RedPlush Femme

Or how I maintain a happy and healthy vagina while increasing pleasure for me and my partner.

Kegels are named after the doctor that invented the exercise. The technique tightens the vaginal walls and surrounding pelvic floor muscles by literally exercising the vagina. These muscles are even cited by Italian researchers as muscles that get stimulated by wearing high heels, but I digress.

In 1952, Dr. Kegel published a groundbreaking report that claimed that the women doing his exercises had more intense orgasms easily and more frequently. Since then, women faced with incontinence, problems after childbirth or even those preparing for childbirth have been prescribed these exercises by their doctors. These exercises prevent vaginal prolapse (when the walls of the vagina come out of the body during birth) and other serious problems. These exercises however are rarely recommended to healthy women, which is a mistake. These muscles are important because as you age, you have more problems ‘holding your bladder’ due to varying hormone levels, which is easily prevented with the exercises. Furthermore the exercises have totally and completely changed my sex life. The intensity of my orgasms has increased tremendously.

The motion involves squeezing or tighening the vagina, or “clenching/flexing/holding” it. The best way to begin is to stop your stream a few times while urinating. You can try this as a way to ‘test’ your muscles and find out which muscles are used in this motion, but it is not a good idea to do it too frequently. It is possible that the brain/bladder reflexes that coordinate urinating may be disrupted and other bladder problems could occur.

You can also have a secret while you wait in line at the supermarket. Once you identify the muscles, it is fairly easy to simply squeeze your muscles anytime you like. The more you do it, just like any muscle, the stronger you get and the more control you have.

Here’s an easy way to get acquainted with your muscles and begin a simple routine: squeeze your muscles and hold for 3 seconds – have a 3 second rest – repeat – do this 12 times. Once your muscles get used to this, feel free to repeat this process more. Alternately, you can continue to squeeze and hold for 10 seconds, then release for 5 – doing 12 reps.

Its important to try short and long ‘holds.’ You can try doing short waves of contractions followed by 10 second holds, take a break and try it again. Your muscles are made up of two different muscle fiber types, so you need to do both short and long holds. You can try as many short quick holds as you can, which are simply contracting the muscles and releasing the contraction immediately. These should be coupled with longer holds where you hold for 5-10 seconds.

As a way to “check” your contractions and ensure that you are getting the most out of your exercises you can insert a finger into your vagina in order to feel the contractions. You can work up to 40-50 repetitions a day.
The caveat is that the correct technique must be used. Some women report that the exercises do not work for them, but it may be because they may not be isolating the right muscles. You should focus on tightening/isolating only your pelvic floor muscles. It is important that you avoid flexing the muscles in your abdomen, thighs or buttocks, instead focus on tightening the muscles around your vagina and rectum.

This can really enhance sexual pleasure not only for you, but also for your partner if he is male. While it’s not for everyone, many men report that “tightness” is important in the friction needed for sexual pleasure during vaginal intercourse. While not all vaginas and penises fit like a key and lock, it can help to maximize your ability to have control over your own body. The ability to squeeze the vaginal walls as he penetrates is very pleasurable for both parties.

I can personally recommend this technique. I actually found this technique accidentally–aren’t all great “aha” moments accidents? I found that by squeezing my muscles during masturbation, I experienced enhanced pleasure, it mimics the feeling of penetration and intensifies my orgasms tremendously.

References
Messé MR, Geer JH.,Voluntary vaginal musculature contractions as an enhancer of sexual arousal, Arch Sex Behav. 1985 Feb;14(1):13-28.
NAFC.org
Mayo Clinic

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Lilly, of DangerousLilly.com, is giving away an Njoy Pure Wand courtesy of EdenFantasys! The Pure Wand is a high-quality stainless steel double-ended dildo for either G-spot stimulation or prostate stimulation. It is 24 ounces of solid medical grade stainless steel, and polished to a mirror shine. Lilly loves her Pure Wand and wants to spread the love to one lucky winner!

