Kegel Balls: Common Mistakes and Myths About Your Pelvic Floor

Kegel balls have been sold for years as a shortcut to "restore" your pelvic floor and improve sex. In my practice I meet two extremes: people who wear them for hours expecting miracles, and people who dismiss them as a gimmick with no basis. Neither is quite right. Here is what they do, the mistakes I see repeated, and how to get something out of them without hurting yourself.

What Kegel Balls Are and What the Evidence Says

They are one or two spheres, usually made of silicone, that you insert into the vagina. Some contain an inner weight. The idea is that, as you feel their weight, your pelvic floor contracts to hold them in place, and that works as training.

What we do know is that pelvic floor training works. A 2018 Cochrane review concluded that pelvic floor muscle training improves stress urinary incontinence compared with no treatment (Dumoulin et al., 2018). What is less clear is whether the balls add anything to regular Kegel exercises.

The trials are small. In one with 70 women with incontinence, those who added balls noticed improvement sooner, although by six months the results were similar (Porta-Roda et al., 2015). In another, with 24 women, there was no difference between training with balls and training without them (Arvonen et al., 2002). For vaginal cones, a very similar device, the Cochrane review places them on a par with conventional training, with tentative results and some women finding them uncomfortable (Herbison & Dean, 2013).

As for pleasure: I have not found solid trials showing that kegel balls improve orgasm or sexual satisfaction on their own. A well-conditioned pelvic floor may help, but promising it would go beyond what is known.

Kegel Balls Mistakes and Myths I See in My Practice

Myth 1: "The longer you wear them, the better." A muscle is not trained by staying contracted all day. It is trained by contracting and, above all, by relaxing. Wearing them for hours while shopping or watching TV can tire the muscles and sometimes causes tension or pain.

Myth 2: "They are always good for you." If your pelvic floor is already tense (hypertonic), adding more contraction makes things worse. This is more common than people think, and it often shows up as pain during sex, urinary urgency or pelvic discomfort. In those cases the work goes in the opposite direction: learning to let go.

Myth 3: "They are only for women with weak muscles." They can suit many situations, but they are not a treatment on their own. If you leak urine or feel a bulge or heaviness in the area, the first step is an assessment, ideally with a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

Myth 4: "If I feel them slipping, my pelvic floor must be terrible." It is normal for them to move or slip at first. It depends on weight, size and technique, not only on your strength.

Myth 5: "Kegels work even if I am not sure I am doing them right." A very common error is squeezing the glutes, abdomen or thighs, or even bearing down instead of lifting. If you cannot find the right muscle, the balls will not do it for you.

How to Use Kegel Balls Safely

If you have no pain or symptoms and want to try them, this is how I would approach it:

1. Start by locating your pelvic floor without the balls. It is the muscle you would use to stop the flow of urine, but do not practice this while urinating on a regular basis.
2. Choose the lightest weight and use a water-based lubricant. Avoid silicone-based lubricants, which damage the surface.
3. Keep sessions short, 5 to 15 minutes, every other day. I have found no reliable source that sets a specific wear time, so pay attention to how your body responds.
4. Contract and lift for a few seconds, then release completely for the same amount of time. Relaxing counts as much as contracting.
5. Remove them if you feel pain, excessive pressure, burning or discomfort afterwards. Move up a weight only when the current one feels easy, and not before.
6. Clean them with warm water and mild soap or a toy cleaner before and after each use.

If you have recently had a baby, wait for your postpartum check-up, usually around six weeks, and get the go-ahead first.

When to See a Professional Before Using Kegel Balls

I recommend an assessment first if you have:

• Pain during sex or when using tampons.
• Urine leaks, frequent urgency, or a feeling of heaviness or a bulge in the vagina.
• Recurrent urinary or vaginal infections.
• Recent pelvic surgery or an ongoing postpartum recovery.

In these cases the first step is to understand what is going on with your pelvic floor. Then you can decide whether the balls make sense.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do kegel balls improve sex? They may help indirectly if they improve control and awareness of the area, but there is no solid proof that they do so on their own.

Can I use them every day? I would not. Muscles need rest, even more so if you tend to hold tension.

What if they hurt? Stop and get advice. Healthy training should not be painful.

My Straight Take

Kegel balls are not magic, but they are not nonsense either. They are a tool for becoming aware of your pelvic floor, as long as you use them sparingly, calmly, and knowing whether you need to strengthen or to release. If you are considering them, start with the second: understand your body.

If you would like to see an option, here is the SVAKOM kegel balls set. 

If what you are going through goes beyond choosing a product, such as pain, leaks or a discomfort you cannot explain, that can be worked on, and you do not have to do it alone.

References

• Dumoulin C, Cacciari LP, Hay-Smith EJC. Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018.
• Herbison GP, Dean N. Weighted vaginal cones for urinary incontinence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2013.
• Porta-Roda O, et al. Effect of vaginal spheres and pelvic floor muscle training in women with urinary incontinence: a randomized, controlled trial. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 2015.
• Arvonen T, Fianu-Jonasson A, Tyni-Lenné R. Effectiveness of two conservative modes of physical therapy in women with urinary stress incontinence. Neurourology and Urodynamics, 2001.
• Arvonen T, et al. A clinical trial comparing conventional pelvic floor training and training with vaginal balls in women with stress urinary incontinence: a pilot study. Nordisk Fysioterapi, 2002.