Should You Order Vaginal Weights?

Many women looking for solutions to their pelvic floor issues ask me about using vaginal weights. Vaginal weights are weights you can put in your vagina to help train you to lift the weight up and in. The idea is that if you can hold the weight in, your are strengthening your pelvic floor!

Vaginal weights are also know as kegel balls, weighted cones, yoni eggs, jade eggs and smart trainers.

For women experiencing pelvic floor symptoms like incontinence or mild prolapse due to weakened pelvic floor musculature, the research suggests that these tools are just as effective as pelvic floor muscle training.

But before you order yours, it's important to understand that not all women are leaking or experiencing prolapse simply due to a weakened and overstretched pelvic floor.

There is usually much more to the story. For women in the pregnancy and postpartum population, it's actually very unusual for me to see this straight forward of a solution.

For women experiencing a high tone pelvic floor that is compensating for weakness in the hips or abdominal wall, there is actually a risk that these tools will make things worse.

That's why it's important to have an evaluation with a specialist prior to committing to a kegel trainer.

But for those of you who are interested in trying them out, here's some pros and cons to know before you start.

The Pros to Vaginal Weights

Vaginal weights offer feedback to clients who might bear down when performing transitions or attempting to kegel. Bearing down will force the weight out, so using weights can help cue the individual to instead lift the weight up and in.

Vaginal weights offer awareness to clients to help them understand how to lift and contract the pelvic floor. By attempting to keep the weight in, they perform a correct kegel versus bearing down or clenching glutes/inner thighs.

Weights are generally affordable and can be easily purchased and used at home.

The Cons

Depending on the cause of your symptoms, using weights may make things worse.

They also do not replicate the natural activity of the pelvic floor.

Clients typically use the weights for 15 min at a time, 2x a day while performing household activities. However, the pelvic floor is dynamic, constantly contracting and relaxing based on activity level.

Training the pelvic floor to contract for 15 minutes straight does not replicate normal function of the pelvic floor through movement.

Vaginal weights only address one aspect of the core system. The abdominal wall, diaphragm, and glutes also play key roles when it comes to pelvic floor dysfunction. Vaginal weights do not train these other systems.

Conclusion

Vaginal weights, cones and smart trainers are useful for some people to help heal their incontinence or mild prolapse.

This is typically indicated for people who have a weakened pelvic floor.

Almost all women will benefit from seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist to learn if they are right for you.

If you decide to use vaginal weights to fix your issues on your own, make sure you monitor for worsening symptoms and stop using the weights if they occur.

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Want to learn more about your pelvic floor or find out if pelvic floor physical therapy is for you? Make sure you check out our blog The Ultimate Guide to Know If Pelvic Floor PT is For You.