Your questions – our answers

To ensure correct and successful use, we recommend that you read the operating instructions before use.

It is best to train on the PelvicTool with light clothing, e.g. leggings or jogging pants, as this ensures optimal contact with the sensor. Firm fabric such as jeans can falsify the measurement results or reduce the effect.

Yes, because the sensor tube of the pelvic floor training device is made of pleasantly soft, elastic material. This is important for a comfortable, pain-free workout, because the pelvic floor area and especially the perineum are usually sensitive to pressure, especially for mothers after childbirth. Due to the soft material of the sensor tube, the force transmission takes place over a large area. The force effect is transferred to the entire contacting surface and added up.

No. On the PelvicTool you train exclusively with the own muscle power of your pelvic floor; the PelvicTool itself does not move and does not set any electronic stimuli. The training is based on the biofeedback method: The sensor tube of the PelvicTool records your contractions, i.e. the tension and relaxation of your pelvic floor muscles, and displays them directly during the training via app on your smartphone or tablet. This allows you to continuously adjust your muscle tension to the given training curve.

Training the pelvic floor muscles is not fundamentally different from training other muscle groups. A muscle gets stronger and is easier to control if it is built up continuously through regular training. However, in the case of the pelvic floor muscles, the focus is often not so much on pure muscle strength, but on their control: greater attention must be paid to the neuromuscular aspects. In general, it is recommended – as with all training – to start with not too high intensities and few training sessions per week and only then to increase the frequency and intensity. The muscles should gradually get used to the training.

Training recommendation for beginners

Frequency: approx. 2 – 4 training sessions of 4 – 6 minutes per weekSpeed, level of difficulty, programme duration: low – medium (50 % – 100 %)

Training recommendation for advanced users

Frequency: approx. 3 – 7 training sessions of 5 – 15 minutes per weekSpeed, degree of difficulty, programme duration: medium – high (100 % – 150 %)

These are rough guidelines. Most people feel whether they can and want to train more frequently and intensively or whether they prefer a slower training build-up. Well trained muscles allow frequent training. With frequent training, the automation patterns in the brain are also stored more quickly and sustainably.

You can train with the PelvicTool even with initially weak muscle control.

It may take some time to regain control and movement of the pelvic floor muscles. Quite a few people feel their pelvic floor only slightly at the beginning and are not able to move the muscles in a controlled manner. Frequent training and regular practice will help here. The central point of the PelvicTool training is the feedback via smartphone or tablet. The smallest observed and registered movements (contractions) stimulate neuromuscular processes in the pelvic floor area, which with regular repetition lead to steadily stronger movements and better control.

“The muscle grows when you need it” applies not only to the biceps, but also to the muscles of the pelvic floor. Frequent and intensive training usually shows significant improvements quite soon.

Those who train with the PelvicTool quickly notice that the device reacts sensitively to the smallest changes in sitting position or even to coughing and speaking. This high sensitivity of the sensor system is absolutely necessary for effective biofeedback training for the following reasons:

• Beginners in particular usually do not feel their pelvic floor muscles very well yet. Some tense the abdomen but not the muscles in the pelvic floor. It is therefore important that they learn very quickly to tense the pelvic floor muscles specifically and also to relax them again. For this, the smallest movements must be measured, i.e. the device must be very sensitive.

• A second reason for apparent interference effects is the fact that the pelvic floor muscles are connected to the skeleton and to other organs inside the body. The pelvic floor muscles are not isolated. Therefore, shifts in position, a laugh, a cough or even just speaking are immediately transmitted to the musculature and consequently registered and indicated by the sensor system. For example, many patients are known to lose small amounts of urine when they cough or bounce because the muscles do not close well enough for a short time due to coughing. The sensor tube of the pelvic floor trainer must measure and indicate such movements.

For normal, daily pelvic floor training, the above-mentioned “disturbing effects” are not decisive. When a patient seeks pelvic floor therapy, the level of suffering is usually already high. The willingness to carry out the training correctly in order to achieve success is therefore great, or the danger of cheating by means of position changes is low.

The following procedure is recommended for test measurements in physiotherapy:

1. Exercise with light clothing such as sweatpants or leggings.
2. Calm, stable sitting during the test programme:
   – Keep buttocks still
   – back straight
   – no movements with upper body, legs, arms
3. No talking, coughing, laughing.
4. Concentration on the tension and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles according to the test programme.
5. Of course, you can stop and start again if a malfunction occurs.

