Maybe your partner has suggested using vaginal balls during sex play. Maybe you’ve heard them mentioned in a movie, or as the punchline to an off-color joke. Maybe your favorite magazine did a piece on how to use them to enhance your pelvic floor exercises. Or maybe, you’re just plain curious. Whatever your reason, it’s important to be informed before you dive into the world of kegel balls!
Kegel balls (also called yoni eggs, kegel eggs, jade eggs, vaginal weights, vaginal cones, or some other variation) are a way to enhance the traditional kegel workout. The workout is just a series of contracting and releasing the pelvic floor muscles, that is scientifically proven to strengthen the pelvic floor. Over time, the pelvic floor muscles atrophy unless they’re exercised through traditional kegels or supported by other devices like kegel balls.
What are kegel balls?
Kegel balls are everywhere, and they come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. While they’re not all created equal, the intended purpose of most vaginal tightening balls is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. But, what are kegel balls exactly?
Most kegel balls are small, usually round or egg-shaped devices that are slightly weighted and inserted into the vaginal canal and instructed to leave in the body. It’s common to wonder “How do kegel balls work?”, and the answer is by creating resistance that the body needs to engage the pelvic floor or vaginal muscles to use to prevent them from falling out. In theory, this muscle engagement and increased blood flow can build strength over time.
When the pelvic floor muscles are stronger, this leads to stronger orgasms and sexual pleasure (two of the more exciting benefits!), better bladder control, vaginal rejuvenation, increased natural lubrication, and a whole host of preventative measures. It’s no wonder people wonder how to use kegel balls and how soon they can get their hands on them.
Types of kegel balls and what they’re made of
As sexual wellness, kegel exercises, and pelvic floor training becomes more popular, more vaginal balls have begun to arrive on the market. The problem is, they’re not all created equal, and it can be hard to know which ones are safe and effective!
Some weighted balls are plastic, some are metal, some are made of stone, and all tout to be an effective aid in strengthening pelvic floor muscles. The reality is that not all vaginal tightening balls are safe and effective, which is why we’re going to look at some of the most common options available on the market.
Yoni Balls
Yoni balls, also known as yoni eggs, are a kegel weight option made of jade, rose quartz, aventurine, and crystal. People are instructed to insert them into the vagina and leave them there for hours with the goal of strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. However, contracting the muscles over an extended period of time can have a negative effect on the pelvic floor.
Women ask, “Are yoni balls safe?”, and the reality is that while these may be pretty to look at, stones of any kind are NOT vajayjay-friendly. They tend to be porous, which means they’re hard to keep clean and can put the woman at risk for a pelvic infection. Not only that, but they tend to be too bulky while also being too lightweight to truly strengthen the muscles.
Ben Wa Balls
Ben wa balls, also known as Geisha balls, are circular and usually made of metal and come in a variety of diameters and weights for individual fit. For those wondering “How do ben wa balls work?”, they are similar to yoni balls, where women are instructed to leave them in for extended periods of time to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
Do ben wa balls strengthen the pelvic floor? Maybe, but currently, no ben wa balls on the market are FDA registered, so there is no way to know what they are made of or if they were tested for safety. Not only that, but they tend to be too light to build muscle, and when left in for an extended period can actually be detrimental to the pelvic floor.
As a general rule, metals can contain harmful alloys that pose a high risk to your health, especially when inserted into the body. Other downsides of ben wa balls are the lightweight and lack of an external removal string, making them hard to retrieve.
Plastic Kegel Balls
Plastic kegel balls, also known as vagina balls, are cheaper and lighter alternatives that are readily available on the market. There are a variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and instructions on how to use them. Generally, women are instructed to insert them into the vagina and leave them there for an extended period of time.
Across the board, these options are not FDA-registered and tend to be made out of lower-quality, cheaper materials. Many kegel balls contain harmful plastics and chemical colorings that irritate sensitive tissues and may increase cancer risk due to repeated exposure to toxins. The varied shapes and materials also make them hard to clean, increasing the risk of infection.
Say hello to a new type of kegel weight: Kegelbell
The Kegelbell Vagina Gym™ is the next-generation way to perform pelvic floor exercises. Forget everything you’ve known about kegel weights until now. Kegelbell is the first externally weighted pelvic floor training solution and the heaviest on the market.
Due to its unique design and increased weight, women only need to use it for five minutes a day, three times a week and are able to directly target the right muscle group. Women can now safely and effectively tone their pelvic floor muscles with results they can feel – in as little as two weeks.
The Kegelbell insert is made of soft, medical-grade silicone for a safer and more comfortable fit, with no risk of irritation and no toxic colorants or additives. The starter kit comes with a variety of weights (eight different weight combinations) and two different size inserts to give you a variety of workouts that will gradually build muscle in 30g increments. The bulb is also very easy to keep clean, reducing the risk of infection. No strawberry-shaped vibrating hoo-ha insert can match that.
How Long Do You Keep a Kegel Ball in?
Kegels themselves are just a muscle contraction that doesn’t require inserting any sort of kegel ball. The important piece about kegels to understand is that it’s an alternating relaxing and contracting that strengthens the pelvic floor by gradually improving muscle tone over time.
That’s why kegel balls and weights with instructions to hold them in and walk around with them for hours is a big red flag. By using any pelvic floor training device for extended periods, the muscles can overexert and never get the chance to release from a contraction. No, thank you!
Some products recommend leaving the device in place for up to six hours at a time. But leaving heavy kegel balls inside your vagina for long periods forces the pelvic muscles to contract more tightly to retain the weight. This type of lengthy contraction doesn’t work well for your quadriceps or your obliques, and it isn’t going to work well for your vajayjay, either.
Conversely, products that are too light or are oddly shaped like kegel eggs won’t help you activate the proper muscles. If they come with instructions at all, they wrongly advise people to wear them inside the vaginal canal for hours. Bad idea! Keeping a muscle in a constant state of contraction creates cramped muscles that lead to hypertonic tightness. If you wear kegel balls for hours, you should visit a pelvic floor physical therapist to massage out the tight muscles.
Not sure what to do with those junky kegel balls? We suggest you give them to a cat to play with or make them into Christmas tree ornaments. And those chemicals that may be embedded in plastic or metal products? The longer a product is in contact with your sensitive lady areas, the more likely that toxins are to be absorbed into your body. Bacteria love warm, wet locations, so a kegel ball held in the vagina for hours can also be a busy breeding ground for infection.
Why Kegelbell is better…
The Vagina Gym™ keeps the weight outside the body, which allows the use of graduated weights to slowly increase resistance over time. The stackable weights simply hang on the external end of the silicone insert, and gentle contractions keep the insert in place, alternating with releasing and relaxing the muscles. Start with the 30g weight, just the insert, or whatever weight combination gives your pelvic floor a solid workout that will build strength over time.
Your vajayjay is sensitive, flexible, delicate, and STRONG, but using an inexpensive and potentially toxic kegel ball system that doesn’t target the appropriate muscles can damage even the healthiest pelvis. A sensible exercise plan with an irritant-free product will make it stronger and healthier, preventing leaks, restoring lubrication, and improving your sexual experience.
Take control “down there” and strengthen your pelvic floor with the only FDA-registered kegel weight product on the market – Kegelbell.
