What the Heck are Ben Wa Balls?

What the heck are Ben Wa Balls and what are they for, anyway?

They’re ¾” gold-plated metal spheres inserted vaginally to improve muscle tone. What do they do? Common question! Some women admit to getting talked into buying them by their girlfriends after a late night jaunt to the local “naughty” store after one too many Pina Coladas. They take them home only to find, egad, no instructions! Those little golden orbs (not to be confused with Chinese meditation balls) then end up either as “show and tell” in little Johnny’s class after he finds them in the garbage can or they’re discovered by your grandchildren in your jewellery box after you’ve passed on. Not pretty.

Let’s dispel a myth. They don’t do much all by themselves. If you insert them and wait with bated breath for magical, mystical sensations to start the creation of heaven in your loins, you’ll be disappointed. They don’t vibrate or move on their own so don’t even go there. They aren’t a get-rich-quick plan. They’re more like a slow and steady wins the race idea.

Let’s cover the basics starting with who should use them. Women who’ve been diagnosed with stress incontinence who want to try a non invasive option to surgery, women who are experiencing periodic bladder leakage during a coughing fit or sneezing or laughing a lot, pregnant women who want to strengthen pelvic muscles in preparation for childbirth, women who want to regain the vaginal canal strengths they had before childbirth or women who want to improve their orgasm can all benefit. In my opinion, that last one means every woman should give it a go!

Now for some precise instructions. Basically, you insert them into your vagina and squeeze your PC (pubococcygeal) muscle to keep the balls in. The PC stretches from your tailbone to your pubic bone and simply stated, it keeps your pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum) from slipping out at the most inappropriate time! While this is the muscle used to stop urine flow, you shouldn’t do that regularly since that messes with the sophisticated system that is urination. A toned PC muscle can prevent extraordinary embarrassment.

The balls are quite heavy and designed to be difficult to keep inside you. When you’re first practicing, always wear your panties! You don’t need to test your new wood floors or your ceramic tile to see how resistant to dents and cracks they are! You also don’t want kitty to decide they’re more fun than chasing a mouse as they tumble down the stairs-plonk-plonk-plonk.

Please let me assure you, they won’t get lost! Once they’re snuggled away inside you, there’s nowhere for them to go except into your cervix, and unless there’s something quite unusual about you, that’s just too darned tiny of an opening. If you find yourself tensing up because you can’t find them, (which is probably why you can’t find them-because you’ve tensed up) they’ve probably just tucked themselves into one of the nooks and crannies you were born with and they’re in for the night. You can pop in a DVD or listen to a CD of relaxing music as you lay back on the couch. As soon as the credits roll or the last song is played, stand up and do a quick panty check. You’ll probably find your two golden friends there waiting for a bath.

Specifically, build up to the point where you can run up and down a set of stairs 3 or 4 times without your Ben Wa Balls slipping out. Some of you may say that the stairs alone would be an achievement and you’re right. You get into shape as a bonus!

If you’ve had natural childbirth, you may not be able to keep them in. Start by laying down flat, inserting them and simply noticing how they feel as you tighten your PC muscle. Squeeze for 4 seconds and relax for 4 seconds. Work up to doing that 10 times and call that one set. Build up to doing 3 sets a day of 10 seconds squeezing and relaxing. Always match the squeeze time with the relax time. This may take 6 or 8 weeks, but done daily, you WILL notice a difference. Do it in stages graduating from laying down to standing on your knees to walking across the room to doing your housework and maybe all the way up to jogging with them in.

Isn’t it time to get control of your body?

If you want to find out more about how to protect your pelvic floor health, go to www.bladderfreedom.com