From a purely physical point of view, it is practically impossible to isolate all the “disturbing” movements, to eliminate them or to compensate for them (directly or by calculation), e.g. with additional sensors. Various studies have shown that due to the complexity of the pelvic floor and the diversity of the buttocks, the apparent “disturbing influences” cannot be substantially reduced. Fixing the patient’s body does not help either. This has a fundamental impact on comparative measurements or progress monitoring. The solution lies in multiple measurements and a little statistics. Our measurements show without exception that this is a good way to recognise and display the training progress. In the “Guide to progress control by means of tests” you can find instructions (for applications of the previous app, blue) on how to do this.

Yes, the PelvicTool is also suitable for group training. To do this, please log in to the respective device at intervals of at least one minute.

Once a connection between PelvicTool and mobile phone has been established, it remains until you switch off Bluetooth on the smartphone or tablet or close the app.

Yes, you can download and use the PelvicTool app on multiple smartphones or tablets. Please note that you can only connect your PelvicTool to another device once the previous connection has been closed (switch off Bluetooth or close the app on the previous smartphone completely). The reason for this is that only one mobile phone or tablet can be connected to the PelvicTool at a time. Otherwise, if several mobile phones are connected at the same time, it would not be clear which one the PelvicTool should refer to.

In order for the same PelvicTool to be used by the next patient, the previous user must «release» the device. This can be done by pressing the «Disconnect» button in the PelvicTool app or by briefly deactivating and reactivating the Bluetooth function or by closing the PelvicTool app completely. In addition, the connection is automatically disconnected anyway if the mobile phone or tablet is out of Bluetooth range (approx. 100 m). 

• If you want to exercise, you must “wake up” the PelvicTool by briefly squeezing the soft part of the Sensortube in the middle with your thumb and index finger. By squeezing, the training device comes into active state and then pairs with your smartphone/tablet.

• Make sure your smartphone or tablet has Bluetooth turned on and location enabled.

• If your PelvicTool is still connected to another smartphone, you must first disconnect it (close the app or briefly switch Bluetooth off and then on again).The reason for this is that only one mobile phone or tablet can be connected to the PelvicTool at a time.

No, once the connection is established, it will remain until you turn off Bluetooth on your smartphone or tablet or close the PelvicTool app completely in the background of your smartphone or tablet.

The sensortube responds quickly and sensitively to the smallest changes in tension. This is important and crucial because control of the pelvic floor muscles often does not work very well. It is also not possible to position your buttocks and the cleft of your buttocks exactly the same way on the seat for every training session. Additionally, the training condition of the pelvic floor muscles varies greatly among individuals. For optimal training, the entire system, the training device, and the individual, must be adjusted using measurements. This is exactly what the calibration accomplishes at the beginning of the training.

By default, the program selects a range of 80 % of the exerted force during calibration (“maximum force”). However, you can easily choose a different force range for each game. The absolute value is not crucial; rather, it should be a range that allows you to perform the training/game effectively while applying tension or force at a suitable level for you. Overly tense contractions should be avoided. On the other hand, it is important that the pelvic floor muscles are genuinely engaged.

In addition to the three standardised combination workouts, a “Professional” combination workout is also available. The “Professional” programme was specially developed for use in physiotherapy and offers maximum customisation options. For example, you can individually adjust the training curves in the “Professional” training to tailor the training of tension, relaxation and holding the pelvic floor muscles even more precisely to your needs. If you want to reset the settings back to the app’s default values, you could easily do this with the “Reset default settings” button.

This depends on your health insurance and the benefits of your supplementary insurance. Prevention and active health promotion are in many cases supported by the health insurance. For questions regarding the assumption or participation of costs, please contact your health insurance company directly; only they can tell you whether costs will be reimbursed or not.

You can claim cost sharing for the health insurance companies listed below,CSS, Helsana and Sympany listed below, provided you have the corresponding supplementary insurance:

Health insurance company CSS

Instructions application for cost sharing for CSS-insured persons with supplementary insurance

• First of all, please check with CSS whether you have supplementary insurance, thanks to which you receive a contribution towards the costs of purchasing a PelvicTool pelvic floor trainer.

