Kegel Balls 101

Maybe your partner has suggested using Kegel balls during sex play, maybe you’ve heard the old hype about how they can make your pussy tighter, or maybe you’re just straight up curious.

While Kegel balls won’t make you “tighter” per se—because vaginas come in different shapes and sizes and there ain’t no changing that (nor should there be!)—when used correctly, these brilliantly designed little weighted balls can absolutely facilitate and intensify your orgasms, among a whole host of other significant benefits. How? By strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, of course.

No matter what your incentive is for exploring the world of Kegel balls, knowing how and why to use them will 100% help you get the most out of the experience.

First, what exactly are Kegel balls?

Around 500 AD or so, single Ben Wa balls, often made of silver, were mentioned in Burmese and Japanese sex writings. Although their stated purpose was to increase men’s pleasure during sex, they were eventually reclaimed by women to increase the strength of their pelvic floor muscles—and their own orgasms.

Today’s Kegel balls, AKA Ben Wa balls, yoni eggs, Kegel eggs, jade eggs, vaginal weights, or vaginal cones—to name just a few of the terms used—are used to enhance traditional Kegel exercises, which, in short, are a series of exercises geared at contracting and releasing your pelvic floor muscles. 

While Kegel balls come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and materials (i.e., plastic, metal, or stone), most are small, round or egg-shaped, and slightly weighted.

Why use Kegel balls?

There are countless benefits to having stronger pelvic floor muscles. Bet let us count a few for good measure, shall we?

- They feel good, and simply wearing them can be arousing

- Stronger, easier orgasms and increased arousal, thanks to improved blood circulation and a greater ability to “relax” your muscles

- Greater control of your muscles and an increased ability to contract them, which makes for a “tighter” feeling during sex

- Better bladder control

- Faster vaginal recovery post-pregnancy

- Overall vaginal rejuvenation

- Increased natural lubrication

- Prevention of vaginal prolapse

How it works

Your pubococcygeneus (PC) muscle is a muscle that runs along your pelvic floor. When you’re holding in your pee, it’s your PC muscle you're clenching. This ‘clenching' is the foundation of all Kegel exercises: repetitive contracting and releasing is the way to tone and strengthen your PC muscle. 

Experts recommend starting out by strengthening your pelvic muscles without Kegel balls because you need to be confident that you’re squeezing the right muscles before adding weights into your routine. You might compare it to going to the gym and using your own body weight as resistance before introducing weights. 

There are many helpful guides out there, like this one, which can help you develop your weightless Kegel exercise practice. Hot tip: don’t actually hold in your pee—it’s bad for you.

Once you’re ready to insert your Kegel balls, know that it can feel weird at first, especially if it’s your first time inserting them. To make it as simple and easy as possible, apply a water-based lube to the Kegel ball(s) and the outside of your vagina. Lie down on your back, open and relax your legs, and insert the first Kegel ball. If your Kegel has more than one weighted ball, keep pushing the balls up into your vagina, but never past the point of comfort. 

Many Kegel balls have a loop or string at their end for easy removal, so be sure to leave it hanging free. If you’re inserting one or more single Kegel balls, you’ll simply want to insert them one at a time. 

What to do once they’re in

There are many muscle strengthening exercises you can do once the Kegel balls are inside you. The basic technique is as follows:

With the Kegel balls inside your vagina, tighten your pelvic floor muscles. You should feel the balls lift as you squeeze. Hold the squeeze for five seconds and then relax for five seconds.

Repeat the squeezes five times to complete one set, and do up to three sets a day (you can increase the number of repetitions and sets as you get more comfortable). You might try variations of this exercise by assuming a squatting, sitting, or standing position while you explore!

Your Kegel balls can also of course be used as sex toys/pleasure enhancers, in either a solo or partnered context. 

Solo play

Once you’re ready and your Kegel balls are happily nestled inside you, you might simply go about your day in an ever-looming state of arousal (your dirty little secret). Or, you might integrate them into an epic masturbation session—they’ll enhance the sensation of whatever you’re else you’re doing. Yum. You might even add a vibrator into the mix.

Partner play

If you want to heighten your sensations during penetrative sex, Kegel balls can help you and your partner get warmed up, so to speak. You might insert them before you head out on a date, or else make insertion the first phase of delicious foreplay. The longer the balls are in, the more aroused you’re likely to feel when it’s time to get it on. Just make sure to pull the balls out before your partner (or another toy) glides on in. 

Kegel balls can also make anal sex more unbearably pleasurable. Anal penetration can push the balls against your G-spot, sending intensely holistic pleasure-shivers throughout your entire body. Just sayin’.

Taking them out

You can leave Kegel balls in for up to six hours, depending on the balls used and your individual preferences. 

If your Kegel balls have a removal string, lay down in a comfortable position, add more lube to your vaginal opening, and slowly pull on the string until they slide out. 

If you’re removing single balls, you’ll want to squat and squeeze your vaginal muscles to push them out, much as you would with a vaginal pessary/suppository, a diva cup, or a tampon.

As sexual wellbeing and pelvic floor training has become more popular around the world, more and more Kegel balls are hitting the market—but they’re not all created equal, and it can be hard to determine which ones are safe and effective. Bellesa Kegel Balls are body-safe, non-porous, hypoallergenic, and come in three different weights/sizes so you can start wherever you feel most at ease.

Think of your pelvic floor as your foundation for greatness, and you’ll never get too far off track, that’s what I always say. <3