If you’ve been using the internet over the past few days, you’ve probably seen some sort of news story about Gwyneth Paltrow and her GOOP empire recommending the use of Jade eggs.

First of all, I think it’s awesome that Gwyneth Paltrow is using her platform to talk about sexual health. Any time female sexuality is talked about openly and positively is a win in my book.

As for the Jade eggs themselves, I’m lukewarm.

Jade eggs are meant to be inserted into the vagina. The muscles in your vaginal canal have to work to hold the egg in place, so it gives you a vaginal workout.

The specific muscles in question here are your pubococcygeus, or PC muscles. Sometimes they’re also called Kegel muscles. These muscles stretch across your pelvis like a hammock. You can find your PC muscles the next time you’re peeing. Try to cut off your flow of urine before your bladder is empty. You’ll feel a “pulling up” sensation. Those muscles that you’re flexing are your PC muscles.

PC muscles play a big role when it comes to pleasure and orgasm. Your PC muscles involuntarily contract during orgasm, and the strength of the contractions are tied to the strength of the orgasm. Regular exercise of your PC muscles can help you become orgasmic, and can increase the strength of your orgasms.

So PC exercise in and of itself is awesome, but I don’t think Jade eggs are the best way to get that workout.

Many practitioners recommend keeping the egg in for long periods of time, like while you’re going about your business during the day, or while you’re sleeping at night. Having something that heavy in your vagina for that long isn’t safe or beneficial, and can even lead to sexual pain issues.

It’s also an unnecessary expense. You don’t need any special toys to do PC exercises. Here’s a simple – and free – PC workout regimen to try:

Squeeze and release your PC muscles. Try 20 pulses in a row.
Squeeze your PC muscles, hold them, count to three, then release. Repeat 20 times.
Over the course of a few weeks, gradually add one second to your hold time, until you’re up to 10 seconds.

A lot of people make pretty wild claims about Jade eggs, like that they can balance your hormones, clear up your skin, and make more people attracted to you. That’s just not true.

On a technical note, the string that is attached to the Jade egg for safe removal isn’t usually sterile, which can lead to infection. Sometimes there’s no removal thread at all, which can be unsafe.

There are plenty of women who enjoy using Jade eggs, which is totally cool. But personally, I don’t feel comfortable enough with them to recommend them to my clients.