• Order the PelvicTool in our webshop: Beckenbodentrainer PelvicTool Home & Sport.  As a CSS insured person, you benefit via CSS-enjoy365-Shop from 1.1.2023 until 31.12.2023 of a *discount of 20 % on the sales price of the PelvicTool Home & Sport. Enter the voucher code «CSS_PELVICTOOL_20%» in Alonea-Shop on the page «Check your shopping cart» in the field «CODE» an klick on the button «APPLY DISCOUNT CODE». You will now see in the shopping cart total that the 20% discount has been deducted from the sale price. Then continue with the button «PROCEED TO CHECK OUT». Fill in your details for the delivery address. In the “Remarks” field, please note your CSS customer number. Then check your order, select the method of payment and click on “ORDER NOW”.

• The PelvicTool is delivered to your home.

• The invoice from Alonea AG is enclosed in the package. You no longer need to pay this invoice, as you already paid for the product when you ordered it in the web shop. Submit this invoice to CSS Insurance for cost sharing.

*Terms of use: The CSS-enjoy365 discount of 20 % on the retail price of the PelvicTool Home & Sport is exclusively redeemable in the Alonea AG webshop, valid 1.1.- 31.12.2023 and cannot be cumulated with other promotions.

Click here for more info on the cooperation with CSS…

Health insurance Helsana

Instructions Application for cost sharing for Helsana health insurance policyholders with supplementary insurance “PRIMEO” (reimbursement 90 % of the costs)

• First of all, please check with Helsana whether you have the supplementary insurance “PRIMEO”, thanks to which you receive cost sharing when purchasing a PelvicTool pelvic floor trainer. If you do not have PRIMEO insurance, you cannot apply for reimbursement, but as a Helsana-insured person you will still receive a 10% special discount on the purchase of a PelvicTool, using the code mentioned below.

• Order the PelvicTool in our online shop: Beckenbodentrainer PelvicTool Home & Sport. As a Helsana-insured person, you benefit from a **one-time discount of 10% on the retail price of the PelvicTool Home & Sport (discount of 10% also applies to Helsana-insured persons without PRIMEO (self-payer)). Enter the voucher code “HELSANA_PELVICTOOL_10%” on the «Check your shopping cart» page in the “CODE” field and then click on the turquoise button “APPLY DISCOUNT CODE”. You will now see in the shopping cart total that the 10% discount has been deducted from the sale price. Then continue with the button «PROCEED TO CHECK OUT». Fill in your details for the delivery address. In the “Remarks” field, please note your Helsana customer number. Then check your order, select the payment method and click on “ORDER Now”.

• The PelvicTool is delivered to your home

• The invoice from Alonea AG is enclosed in the package. You no longer need to pay this invoice, as you have already paid for the product when ordering it in the webshop.

• In order for Helsana to accept the invoice for PRIMEO-insured persons, you must now write the following details on it by hand:Your insurance number, your date of birth and the code for the PelvicTool Home & Sport: (H03.500.56).

• Submit the invoice to Helsana insurance for cost sharing.

**The Helsana special discount of 10 % on the sales price of the PelvicTool Home & Sport, which is limited in time, also applies to non-PRIMEO insured persons. The discount code is only valid in the online shop of Alonea AG valid until 31.12.2023 and cannot be cumulated with other promotions.

Click here for more info on the cooperation with Helsana…

Health insurance Sympany

Sympany policyholders with a plus or premium supplementary insurance will be reimbursed 50 % of the costs up to a max. of CHF250/calendar year when purchasing a PelvicTool Home & Sport.

Click here for more info…

Yes, a monthly rental is possible for customers based in Switzerland. Please contact our sales partner directly: Parsenn Produkte AG, Tel. 081 300 33 33.

The soft, pressure-sensitive sensor tube of the PelvicTool is made of silicone-containing plastic. It can be cleaned gently with a cloth and a little soap and water if necessary. Please do not use disinfectant as it may damage the material.

Alonea AG offers a 2-year warranty (valid from the date of purchase) on the PelvicTool Home & Sport for any manufacturing-related defects as well as for material defects that could arise during proper use of this product.

Please store the PelvicTool in a dry environment.

If you wish to dispose of it, please do so at an appropriate disposal point for electrical parts or return it to us.

If the PelvicTool Home & Sport does not meet your requirements, you can return it to us within 10 days, unused, in its original packaging and in perfect condition. If you have purchased the product from an Alonea distributor, it is best to contact the distributor directly.

When handling personal data, we comply with data protection legislation. More Information can be found at the following link: www.alonea.ch/datenschutz.