Many women experience intimate health concerns that significantly impact their quality of life: urinary incontinence that limits social activities and exercise, vaginal dryness that makes intimacy uncomfortable, or pelvic floor weakness that worsens over time. These issues often feel too embarrassing to discuss, even with healthcare providers, leaving women to suffer in silence or assume these problems are simply inevitable parts of aging. Understanding available treatment options empowers women to reclaim comfort, confidence, and quality of life without surgery or extended recovery time.
Leslie Klein, a nurse practitioner at the Tryon Women’s Center, now offers EmpowerRF treatments to address these common concerns. Her expertise in women’s intimate wellness provides valuable insights into this innovative technology and how it helps patients experiencing urinary incontinence, vaginal atrophy, pelvic floor weakness, and other conditions affecting daily life and relationships.
1. What is EmpowerRF and how does it work?
EmpowerRF represents a comprehensive approach to treating painful intercourse and other chronic pain conditions concerns using radiofrequency technology.
EmpowerRF is a device system with several different handpieces, each designed for specific treatments. The technology addresses conditions including urinary incontinence (whether stress incontinence, urge incontinence, or a combination), vaginal atrophy related to menopausal changes, pelvic floor weakness, loss of sensation during intercourse, painful intercourse, and inadequate vaginal lubrication.
While EmpowerRF’s specific applications for vaginal conditions are relatively new (available for only about three years), the underlying radiofrequency technology has been used safely in medical treatments for much longer. This established foundation means the technology itself is tried, tested, and proven safe.
Leslie explains: “The system works by stimulating your body’s natural healing and strengthening processes rather than requiring surgical intervention or ongoing medication.”
2. What conditions does EmpowerRF address?
EmpowerRF treats a range of intimate health concerns that many women experience, particularly after menopause.
The treatment effectively addresses urinary incontinence in its various forms. Stress incontinence occurs when physical activities like coughing, sneezing, laughing, or exercising cause urine leakage. Urge incontinence involves a sudden, strong need to urinate that’s difficult to control. Many women experience a combination of both types.
Vaginal atrophy, a common consequence of declining estrogen levels during menopause, causes tissue thinning, dryness, and inflammation. This condition often leads to uncomfortable or painful intercourse, decreased vaginal lubrication, and general discomfort.
Pelvic floor weakness affects many women, particularly after childbirth or with age. Weakened pelvic floor muscles contribute to incontinence, organ prolapse, and reduced sensation during intimacy.
Additional concerns that EmpowerRF addresses include loss of sensation during intercourse and chronic vaginal dryness that affects comfort and sexual health. About 50% of the female population experiences urinary incontinence, making these treatments relevant to a significant number of women.
3. What are the different EmpowerRF treatment options?
EmpowerRF offers three distinct treatment modalities, each targeting specific concerns with different approaches.
VTone uses electrical muscle stimulation to strengthen pelvic floor muscles. This treatment works similarly to doing Kegel exercises but provides more targeted and intensive muscle stimulation than you can achieve through exercises alone. By strengthening these critical support muscles, VTone helps reduce incontinence and improve pelvic floor function.
FormaV applies controlled heat deep into vaginal tissues to stimulate collagen production. The heat triggers your body’s natural healing response, prompting tissues to produce new collagen that tightens and rejuvenates the area. This treatment addresses vaginal dryness, tissue laxity, and incontinence by improving tissue health and structure. FormaV penetrates deeper into tissues than laser treatments can reach, though both approaches stimulate beneficial collagen production.
Morpheus8V combines radiofrequency energy with microneedling (the same proven technology used for facial rejuvenation), adapted for vaginal treatment. This more intensive option works best for more severe symptoms of incontinence and typically benefits older, post-menopausal women with more advanced concerns. The microneedles deliver radiofrequency energy precisely where needed for maximum effectiveness.
4. What does an EmpowerRF treatment session involve?
Understanding what happens during treatment helps patients feel prepared and comfortable.
Treatment sessions vary slightly depending on which modality you’re receiving. Some treatments may involve applying numbing cream beforehand for comfort. Regardless of the specific procedure, treatment involves inserting a specialized probe into the vagina.
With VTone, you’ll feel muscle contractions as the electrical stimulation activates your pelvic floor muscles. FormaV produces a warming sensation as heat penetrates the tissues. With Morpheus8V microneedling, most patients feel minimal discomfort, perhaps some pressure or warmth, thanks to the numbing preparation.