To enter the contest just visit her blog to find out the rules and entry methods. You can enter even if you don’t have a blog, it’s easy! The contest deadline is September 16th, 2009, at Midnight Eastern Standard Time.

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I need to post this code so Technorati knows that I’m me =)

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My partner and I had been engaging in anal sex. We were looking for a way to improve something that was already fun. There were pitfalls with using harnesses and commercially available strap-ons, even if they were high-quality. I love to penetrate my partner hard. The problem is it was “hard” on me too, it hurt. The solution came in the form of the Share.

My Black Share by Fun Factory

The Share is made of medical grade, soft silicone. The texture is soft and suede-like with a heavy feel for stability. I immediately put a condom over it and tried it with my partner. The stability and precision that the toy offers is important for both anal and vaginal penetration. The soft texture of the shaft is not irritating to delicate anal tissue and the “hardness” of the Share makes it pleasurable for vaginal penetration. The bridge between the shaft and the bulbous G-spot offers maximum control and flexibility in use with many positions, which is missing from other similar products such as the Feeldoe. The shaft is not abnormally large like many dildos in the market, which makes it ideal for hard penetration. The bulbous portion offers intense sensation; since it is wide and bulbous, it covers a large surface area so it is guaranteed to hit your G-spot while furtively penetrating your partner. After too many harness-based cocks poked rather than penetrated, the Share is my strap-less “strap-on” cock of choice. If you want to add even more stability since it is such a deliciously hard and heavy toy try your own rope harness.

The Safety of Sex Toy Materials

Phthalates are chemicals that are used in the production of some sex toys. They are commonly added to plastics to increase flexibility and transparency. Due to the weak nature the chemical bonds between the phthalates and the plastics, they can leech into food, the atmosphere, or through skin by direct contact. Wikipedia says, “People are commonly exposed to phthalates, and the majority of Americans tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have metabolites of multiple phthalates in their urine.” The most common sources are fatty foods such as milk, butter, and cheeses. Several types of phthalates have been restricted for use in children’s toys in the U.S. and the E.U.

Unfortunately, labeling requirements are not mandatory and there is no accurate way to tell for certain if a product contains phthalates or not. However, if you’re looking for some high quality toys that are guaranteed phthalate-free, LELO, Fun Factory, and Tantus are all brands that have never used phthalates.

At RedPlush, we leave the decision to you, but suggest you always use condoms over your sex toys if you’re unsure.  Not only does the practice make an easy clean-up, it can also preemptively prevent infections from bacteria or molds and exposure to toxins.  We offer disinfectants and cleansers to make it a breeze, but you can also boil the toys or use antibacterial soap or alcohol to cleanse your toys.

The debate on phthalates is far from clear, since studies are conflicting and rat studies and their testing conditions may not mimic actual use by humans. Why not find out for yourself? Sex-educator, sexpert and technophile Violet Blue has written an extensive post about the safety of many sex toys and other products. Here’s a short excerpt:

“Most sex toys are made of a material usually referred to as jelly rubber, though you’ll also see variations like jel-lee, latex jelly, or derivatives like glow-in-the-dark and “realistic” materials such as softskin, Cyberskin or Futurotic. …It is known that these mystery materials contain latex and phthalates, they have a very chemical smell, they leach oils and can leave spots on fabrics and wood, and the surface breaks down over time. Softskin, Cyberskin and Futurotic toys are especially strange; while they feel amazingly real, they react bizarrely with other jelly rubber toys and actually melt into wet puddles of chemical goo upon contact — needless to say, don’t store these two materials side-by-side. Softskin is the most porous toy of all, able to absorb color from lipstick and even text from newsprint.

No one knows for sure how safe these toys are for internal use; again, it’s the novelty industry so we can surmise that it’ll be about 800 years before clinical tests are done on the long-term effects of jelly rubber chemicals are on the cervix and lower colon. Some people have no problems with jelly rubber toys and have used them for years uneventfully (except for the orgasm part, which is certainly an event). Others have had serious reactions to the latex, or other unknown chemicals, ranging from anaphylactic shock from latex allergy to recurring infections”[1]