Welcome to The Top Shelf – a flossy exclusive series where we dig into the best of the best, Top-Shelf-worthy intimacy wellness brands. Here on The Top Shelf, we provide insight into high-quality products that are designed to elevate whatever form of pleasure you desire.
As expert curators, flossy aims to inspire our community to support brands and products that prioritize their enjoyment, desire, and wellness. With a commitment to innovative design, clean, high-quality ingredients, and 100% body-safe materials, flossy's Top Shelf products are designed to elevate the pleasure of all people.
Today, we’re welcoming Elevated Pelvic Products co-founder, Lexi Burtman, to share why Elevated is a Top Shelf brand.
Lexi Burtman (she/her/hers)
PT, DPT, PRPC & Co-Founder of Elevated Pelvic HealthNew York, NY
"I am a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist at Solstice Physiotherapy in NYC. I saw a huge need for education around pelvic pain and how it can be treated, rather than suffer in silence. I teamed up with my colleagues at Solstice Physiotherapy and my husband, who is an engineer, to develop an approachable set of dilators that don’t feel taboo or embarrassing, or shrouded in innuendo. I’m a Dr of Physical Therapy with a specialty in Pelvic Health, and my co-founders Kara and Erica and I have a combined 25+ years of experience treating pelvic pain."
If Elevated was a musical style, artist, or song?
LIZZO. Lizzo is her true self, living her best life, out loud. Elevated is a brand and product that empowers people to be who they are and embrace all aspects of themselves.
What are Elevated's core values – what makes you, ‘you’?
Elevated’s mission is to share correct pelvic health information, resources, and tools to help people suffering from pelvic pain and eliminate the stigma of pain with sex. We feel it’s essential to use correct anatomical terms when referring to vaginas. Our core values are to be inclusive, empowering, and informative.
What makes Elevated a Top Shelf brand?
We truly want more people to have access to resources and knowledge that pelvic pain can be treated. We see first-hand how long people suffer from pain with sex, pelvic pain, and tight and sensitive pelvic floor muscles, without a single thing to do on their own.
Elevated is designed and tested in NYC, and made from a collaboration of expert Pelvic Health PTs and a top-skilled product and design engineer. Combining expertise in health and engineering we identified what was essential for both treatment and ease of use, with the best design, materials, and information.
What was the ‘aha’ moment to Elevated’s inception?
As a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, I would see patients come in after suffering in silence for years with pelvic pain (pain with sex, bladder symptoms, constipation, etc.) and having absolutely no resources, knowledge, or tools of what they were suffering from or the cause. Some cases are straightforward, a pelvic floor muscular problem and patients see almost immediate relief from education and vaginal dilators. I found that when I brought up dilators to these patients they were extremely hesitant. I wanted to create a product that felt approachable- not like something they needed to hide or be embarrassed about.
What sets Elevated’s products apart from others on the market?
Not only was the stigma around dilators something Elevated wanted to break, but we also wanted to make them easier to use. We have tried every dilator out there on ourselves and with our patients. This led us to add a comfortable handle, as Physical Therapists we of course wanted them to be ergonomically friendly! And they are made out of medical grade silicone, we felt that silicone was a necessary material to use to be body safe, as they are going inside the vagina. The set comes in 5 sizes, as we prioritized a streamlined approach to not be overwhelming.
Why is it important to support Top Shelf brands?
As practitioners, we are always testing products. We can always tell when the people behind the product are experts, and have a patient's best interest at heart. The results are always a better designed, better made, highest quality product- that works!
What does pleasure look like for you?
Pleasure is being in control of your body. Having knowledge and confidence to experience pleasure to your fullest potential.
Any last words?
Our dream is for people to know about dilators before they need dilators. Elevated is here to bring the conversation about painful sex to the mainstream. About 70% of people with vaginas experience painful sex at some point in their life! Friends should be talking about this with each other, we should see this in the media. People should know that this is a common problem, but there’s an effective solution. So many people feel alone and isolated with the problem of painful sex. Like many things, the quicker this problem is addressed the sooner you get better, and dilators along with Pelvic PT are very effective!
We hope one day to see Elevated dilators on nightstands, in tv shows and movies, and for sale in national retailers!