After Morpheus8V treatment, you might experience some discomfort for about 24 hours, along with possible spotting or itching. These temporary effects resolve quickly as healing progresses.
“All procedures can be completed in 60-90 minutes, making them convenient to fit into a busy schedule,” Leslie shares. “There’s very little downtime required, so you can typically undergo treatment without taking time off work.”
5. How many treatments are needed and what results can you expect?
Treatment protocols vary based on which EmpowerRF modality addresses your specific concerns. VTone requires six weekly sessions to achieve optimal results. FormaV and Morpheus8V each require three treatment sessions. While these initial treatment series provide significant improvement, you can opt for additional treatments if desired, though additional packages require separate payment.
Results develop progressively throughout your treatment course. For issues like painful intercourse, vaginal lubrication, itching, and burning, improvement typically becomes noticeable during the treatment series. Skin health generally improves, becoming healthier and more resilient.
When treating incontinence, improvement usually increases throughout the treatment course and continues improving for up to six months after completing the series. This ongoing improvement occurs as your tissues continue responding to the collagen stimulation and muscle strengthening.
6. How long do EmpowerRF results last?
Understanding the longevity of results helps you plan for ongoing intimate wellness maintenance. Results may last up to one to two years and maintenance treatments are recommended once symptoms return, though they can usually be treated with a single treatment. The aging process continues, and your body continues losing collagen over time, making it challenging to permanently stay ahead of natural collagen depletion.
Morpheus8V results generally last up to a year or longer per treatment session. Eventually, as the natural aging process continues, symptoms will gradually return, though usually less severely than before treatment.
“Maintenance treatments help preserve your results and address any returning symptoms before they become problematic,” Leslie says. “Think of these treatments as part of your ongoing wellness routine rather than a one-time fix.”
7. Who makes a good candidate for EmpowerRF?
Most women experiencing intimate wellness concerns can benefit from EmpowerRF treatment, though some exceptions apply.
Any woman experiencing symptoms of urinary incontinence, vaginal atrophy, painful intercourse, pelvic floor weakness, or related concerns qualifies as a potential candidate, provided urinary tract infections and vaginal infections have been ruled out.
However, certain conditions preclude EmpowerRF treatment.
- Women with pacemakers or other implantable devices cannot undergo these treatments due to interactions between the electrical components and radio frequency.
- Women currently undergoing cancer treatment or chemotherapy should not receive these treatments, though they may become candidates after completing their cancer care.
- Some autoimmune diseases may not respond well to treatment, making those patients less ideal candidates.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid EmpowerRF treatments, as these haven’t been adequately studied for safety.
If you’re using estrogen creams or hormonal supplements, you can continue these throughout treatment. However, these hormonal treatments will need to be temporarily stopped immediately before and after each treatment session. If you’re taking overactive bladder medication, the goal is to eliminate that need by the time your treatment series concludes.
8. What about other intimate wellness treatments?
EmpowerRF joins other innovative treatments available for women’s intimate health concerns.
Some women may already be familiar with laser technology for intimate wellness, such as CO2 laser treatments. While both lasers and radiofrequency technology stimulate collagen production and improve tissue health, they work through different mechanisms and penetrate tissues differently. Radiofrequency energy, used in EmpowerRF treatments, reaches deeper into tissues than laser treatments typically can.
It’s worth noting that certain conditions can be treated with EmpowerRF, or through alternative intimate wellness treatments. Lichen sclerosus, a skin disorder affecting the vulva (not the vagina), causes symptoms including itching, burning, painful intercourse, and gradual loss of skin pigmentation, resulting in white patches. This condition, thought to be autoimmune in nature, affects about 0.1% of the general population but is seen more commonly in clinical practice. Treatment for lichen sclerosus can include different approaches, including steroid creams and estrogen creams, Mona Lisa laser treatment or EmpowerRF.
Intimate wellness concerns don’t have to be permanent struggles that diminish your quality of life. EmpowerRF offers effective, non-surgical solutions that help you reclaim comfort, confidence, and enjoyment in daily activities and intimate relationships.
Leslie empowers patients to make a change: “Whether you’re dealing with urinary incontinence that limits your activities, vaginal dryness that affects intimacy, or pelvic floor weakness that worsens over time, understanding your treatment options empowers you to take action.”If you’re experiencing intimate wellness concerns and want to learn more about EmpowerRF treatments, schedule a consultation with Leslie today.
