprinkle.
And she goes, GI had a, for like marketing, I had a USB on my key chain in my, for my car.
I had it so I would never forget it.
And it was a PowerPoint of the pelvic floor muscles, what they look like, why they're so important, and all the different spots, right? It's not just the G spot.
There's like the o and all these other spots.
(31:01):
And she comes up to me, she goes hey, do you have that PowerPoint? And I was like, yeah, I do.
I was like, do you need it? I can email it to you after the shower.
Not a problem.
And she goes no.
I just talked to like my mom and she's really curious about it.
and then my mother-in-law is also curious and then my grandma definitely needs to hear about it.
I hooked it up, I hooked my computer up to the tv, can you just really quick do a PowerPoint? And I was like.
(31:24):
You want me to do a PowerPoint at your baby shower on the pelvic floor right now? And she goes yeah.
So in the middle of a baby shower, instead of doing baby shower games, I gave a presentation of the pelvic floor muscles and why they're so important to a group of women.
And it was so wonderful.
They all had like very personal antidotes that they wanted to share.
(31:45):
One of the grandmas actually bought it from me.
Afterwards, she's I need to have your email.
We really do need to talk.
And she ended up getting one.
Yeah.
And everything is I became the girl who would give presentations at baby showers.
Was the second one.
And then the very last one is a quick tidbit, but it was a woman and she needed to be able, she was going to Ireland and she needed to Yeah.
(32:08):
And she had been peeing herself and she knew she had a time constraint between each incident.
And she said, I am going.
To go on this excursion.
I've paid money for it and we're gonna go see, I think it was birds.
I see birds and I don't wanna miss a single thing and I don't care that I have 45 minutes between things.
(32:33):
I need to up that and I need to make sure I can sit and I can enjoy and I can get my money's worth on this excursion.
And I'm doing something every day up this cruise.
And I said, okay.
And she.
It was like six months ahead of this thing.
And she would call us once every two months and give us updates and like tip tips and tricks.
(32:54):
What do I need to do? Yeah.
And she's I am bringing this with me on my trip.
And she goes, I can go on this, I can go on an all day excursion and I can hold it if I need to wait for a bathroom.
I can wait for the bathroom.
If it's a two hour excursion, I can wait that's not a And she's I, this is what I needed because now I don't have to like basically bathroom map.
(33:14):
For entire vacation.
And I loved that just being able to be part of that story of like freedom of of her own personal jail at that point.
Yeah.
Was so great.
something she had saved up for and that she was so excited about.
And preemptively thinking about this part of that trip.
(33:35):
Yeah.
And being able to give that to her.
Just great.
Yeah these are the stories that we don't really hear about, that we don't appreciate.
Until we have a mom who, tells us that she can't go on a trip because of the urinary frequency or the leakage.
Or you can't on the road trip because there's not enough stops or not enough, restrooms.
(34:00):
what about if I have an accident or something like that? No, again, like these are not things that I appreciated admittedly, but I certainly do now.
You may see good amount of, people looking into, after listening to this podcast, watching it on YouTube, reaching I talk to people about their vaginal areas all day, every day yes.
(34:22):
Totally welcome that conversation.
This was not only fun, but it was, very educational.
If they wanted to look into your lab for themselves, where do they go? Do you and your dad have any influence in terms of social media, Facebook, Instagram Twitter.
(34:42):
Yeah.
So if you wanna get ahold of us, you can go to our website.
It's www.er
lap, Y-A-R-L-A p.com.
Got a bunch of our information and you can write us a message, send us an email or something like that.
We're also available on Facebook and Instagram and then newly on TikTok because of our social media intern who was having me constantly send her videos of me.
(35:07):
Doing random things.
So if you're on TikTok, you can also catch us on there as well.
Okay, great.
Great.
Perfect.
Thank the big thing I hope everybody takes away from this is that.
The bladder control leaks isn't just a chapter.
Or it's not your new physical quality trait that you have to carry on for the rest of your life.
It is treatable.
(35:28):
You just need to have the right resources and tools.
And your doctor or your physical therapist, they're working with you.
Yeah.
They're your partner in this.
And in that same vein, so is the R lab.
I just wanna bring that statistic of one in three women way, way down.
It's way too high.
It's way too high.
And here's the other thing I don't think I talked about is that, there are medications for overactive bladder and incontinence but unfortunately a lot of them.
(35:57):
have side effects? I'm not knocking medications, but especially for older patients it can be an issue in terms of feeling sedated.
They're usually on a bunch of other medicines.
So the side effects tend to also, be more you know that for them as well.
So I think this is a great option, maybe alongside medicines if they really need it.
(36:19):
But I think this is a great way.
To get treated right.
And that's why I was very carefully asking you about, what it felt like, because I think that's the biggest hesitance Is it gonna stimulate? No, it doesn't stimulate It really just, you just sit there and it's like any other muscle movement is just a pulse.
(36:40):
Yes.
So I think that's the biggest impediment for most women.
They don't wanna feel pain down there.
But what, the way you've described it is very clear that it's not painful.
And I think that should be a selling point.
it's comfortable.
You guys Try it.
Yeah.
we offer a 60 day money back guarantee.
So if it's something and you're like, yeah, this isn't for me, we have a very generous 60 day money back guarantee, but most people, once they get it and they build it into their routine, yeah.
(37:08):
It's like best friends forever.
And don't forget to like, share and review my podcast.
Remember, it's always ladies first on Soma Says.
Let's make a difference one conversation at a time.
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