Despite the protests of many people all over the world, it’s undeniable that both vaginas and penises do have an impact on our sexual enjoyment. Of course, it’s still true that length isn’t everything, but everyone’s body is different!
Small differences in shapes and sizes of different parts of our genitals can make all the difference in how much you enjoy sex. Sometimes two people just “fit”.
One area that seems to come under constant scrutiny though is how “tight” the vagina is. Many women feel less attractive, and enjoy sex less because they feel that their vagina has become “loose” as they get older. Men often have an idealised image that the tighter the vagina, the more pleasure it provides.
There are also many “miracle cures” you can try, that claim to return your vagina to it’s former vitality!
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation around all of this, so don’t go rushing out to buy the latest invention yet. Instead, let’s spend a little time debunking some of the myths about “vaginal looseness”, and look into some of the real ways to help make sex feel great again.
Can Your Vagina Get Loose?
The first thing to explore is the very idea that your vagina gets looser as you age, or use it more, or even eat different foods!
While the core idea is somewhat true, everything isn’t always as clear and simple as it seems.
Firstly, yes, the vagina can become more loose. But this isn’t a process related to aging, how sexually active you are, or anything else. It’s just something the vagina does.
The average length of a woman’s vagina is around 3 or 4 inches long. Even for an average man, their penis would totally fill it up with ease. The key though, is that the vagina grows up to double its usual size when it becomes aroused.
Obviously as something grows, it’s going to become more loose. So if you’re particularly aroused one evening, sex might not feel as good as you thought, and you might worry if it’s because of your vagina!
The more long term loosening that many women worry about is usually nothing to do with the vagina itself. Instead, it’s caused by the muscles surrounding the vagina becoming weaker.
These muscles help hold everything in place, and also give you the ability to tense up and “grip” things with your vagina. When they become weak, this whole process loosens off, and the vagina will naturally sag as it isn’t held in place as tightly.
Muscles of the Vagina
This means that when you start to think about “tightening” your vagina, you should instead be looking to the muscles around your pelvis that actually support and help the vagina.
One of the most important muscle groups in this area are called the pelvic floor muscles. This grouping forms a small diaphragm across the bottom of your torso, which helps to support all the important internal organs not held in place by other muscles.
When these become damaged, they often sag down. This lets all the organs on top of them sag too, including the vagina.
Tightening Your Vagina
Naturally, if these muscles play such an important role in the support of the vagina, then these should be the main muscles you try to improve when you want a tighter vagina.
Many women go about this process in different ways though, with some having more success than others!
Vagina Tightening Exercises
The best way to improve the strength of the pelvic floor muscles, and get a tighter vagina, is through Kegel exercises. These simple exercises consist of tensing and loosening the muscles for around ten seconds to form a set.
Doctors actually recommend that everyone perform Kegel exercises everyday! So even if you think your vagina is fine, you could help prevent problems in the future, or even improve things in ways you didn’t know were possible.
Alongside these, there are a number of other exercises that can help build the strength of these muscles back up. Things such as pilates, yoga, leg ups, bridges, or even sex are all great forms of exercise that can give these often neglected muscles a good workout!
Tightening Creams
Many of the “miracle cures” found online take the form of topical creams which you apply to your vagina.
As with anything found online, these creams often have plenty of good reviews, saying that they did exactly what they were supposed to. Most of them also have their fair share of negative reviews, saying that it did nothing and was a complete waste of money.
Generally, we don’t endorse these kinds of products as it’s very difficult to prove whether or not they’ll work. If you want to give it a try, then feel free, but don’t go into it with high expectations.
Vaginal Wands
Another cosmetic product that has appeared on the market recently is the vaginal wand.
The idea of a vaginal wand seems to originate from Asia, as a tradition passed down from generation to generation. The wands are made of special ingredients that, once inserted into your vagina, will tighten it back up.
Whether the ancient origins of the vaginal wand are true or simply just a marketing trick, thanks to modern technology it’s very easy to deconstruct one of these wands and see exactly what’s inside. Most of the time, it’s a blend of various plants, herbs, and other natural ingredients.
Doctors around the world have frequently debunked vagina wands, stating that there is no evidence they have any positive effect on the tightness of a woman’s vagina.
Even worse though, is the fact that these wands can often be harmful for the body. The plant matter in the wand can heavily dry out the vagina. As it dries out, the vagina becomes much tighter, which is probably where the claims of these wands come from.
This dryness is not a good thing though, and will often lead to painful sex, or even abrasion or tears. The tightness you experience will only be temporary as well, as over time the vagina will relubricate itself and loosen off again.
