Actress Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle website Goop has touted the benefits of putting a jade egg in the vagina for a day or during sleep.
The website says that the golf ball-sized jade eggs are a strictly guarded secret of Chinese queens and concubines to please emperors. Sold at $66 per piece, the item is said to boost orgasm and improve vaginal muscle tone, hormonal balance and feminine energy.
Gynecologists, however, are speaking up about the dangers of the jade eggs, which according to Goop, are already sold out.
No Studies And Evidences To Support Benefits Of Jade Eggs
Leena Nathan, from UCLA Health, said that using jade eggs does not lead to hormonal changes even when these are inserted in a woman's vagina. Nathan added that no studies and evidences back up claims that jade eggs can help with vaginal muscle tone, hormonal imbalance, and orgasm.
Worse Than Linking Cancer To Wearing Bras
Another doctor also debunked claims about the vaginal jade eggs. Jen Gunter, from Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, described the idea as the biggest load of garbage on Goop since Paltrow promoted vaginal steaming and that it is worse than the idea of linking cancer to wearing bras. Gunter said that walking around with a jade egg is not a good idea.
"Pelvic floor muscles are not meant to contract continuously," Gunter wrote on her blog. "It is quite difficult to isolate your pelvic floor while walking so many women could actually clench other muscles to keep the egg inside. It is possible the pained expression of clenching your butt all day could be what is leading people to stare, not some energy glow."
Foreign Body That May Cause Infections
Gunter said that Jade is porous, which means that leaving the egg in the vagina during sleep would allow bacteria to get inside, causing bacterial vaginosis and the potentially fatal Toxic Shock Syndrome. The egg is a foreign body that may alter bacteria and pH of the vagina which can lead to infections.
Non-Physical Dangers Of Using Jade Eggs
Gunter also pointed out the emotional pain and other unwanted consequences of using what she described as kinds of snake oil that are being passed off as legitimate therapy.
"Some women try these non-therapies and when they don't work they actually give up on further care because they think they tried something worthwhile and as it didn't work they must be broken and destined to live with their health condition," Gunter said. "The people at GOOP might not have a problem with that kind of heartbreak, but I sure do."
Vaginal Herbal Balls
Goop's vaginal jade eggs is just one of the many products promoted to improve women's reproductive health that doctors have warned about. Last year, health experts warned about the womb detox trend, which involves inserting herbal balls into the vagina. The process is supposed to clean the uterus and correct unwanted conditions such as foul odor, bacterial vaginosis, fibroids, endometriosis, and yeast infections.
Gunter has also spoken about the herbal womb detox pearls saying the idea is not only pointless but can also be harmful to women's health.
