You'll Never Believe What Some Women Are Doing for Better Orgasms

We love orgasms too, but this might be a little much

Well, this sounds terrifying: A new procedure called the O-Shot is a vaginal injection that promises to regenerate healthy vaginal tissue for stronger orgasms. Oh yeah, and an opportunity to get the procedure was included in all the swag bags at the Oscars this year, according to Us Weekly.

So how does it work? First, physicians take a person's own blood and separate out the platelets (which are used in clotting) to create a platelet-rich plasma (PRP), according to the shot's website. Then, the doctors inject the plasma back into the patient in two spots: the upper vagina and directly under the clitoris. Um, ouch? The area is numbed with a local anesthetic for the procedure, but still.

This same procedure can be done on your face (known as the "vampire facial," which Kim Kardashian reportedly tried last year) or in other body parts to stimulate tissue growth. "Platelets are used in all different areas of medicine, but there are no real studies on the O-Shot in particular to see if it's effective," says Madeleine Castellanos, M.D., founder of ReclaimYourSexuality.com. Essentially, there's been a lot of research on using this procedure to grow healthy tissue, but we don't really know if that translates to stronger orgasms—not to mention if there are any long-term side effects. "They have self-testimony from a few women who have gotten it, but how much of that is psychological and how much is the actual physical effect?" says Castellanos.

MORE: 8 Reasons Guys Love it When You Orgasm

Plus, the O-Shot costs about $1,500 and isn't covered by insurance—so unless you got an Oscars swag bag, that's one expensive libido booster! Don't worry, though—there are definitely other ways to have bigger, better orgasms. Here are a few options that have nothing to do with putting a needle in your vagina:  

Kegels
Aside from being turned on and with a great partner, strong pelvic floor muscles are what give you powerful orgasms, says Castellanos. The easiest place to start is by doing Kegels regularly to strengthen them. To know if you're doing it right, Castellanos says you should feel not just a tightening but also a pulling up of the pelvic floor when you’re squeezing. For most women, she suggests doing three sets of 10 repetitions (with a minute rest in between) every day. If you're having regular sex and just want to maintain your pelvic floor muscles, performing this three times a week should do the trick. 

MORE: The Secret to Better Orgasms: The C-Spot?

Below-the-Belt Weights
Let's be real, sometimes it takes fun workout equipment to get us to stick with a fitness routine. If that's true for you, you might want to give tiny weights a try. When you insert weighted beads (like these from OhMiBod), you can squeeze your pelvic floor to lift them up. If you think about Kegels as if they were body-weight exercises, this is like upping the challenge by adding some dumbbells.

Lube
Adding some slickness down there can do wonders for your orgasm. In fact, one study found that nearly 50 percent of people who have used lube said it makes it easier to cross the finish line. "Lubrication naturally drops off with age as well as in long-term relationships," says Castellanos. "We often don't lubricate as much after a long period of time because our partners are more familiar." Don't worry, it has nothing to do with your desire to have sex or your attraction to your partner—you may just need a little help to get things going. And not only can lube make sex feel better, but it also mentally reinforces that you're aroused, says Castellanos. Win win. Check out our tips for making sex even better with lubes. 

Still having trouble seeing fireworks? Try these nine positions that practically promise an orgasm!

MORE: The Better-Sex Workout

The 4 Types of People Having the Most Orgasms

Are you one of them?

In awkward sex news, some singles are getting off way more than others, according to Match.com’s fourth annual Singles in America Study. Overall, 44 percent of singles said they climax 90-100 percent of the time when they’re with a familiar partner. Those are pretty good odds! But when Match.com filtered the results based on region, hair color, smartphone and occupation, they found some interesting trends.

MORE: 10 Reasons You Should Have More Orgasms

It turns out that singles in Miami are having the most orgasms, as well as singles with red hair, daters with Android phones, and people who work in computer and electronic fields. So basically, if you’re a redhead, Android-owning, digital producer in Miami, you’re probably having the best sex ever.

MORE: Have Better Orgasms

Don’t worry if you didn’t make the cut. Instead of moving to Florida, dying your hair, ditching your phone and getting a new job, just use our tips to up your odds of having an orgasm.

6 Reasons Women Fake Orgasms

Any of these sound familiar?

In (uncomfortably relatable) sex news, researchers identified a whopping six different reasons that women fake orgasms, according to a pair of surveys of over 350 women, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. Even weirder (slash, more interesting): their reasons differ based on whether they're faking it during oral sex or penetration. Oh! 

During penetrative intercourse, women tend to fake it for four main reasons:  to avoid hurting their partner's feelings; because they feel insecure about having an orgasm; to speed things up and end the sex ASAP; and as an attempt to increase their own arousal (sort of a fake-it-'til-you-make-it approach—hey, whatever works!).  

MORE: 19 Things You Didn't Know About Orgasms 

But their reasons for faking it during oral sex were surprisingly different. They still reported faking it to boost their own arousal and to protect their partner's ego, but they also gave these two interesting reasons: to avoid anxiety associated with oral sex (specifically the up-close-and-personalness of the position); and to seem "normal" in terms of sexual function, rather than betray the fact that they take a while to climax, or maybe aren't even able to. (Which, for the record: Is completely normal.)

MORE: Have Great Sex—Even When You Don't Have an Orgasm 

First of all, let's throw out the idea that you ever need to feel insecure about your orgasm—no matter how long it takes, or whether it even happens at all. And second, please let this story serve as a reminder: There's no such thing as a "normal" vagina, and insecurity about what a "normal" vagina should look, feel, or taste like is an unnecessary damper on a potentially great time. So why are we still faking it? These findings demonstrate that sometimes women think it's reasonable—or even valuable—to fake an orgasm, says coauthor Allan Fenigstein, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Kenyon College. Based on the non-insecurity related reasons listed above, it seems like playing up the theatrics may seem like the path of least resistance/least awkwardness, compared to just saying, "Hey babe, you know what? That feels awesome, but it's just not going to happen. You go ahead and finish." 

Bottom line: whether you're faking it to make your partner feel better or to overcome your own neuroses about face-to-vulva-proximity, it's time to put an end to the charade. Instead, brush up on our tips for scoring the big O, because you deserve the real deal every time.  

MORE: 10 Reasons You Should Have More Orgasms