Intimina KegelSmart vs Intimate Rose

The Intimina KegelSmart and Intimate Rose Kegel Weights may have similar names but are vastly different when it comes to user experience. Pelvic floor trainers are used for strengthening weak or overstretched muscles after childbirth, pelvic injuries, surgeries, pelvic cancer treatment, or menopause. In addition to relieving bladder leaks, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse, the best pelvic floor trainers can also improve sexual pleasure.

The Intimina KegelSmart is a rechargeable electronic device that uses biofeedback and vibrations to guide Kegel exercises. A set of Intimate Rose Kegel Weights provides a simpler, non-electronic, and more natural approach to pelvic floor training.

Read on for a more detailed comparison between the two.

The Pelvic Floor and Kegels: What's the Connection?

Kegel exercises are a form of resistance training for the pelvic floor muscles when they have weakened or overstretched. Running like a sling or hammock from one side of the pelvis to the other and from the pubic bone in the front of the body to the tailbone at the back, the pelvic floor muscles protect and support vital organs like the bladder, bowel, rectum, vagina, womb, and uterus.

The pelvic floor muscles can weaken due to pregnancy, childbirth, aging, menopause, surgery, pelvic injuries, and pelvic cancer treatments.

Kegel exercises are recommended for re-strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and are performed by repetitively lifting, squeezing, and holding the pelvic floor before releasing. Unfortunately, as many as 30% of women are known to perform Kegels incorrectly by engaging the core muscles instead of the pelvic floor muscles. This means many women performing Kegels for 5-15 minutes daily see no improvement.

For this reason, pelvic trainers were designed to help women properly re-strengthen the pelvic floor.

Intimina KegelSmart vs Intimate Rose Kegel Weights

Inserting a pelvic tool inside the vagina can be daunting, uncomfortable, and somewhat dangerous if it is not the right fit, made with unsafe material, or disruptive to the vaginal microbiome. However, choosing a pelvic floor trainer doesn't have to be intimidating when women know what to look for.

To understand the differences between the Intimina KegelSmart and Intimate Rose Kegel Weights, we highlighted 5 categories for comparison below:

Material, ease of use, comfort, vaginal health, efficacy (progress tracking), and price.

Material

The material that pelvic trainers are made from matters greatly, not only for comfort but also for body safety. Any object placed inside the vagina should be made from hypoallergenic and biocompatible material that is free from harmful substances like BPA to prevent the release of toxins and skin irritation.

The Intimina KegelSmart is made from ABS silicone, which is a mixture of hard-wearing plastic and silicone. ABS plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) is known for its rigidity and impact resistance. It is typically used in medical equipment that does not come in contact with the body due to its lack of biocompatibility.

Intimate Rose Kegel Weights are made from medical-grade silicone, which is biocompatible with the body. This means medical-grade silicone won't cause adverse reactions or release harmful toxins. In fact, Intimate Rose Kegel Weights are the only silicone pelvic floor weights cleared by the FDA as body-safe and used in official training courses by the American Physical Therapy Association's Academy of Pelvic Health.

Ease of Use

The Intimina KegelSmart vibrates to signal when the user should contract the pelvic floor muscles and stops vibrating to indicate the pelvic floor muscles should be relaxed.

If the pelvic floor muscles are contracted correctly, biofeedback signals the device to vibrate gently to indicate good form. When the pelvic floor contractions are weak, or the core muscles are used instead, biofeedback adjusts the device vibration to encourage better pelvic floor contractions.

Many customers initially find this device challenging to understand. The instructions are produced in tiny text, the website does not include detailed instructions, and it takes time to comprehend how it functions. Another drawback customers note in the design is that this device needs to be divided into two parts to find the charging port.

Intimate Rose Kegel Weights are designed to slip easily into the vaginal canal like a weighted tampon. They are held in place by contracting the pelvic floor muscles and easily removed by bearing down or gently pulling the attached chord.

Detailed instructions are provided with each set of Intimate Rose Kegel Weights. Outlining how to insert, use, and remove the weights; the instructions also explain how the user's natural biofeedback is used to re-train the pelvic floor.

Essentially, as gravity pulls the Kegel weight down, the user must engage (contract) the pelvic muscles to prevent the weight from slipping out. When this is done incorrectly, and the core muscles are engaged instead of the pelvic floor, natural biofeedback tells the body which muscles to use to prevent the weight from slipping out. Once the pelvic floor muscles are engaged, the weight stays in place and pelvic floor training has commenced.

Customers also appreciate that Intimate Rose Kegel Weights do not require charging or connecting to an app for biofeedback.

Comfort & Fit

Strengthening the pelvic floor requires consistency, and similar to anything else worn in or on the body, comfort and the right fit are paramount for continued use.

