Dr. Jennifer Harrington Talks GLP-1s, Incontinence, and Emsella
Written by Malana VanTyler
In some circles, GLP-1 agonists have been hailed as miracle drugs that lead to effortless weight loss. While these claims are hyperbolic, GLP-1s have proven themselves to be highly effective for losing excess fat. But as Dr. Jennifer Harrington can tell you, they aren’t without side effects.
Dr. Harrington is the founder of Harrington + Associates Plastic Surgery. In addition to cosmetic surgeries, her Twin Cities-based clinic also offers clients a number of non-surgical procedures and treatments, including GLP-1s.
With all the buzz around GLP-1s, many patients come in eager to start right away. But before prescribing or administering anything, Dr. Harrington makes sure they fully understand the risks and benefits.
“Our whole practice is big on education,” she explains. Some patients are already aware of many of the potential side effects of GLP-1s, but very few are aware of a lesser-known one: urinary incontinence.
As Dr. Harrington tells her patients, GLP-1s can cause urinary incontinence in a roundabout way. Often, patients new to the drugs will lose a significant amount of weight very rapidly. When weight loss happens that fast, it usually involves the loss of at least some muscle.
Stress incontinence occurs when the muscles of the pelvic floor are too weak to adequately support the bladder. Muscle loss can considerably weaken the pelvic floor, which can then lead to stress incontinence.
The possibility of this side effect is enough to make anyone reconsider taking GLP-1s. However, November is Bladder Health Month, and this year, Dr. Harrington wants her current and future clients to know that if they’re experiencing stress incontinence, there’s an easy, non-invasive solution.
At Harrington + Associates Plastic Surgery, Dr. Harrington has successfully treated men and women with stress incontinence (from GLP-1s or otherwise) with a groundbreaking device called Emsella.
Through the power of high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology, Emsella non-invasively causes the pelvic floor to contract, relax, and repeat the process.
That might sound like a Kegel exercise at first. It’s similar, but Emsella takes Kegels to a whole new level. Its electromagnetic pulses induce thousands of contractions per session, and those contractions are far more intense than what a patient can achieve with Kegels alone.
As a result, the patient’s pelvic floor becomes considerably stronger, reducing or eliminating stress incontinence over time. It may take several weeks for a patient to see optimal results, but many patients start to notice an improvement after the first session.
If patients are on the fence about Emsella, Dr. Harrington notes that they’re often more eager to try it once they learn that treatment is (literally) as simple as sitting down. At the clinic, patients sit fully clothed on a specialized chair for around 30 minutes.
Although Emsella causes intense muscle contractions, it’s a painless procedure. At most, patients may feel a slight pulsing or tingling sensation.
Does the availability of Emsella treatment mean patients can take GLP-1s without reservations? Not necessarily. Dr. Harrington still takes the time to help each patient understand the potential risks and benefits. However, for anyone struggling with pelvic floor weakness and dysfunction, freedom from stress incontinence is closer than ever.
