How to Tighten the Vagina—Truths and Myths

The term “loose” vagina is a misconception. Although many women wonder how to tighten the vagina—and if it is even possible—it is normal to experience changes in your body from childbirth, menopause, trauma, or other factors. The vagina is meant to stretch to accommodate sex and childbirth, but it doesn’t result in a loose vagina. 

As mentioned, you might experience a feeling of looseness after certain body changes. The medical term for it is called vaginal laxity. The first thing to understand is that there is a lot of misinformation floating around this subject, and it can be harmful to women's health and self-image.

We’re diving into the truth behind vaginal laxity and tightening. Read on to learn more.

Is It Possible To Have A Loose Vagina?

For starters, the idea of a "loose" vagina is a myth. Your vaginal walls are elastic and naturally designed to contract and relax.

Furthermore, there is no scientific evidence that a vagina can become permanently loose due to sexual intercourse. It is possible for the vaginal muscles to loosen with a condition known as vaginal laxity. 

Causes of vaginal laxity

Vaginal laxity occurs when the vaginal muscles stretch due to changes like:

• Childbirth
• Aging
• Menopause
• Hormones
• Injury

Vaginal laxity can lead to a feeling of looseness or slack in the vaginal walls. Unfortunately, women dealing with vaginal laxity may also experience a decreased libido, vaginal dryness, lowered sexual arousal, and stress incontinence.

Despite several studies, vaginal laxity is an unfortunately underreported and underrepresented condition in women's health, leading to the prevalence of the "loose" vagina myth. However, there are options for those experiencing vaginal laxity.

Can you tighten the vaginal walls?

The structure of the vagina is composed of muscles and tissues connected to your skeleton by the endopelvic fascia and surrounded by the pelvic floor muscles. 

When discussing how to tighten the vagina, there is often a misconception that the vaginal canal becomes more narrow.

In reality, it's not the vagina that becomes tighter. Instead, the muscles that make up the vaginal walls and pelvic floor become stronger around it. The pelvic floor muscles sit at the base of your torso and control the opening and closing of your vagina, anus, and urethra. So, by strengthening it, you can build up the ability to squeeze or tighten your vaginal canal.

While, colloquially, you may hear it described as vaginal tightening, methods often focus on strengthening the pelvic floor. 

Outside of vaginal laxity, strengthening the pelvic floor has numerous benefits like:

• Bladder and bowel incontinence prevention
• Protection against uterine prolapse
• Improved recovery from childbirth or surgery
• Better sexual health and orgasms

Vaginal muscles are like any other muscles in your body. By strengthening them, you will improve your overall health on top of your sexual health and pleasure. 

How to strengthen the vaginal walls

Many gels, creams, and pills claim to rejuvenate and tighten the vagina. While they may give you the sensation of a tighter vagina by stimulating the muscles around it, there is no clinical proof that these products can strengthen your pelvic floor.

In addition, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for women. Before attempting any of these methods, consult your doctor. 

If you are interested in how to tighten the vaginal walls and combat the weakening of muscles, some common options include:

• Kegel exercises
• Vaginal cones
• Red light therapy

Kegel exercises

Kegel exercises isolate and strengthen the pelvic floor through rhythmic contraction and relaxation. They are easy to do, and you could do them anywhere. 

While there haven't been enough studies on them to indicate that they will help tighten the vaginal walls, they remain a popular exercise.

The kegel exercise gets its name from Dr. Arnold Kegel. A gynecologist credited as the first doctor to research the effects of childbirth on the pelvic floor, Dr. Kegel had a particular focus on urinary incontinence. In 1948, he developed the eponymous exercise as a non-surgical alternative to address the weakening of the pelvic floor. 

That said, there isn’t clear, scientific evidence that Kegels actually help with urinary incontinence. 

If you still want to add kegel exercises to your workout routine, these tips can get you started.

1. While you can perform kegel exercises in any position, they may be easiest while lying down when you first begin doing them.
2. To do Kegels, pretend that you are sitting on a marble. Contract your pelvic floor muscles as though you’re trying to pick the marble up with them. Hold the contraction for three seconds, then relax for three seconds before repeating. As you progress and feel your muscles strengthen, you can increase the amount of time you spend contracting and relaxing.
3. Be sure to focus on contracting your pelvic floor muscles without also contracting the muscles in your abdomen, thighs, or buttocks. 
4. Do not hold your breath. Instead, breathe freely throughout this exercise.
5. In the beginning, aim to perform 10 to 15 contractions three times a day.

Vaginal Cones

A progression from kegel exercises, vaginal cones are small weights shaped similarly to a tampon. You insert them into the vagina, where voluntary or reflexive contractions of the pelvic floor hold them in place. Vaginal cones, sometimes called kegel cones, are typically silicone or plastic wrapped around a metal core with a string at the end.

By providing resistance, vaginal cones aim to challenge the pelvic floor muscles more intensely than kegel exercises done without weights and produce even more benefits for your vaginal health. 

Some studies have found that vaginal cones provide more of a benefit than doing nothing at all. However, there is no conclusive evidence that vaginal cones are effective in vaginal tightening.

To use a vaginal cone: 

With the cone inserted, the goal is not to squeeze. Relax as you would with regular kegel exercises. Keep the weight in place without letting it fall out. Ideally, it would help if you start by keeping the weight in place for 10 to 15 minutes a day. 

Then, once it becomes easy to hold the smallest weight in place, you can increase the weight gradually. If you progress far enough, you can even combine this with other exercises like squats and lunges.

Red Light Therapy

Photobiomodulation therapy, commonly referred to as red light therapy (RLT), is a treatment that uses low-level wavelengths of light to stimulate collagen production in the skin. It began in the early 1990s as a way for scientists to grow plants in space. When scientists discovered that red light could stimulate photosynthesis, they studied its potential medical applications. 

The idea behind red light therapy is that the light can strengthen mitochondria, where cells get their energy.

Strengthening the mitochondria gives cells more of the energy they require to function. In turn, the increased energy allows the cells to work more efficiently, repair damage, and even rejuvenate themselves. 

Childbirth, aging, hormonal changes, or injury can decrease the amount of collagen your vaginal tissues produce. This shift causes the vaginal muscles and tissues to lose some of their elasticity, leading to the sensation of looseness caused by vaginal laxity. By increasing collagen production with red light therapy, you can restore the strength of vaginal tissues and muscles.

There are many products out there that claim they know how to tighten the vagina. While there is no such thing as a "loose" vagina in the traditional sense, vaginal laxity affects countless women. However, options like kegel exercises and the vFit device can help address the concerns you may have regarding the strength of your vaginal muscles. Whatever you choose to do, consult with your physician or gynecologist to determine the safest and most effective treatment strategy for you.