It’s safe to say that we recommend you avoid these wands, as they may cause you more harm than good!
Herbal Remedies
Just as you’ll find many “miracle” creams out there to help return your vagina to its former glory, there’s also plenty of claims that various herbal remedies will work.
Many different plants, leaves, herbs and fruits are recommended for all kinds of problems. Among those claimed to be good for your vagina are aloe vera, oak apple, and even gooseberries. Most are extracted into some kind of juice or gel, then applied topically to the vagina.
Again, the effects of these concoctions are generally not proven, so we can’t really recommend them. In general though, natural solutions tend to be better for you than man-made ones, so if you did want to try these then you might not experience any major problems. It’s just probably not going to do much to tighten your vagina.
Sex Toys and Pelvic Floor Tools
While creams and salves are somewhat controversial solutions to a technically non-existent problem, sex toy manufacturers have also created their own cures for looseness. However these cures are proven to at least have some effect on the vagina, and in most cases a positive effect.
There are a whole host of sex toys turned exercise tools you can try, from simple kegel balls and ben wa balls, to more extravagent vaginal wands and even electroshock training kits!
If you want to learn more about these and more training aids, check out our article covering them here.
Vinegar
We’ve saved the best for last, because this is undoubtedly one of the strangest solutions that gets recommended to women. This isn’t even advice that just comes up once. In fact there are multiple ways the vinegar can allegedly help your vagina!
The simplest way is to just apply it topically to the skin of the vagina. While this will have a tightening effect, it’s unfortunately temporary. This is just a result of the acids from the vinegar interacting with your skin.
If you did this with particularly strong vinegar though, it can actually be corrosive to your skin. Rather than helpful it will actually make things worse!
Not to mention the idea of putting vinegar on the vagina just sounds downright painful!
Other recommendations include bathing in a vinegar-water mixture, to tighten up skin all over the body, or even drinking vinegar! It should go without saying that this could have unwanted effects on many of your internal organs, and should be avoided.
However even topical use of vinegar does have its own drawbacks. The pH of the vinegar can easily upset the pH of the vagina, which can lead to yeast or other bacterial infections.
Tight Pelvic Floor Muscles (Or When Not To Do Any Of The Above!)
So far, the problems of a loose vagina seem relatively simple. Unfortunately, there’s still significantly more to the story.
Generally, we prefer to refer to pelvic floor dysfunction rather than pelvic floor looseness. This is because looseness isn’t the only problem you can experience. Some people instead suffer from an overly-tight pelvic floor.
Should someone with a tight pelvic floor work to make things even tighter, then they could make their problems worse instead of better.
An over-tight vagina might sound like the dream of many men, but it can also present its own problems in the bedroom.
Most obviously, when things are tighter down there, it’s going to be more difficult to have sex. This becomes most evidence when sex becomes too painful.
Having an over-tight pelvic floor can also lead to the same loss of control experienced by people with a loose pelvic floor. The muscles just don’t behave the way they should, so you can’t use them in the same way.
So even an overly-tight pelvic floor can lead to a poor sex life!
Is My Vagina Too Tight Or Too Loose?!
Thanks to the many different ways pelvic floor dysfunction can be present, and show itself through symptoms, it can be very difficult to diagnose correctly.
Before you worry too much though, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of women are completely fine, and shouldn’t be worrying about their vagina.
Any differences you feel will usually be the result of many factors like: how aroused you are, the temperature of the room, when you last had sex. Literally anything could change how much your vagina grows on any given day, so it might feel more tight or loose.
If you begin to experience any problems though, you should talk to your doctor and let them tell you the best thing to do, rather than trying to figure it all out yourself. They may simply help you tighten your pelvic floor muscles back up, but if there are bigger problems, they’ll be able to help you through them.
Electrical Stimulation To Tighten Vaginas
We didn’t mention this technique earlier, as it isn’t something most people will be able to do at home. However it is possible to use small electric shocks to strengthen the muscles around the vagina.
Each small shock causes specific muscles to spasm, which can mimic the movements these muscles would make when they are exercised. Over time, a program like this can strengthen the entire pelvic floor, leading to a much tighter-feeling vagina!
In general the only time this technique would be used is under the advice of the doctor. If people have particularly dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles, they may not be able to use any of the other vagina tightening techniques we’ve mentioned. In this case the doctor will train the patients body to do the exercise, and allowing them to feel the benefits of a strong pelvic floor.
Despite all this though, it’s still great practise to regularly perform Kegel exercises. Doctors recommend performing them even when you have no problems, and there’s a lot of evidence that they improve your sex life!