First: not all incontinence is the same
This is what separates a medical treatment from a service sold by the session, and it is worth understanding before paying anything:
Magnetic stimulation works very well in stress incontinence. In urge incontinence the result is far more limited, and there are causes — significant prolapse, an anatomical injury, a neurogenic bladder — in which no chair is going to solve anything, and where persisting with sessions merely delays the real solution.
So faced with incontinence, the correct step is a urological or urogynaecological assessment first. It is not a formality: it is what decides whether this technology is the answer or a waste of time and money. And if the assessment says your case needs something else, you will be told.
- Stress incontinence — leakage on coughing, laughing, sneezing, jumping or lifting. It is pelvic-floor weakness. This is what the device is for.
- Urge incontinence — the urge arrives suddenly and there is no time to reach a bathroom. The problem is the bladder’s detrusor muscle, not the pelvic floor. It is a different problem with a different treatment.
- Mixed incontinence — both at once, which is more common than people think.
What magnetic stimulation actually does
The pelvic floor is a muscle, and like any muscle it strengthens by contracting. The problem is that most women cannot contract it properly — and many, after childbirth, cannot feel it at all. Kegel exercises work when they are done correctly; the problem is that almost nobody does them correctly, and nobody sustains them for months.
Magnetic stimulation solves precisely that problem: it does not depend on you knowing how to contract. The magnetic field depolarises the motor neurons directly and the muscle contracts, at an intensity and repetition no voluntary exercise reaches. A single session delivers thousands of maximal contractions.
And one thing that matters enormously in practice: it is done seated and fully clothed. Nothing to undress, nothing inserted, no catheter. It is why many patients who had gone years without mentioning their incontinence — out of embarrassment — agree to be treated.
The other half of the device: skeletal muscle
The same principle applied to body muscle: supramaximal contractions in the abdomen, buttocks, thighs and back. It tones and strengthens.
And here are two warnings that cost sessions, and get given anyway:
It is a tool for toning and strength, and as such it is excellent — particularly in a postpartum abdomen with mild diastasis, or for someone who cannot train because of a limitation. As a weight-loss tool it is not, and it is not sold as one here.
- It does not replace exercise. It complements it. Anyone who does not move and expects a machine to do the work will pay for sessions and return to the starting point within months.
- It is not a weight-loss treatment. It stimulates muscle; it does not meaningfully burn fat. If what you have is fat, the path is different — see Alma PrimeX, cryolipolysis, or straight to liposuction if the volume is real.
- It does not repair an anatomical injury. Significant rectus diastasis, a prolapse, a tear: that is surgery, not stimulation. See abdominoplasty.
What the sessions are like
Each session lasts around half an hour. It does not hurt: it is felt as an intense, rhythmic contraction, strange at first, and one gets used to it within the first minutes. There is no recovery: you leave and carry on with your day.
It is not a single session. It is worked in a series — a muscle is not strengthened in one day — and the number is defined at the consultation, according to the starting point and the goal. A spaced maintenance schedule follows: the pelvic floor, like any muscle, detrains if abandoned.
Improvement in stress incontinence usually begins to be noticed during the series, not at the end of it. Results may vary from person to person.
The equipment, and who assesses
The Fotona StarFormer (Fotona, Slovenia) is used: high-intensity Tesla magnetic stimulation (HITS), in two applications — IntimaWave, the chair that strengthens the pelvic floor seated and clothed (urinary and faecal incontinence, postpartum recovery), and TightWave for skeletal muscle (abdomen, buttocks, thighs, back).
Treatment is delivered at the clinic, founded in 1971. And what was said at the start bears repeating, because it is what distinguishes this from a machine shop: incontinence is diagnosed before it is treated, and that diagnosis belongs to urology or urogynaecology. If your case needs something else, you will be told — even if the session had already been sold.
Cost is defined at the consultation, according to the number of sessions in the series. See the price list.
Dr. Arístides Arellano is a plastic surgeon holding a specialty licence: he practises under a Mexican medical licence (D.G.P. 1125959) and a specialty licence in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (0002008), both issued by the Directorate General of Professions (DGP), which reissued his certificate of professional standing in 2025. His career began before Mexico’s present-day specialty-board system existed: he belongs to the founding generation of plastic surgery in Puebla, the second generation of a surgical tradition started in 1971 by Dr. Francisco Arellano Ocampo. Trust is verified, not promised: both licences are public and anyone can look them up in the DGP’s National Registry of Professionals.
Trust is verified, not promised. All 210 scanned documents —degree, licences, diplomas, publications and certificates, from 1977 to 2025— are open in Dr. Arístides Arellano’s credential archive, alongside an explanation of the difference between a specialty licence and a board certification.
The plan · the series and maintenance
- Before — the assessmentIf the reason is incontinence, diagnosis comes first: a urological or urogynaecological assessment. Not all incontinence responds to this technology, and knowing that beforehand avoids paying for sessions that were never going to work.
- Session (≈30 min)Seated and fully clothed. It does not hurt, nothing is inserted, no catheter. It feels like an intense, rhythmic contraction. No recovery: you leave and carry on with your day.
- During the seriesImprovement in stress incontinence usually begins to be noticed during the series, not at the end. The number of sessions is defined at the consultation.
- At the end of the seriesThe result is evaluated and it is decided whether to continue, maintain, or change strategy. If it did not work, you are told.
- MaintenanceSpaced sessions. The pelvic floor is a muscle: it detrains if abandoned. Results may vary.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to undress?
No. It is done seated and fully clothed. Nothing is inserted, there is no catheter and no examination. That is precisely why many patients who had gone years saying nothing about their incontinence — out of embarrassment — finally agree to treatment.
Does it work for any incontinence?
No, and this is the most important warning on the page. It works very well in stress incontinence (leaking on coughing, laughing or lifting), which is pelvic-floor weakness. In urge incontinence the result is far more limited, and there are causes — significant prolapse, an anatomical injury — where no chair solves anything. That is why diagnosis comes before the session, and it belongs to urology or urogynaecology.
Is it the same as doing Kegels?
It is the solution to the problem with Kegels. Kegel exercises work when done correctly, but most women do not contract the pelvic floor properly — and many, after childbirth, cannot feel it at all. Magnetic stimulation does not depend on you knowing how to contract: the field depolarises the motor neuron and the muscle contracts, thousands of times per session.
Will it help me lose weight or define my abdomen?
It tones and strengthens muscle; it does not meaningfully burn fat and it does not replace exercise. If what you have is fat, the path is different. Anyone who does not move and expects the machine to do the work will pay for sessions and be back at the starting point within months.
I have abdominal separation after pregnancy. Will this fix it?
Mild diastasis can benefit from strengthening. A significant diastasis is an anatomical injury of the abdominal wall, and no stimulation repairs that: it is repaired in theatre. You are assessed and told which is your case — even when the right answer is the one that sells no sessions.
How many sessions do I need?
It is worked in a series, because a muscle is not strengthened in a day, and the number is defined at the consultation according to the starting point and the goal. A spaced maintenance schedule follows: the pelvic floor, like any muscle, detrains if abandoned.
Every case is different. Discuss yours in a personal consultation.
Book a consultation on WhatsAppEvery figure published on this site is approximate and is not a quote. Any procedure or treatment first requires a private assessment consultation with Dr. Arístides Arellano —$800 MXN, charged separately— and it is at that consultation that the definitive cost of your case is determined.
Educational content; it does not replace a medical consultation. Results may vary from person to person.