Elitone is a wearable device that treats stress urinary incontinence by sending electrical pulses through the skin to contract your pelvic floor muscles, no internal probe required. It sticks to the outside of your body like a pad and does the muscle-strengthening work for you, targeting the same muscles you’d engage during Kegel exercises but with more consistent and forceful contractions than most people can achieve on their own.
How the Device Stimulates Your Pelvic Floor
Elitone uses a technology called neuromuscular electrical stimulation, or NMES. Thin, flexible surface electrodes sit against the skin of your perineal area (the region between your legs). When the device turns on, it delivers small electrical currents through these electrodes that penetrate the skin and activate the nerves controlling your pelvic floor muscles. Those nerves fire, the muscles contract, and over weeks of repeated sessions, the muscles grow stronger, just as they would from regular exercise.
What makes Elitone different from older pelvic floor stimulators is that everything stays external. Traditional electrical stimulation devices for incontinence use a vaginal or rectal probe to deliver current directly to the pelvic floor. Elitone’s surface electrodes eliminate that step, which is a major reason many women prefer it. The device tested seven different electrical waveforms with gradually increasing voltage to find combinations that could effectively reach the pelvic floor through the skin rather than from inside the body.
During a session, you feel a tingling or pulsing sensation that builds into a noticeable muscle contraction. The intensity is adjustable through a connected smartphone app, so you can start low and increase it as you get comfortable. Each session typically lasts about 20 minutes, and because the device is small and worn under clothing, you can use it while going about your normal routine.
What It Treats
Elitone is designed specifically for stress urinary incontinence, the type of leaking that happens when physical movement or activity puts pressure on your bladder. Coughing, sneezing, laughing, running, or lifting something heavy are classic triggers. This is distinct from urge incontinence, where you feel a sudden, intense need to urinate that’s hard to control. The FDA cleared Elitone in February 2019 as a “cutaneous electrode stimulator for urinary incontinence,” and its intended use is limited to the stress type.
Stress incontinence is overwhelmingly common. It affects millions of women, particularly after childbirth or during and after menopause, when hormonal changes and physical strain weaken the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscles that supports the bladder, uterus, and rectum. When those muscles lose tone, the urethra doesn’t seal as tightly during moments of pressure, and urine escapes. Elitone’s goal is to rebuild that muscular support.
What a Typical Treatment Course Looks Like
The recommended routine is one 20-minute session per day for about six weeks, though some users start noticing improvements sooner. You peel the GelPad (a disposable adhesive electrode strip) from its packaging, attach it to the reusable controller unit, and place it against your perineal area inside your underwear. The app walks you through intensity settings and tracks your sessions.
Results are gradual. Electrical stimulation works the same way any strength training does: repeated contractions cause the muscle fibers to adapt and grow stronger over time. You won’t feel a dramatic difference after one session, but over several weeks the pelvic floor becomes better at supporting the urethra during sudden increases in abdominal pressure. Many users report fewer leaks and less need for protective pads as the weeks progress.
Electrical stimulation for pelvic floor rehabilitation has a solid research base behind it. In clinical studies of vaginal electrical stimulation for stress incontinence, women saw significant reductions in leak episodes after completing a treatment course. Elitone applies the same underlying principle through a less invasive delivery method.
Who It Works Best For
Elitone is most effective for women with mild to moderate stress urinary incontinence. If you leak a few drops when you cough or exercise, you’re in the sweet spot for this kind of device. Women with severe prolapse or significant anatomical changes may need a different intervention. It’s also not intended for urge incontinence or mixed incontinence where the urge component is dominant. The product’s own screening process is designed so that potential users can self-identify whether they have stress incontinence (appropriate for the device) versus urge incontinence (not appropriate).
People with certain implanted electrical devices, like cardiac pacemakers or defibrillators, should avoid any external electrical stimulation device. The same applies if you have active skin infections or open wounds in the area where the electrodes would sit. Pregnancy is another standard exclusion for pelvic floor electrical stimulation.
How It Compares to Kegels Alone
Kegel exercises target the exact same muscles, and when done correctly and consistently, they work. The problem is that an estimated 30 to 50 percent of women perform Kegels incorrectly, often bearing down instead of lifting, or engaging the wrong muscle groups entirely. Even women who do them correctly tend to lose motivation over time because the exercises are invisible and easy to skip.
Elitone bypasses both problems. The electrical current activates the correct muscles automatically, so technique isn’t a factor. And the app-based tracking creates a structure that’s easier to stick with than remembering to squeeze on your own three times a day. For women who’ve tried Kegels and either couldn’t do them right or couldn’t stay consistent, an NMES device offers a more reliable path to building pelvic floor strength.
That said, combining electrical stimulation with voluntary Kegel exercises tends to produce better outcomes than either approach alone. Using Elitone doesn’t mean you should stop doing Kegels. Think of the device as a way to ensure the muscles get a thorough workout even on days when you wouldn’t have remembered to exercise them yourself.
Cost and Accessibility
Elitone is available without a prescription, though some insurance plans and HSA/FSA accounts cover it with a provider’s recommendation. The upfront cost includes the reusable controller, and you’ll need to replace the disposable GelPads regularly, which adds an ongoing expense. Compared to in-office pelvic floor physical therapy sessions, which can run $100 to $300 per visit and require multiple appointments, the total cost of a home device often comes out lower over time, especially if your insurance doesn’t cover PT visits.
For women who want a clinical-grade pelvic floor workout without internal devices or recurring office visits, Elitone fills a specific gap. It won’t replace surgery for severe incontinence or substitute for a full physical therapy evaluation if something more complex is going on. But for straightforward stress leaks, it offers a practical, evidence-backed way to strengthen the muscles responsible for bladder control from the privacy of your own home.