Intimina KegelSmart is described as comfortable by some users, however, others mention its hard plastic shell and rigidity feel uncomfortable, too heavy, or too big, in the vagina.

Intimate Rose Kegel Weights are largely found to feel soft against the vaginal skin and comfortable within the vaginal canal. In comparison to the rigidity of ABS silicone, medical-grade silicone is flexible, soft, and feels more life-like.

The graduated weights also allow users to begin with a lighter weight that fits better in the vaginal canal and progress to heavier weights as the pelvic floor strengthens.

Vaginal Health

The vaginal microbiome maintains a delicate balance of friendly and harmful microbes to keep the genitals healthy and infection free. If anything disrupts the vaginal microbiome, harmful microbes can more easily thrive, meaning urinary tract infections (UTIs), yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis (BV), and sexually transmitted infections (UTIs) can arise.

Intimina KegelSmart pelvic trainers must be divided into two parts for charging, which poses a risk to vaginal health. Several users of this product mention that cleaning around the charging point and the hard plastic ridges required to piece the device back together is challenging.

This can allow harmful bacteria to live on parts of the device, so when it is next inserted in the vagina, the bacterial build-up could disrupt the vaginal microbiome and result in an infection.

Intimate Rose Kegel Weights do not require dismantling for cleaning and there are no crevices on this product where bacterial build-up can occur. These Kegel weights are easily washed with warm water and soap, and when carried out after each use, there is no risk of disrupting the vaginal microbiome.

Efficacy & Progress Tracking

When strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, women typically notice a difference within a few days to a couple of weeks. However, the process and time frame for re-training the pelvic floor muscles can vary from woman to woman. This is why it's helpful to track progress.

The Intimina KegelSmart customers are divided on the efficacy of this product in that less than 50% believe progress is made past a certain point. While many users comment on an initial pelvic floor strengthening, they feel the lack of quantifiable progression could be improved.

Other than performing more Kegels or holding them for longer, the Intimina KegelSmart does not offer graduating levels or increased resistance training. And contrary to other electronic pelvic floor trainers, it doesn't connect to an App that tracks the user's progress.

Intimate Rose Kegel Weights provides progress and tracking with the graduating color-coded weights from lightest to heaviest. Most customers report an improvement within a few days of using their first weight (starting weight will vary for each user).

Once the starting weight is held comfortably in the vagina for 15 minutes per day, progress is tracked by moving to the next weight, and so on. As soon as the heaviest weight can be comfortably held in the vagina for 15 minutes per day, urine leaks are typically gone, prolapse has been treated, and sexual pleasure has increased.

Price & Value for Money

The Intimina KegelSmart is priced at $79.95, depending on the retailer and promotions or discounts. Although cheaper than other electronic pelvic trainers, many customers remarked that it lacked comfort and progressive resistance training, presented hygienic issues, and was not great value for money.

The Intimate Rose Kegel Weights sets are priced at $49.98 depending on the retailer and are widely commended as the best value for money with pelvic trainers. Made from the safest and softest material, used and praised by customers for their comfort, ease of use, and care for vaginal health, women and pelvic health professionals have confidence in Intimate Rose Kegel Weights.

Conclusion

When the pelvic floor muscles weaken or overstretch, urine leaks, protruding pelvic organs, and less sexual pleasure can lower women's quality of life and confidence. Because Kegel exercises are performed incorrectly by 30% of women, pelvic floor trainers are recommended to recover after childbirth, relieve bladder leaks, treat pelvic organ prolapse, or regain sexual sensations after menopause.

However, with so many choices of pelvic trainers on the market, it can be difficult to understand which one does its job best. Above, we compared the Intimina KegelSmart and Intimate Rose Kegel Weights for ease of use, product material, comfort, price, vaginal health, and how progress is tracked.

References

Cleveland Clinic - Pelvic Floor Dysfunction - https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14459-pelvic-floor-dysfunction

National Library of Medicine - Pelvic Muscle Strength After Childbirth - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3681819/

The Menopause Charity - Pelvic Floor Health - https://themenopausecharity.org/2021/04/24/pelvic-floor-health/

Physiopedia - Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and Cancer Treatment - https://www.physio-pedia.com/Pelvic_Floor_Dysfunction_and_Cancer_Treatment

The pelvic Hub - Kegel Exercises: How to Guide for Women - https://www.thepelvichub.com/blogs/chronic-conditions/kegel-exercises-how-to-guide-for-women?

The Vagina Whisperer - To Kegel or Not to Kegel - https://thevagwhisperer.com/2019/03/18/to-kegel-or-not-to-kegel/