Dive into the ‘rippling’ sex trend loved by 25 million women

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There’s a little-known sex act making a splash in the world of female masturbation, and you might have tried it without knowing.

‘Rippling’ is a self-stimulation technique which 73% of women admit to using, in order to ease themselves into the depths of pleasure.

Sex education site OMGYES surveyed 20,000 women, determining this was one of the most popular ways to masturbate, because it’s more gentle on the clitoris.

What is rippling, you ask? Well, it involves using a vibrator but pressing it on a spot near to your clitoris, like your pubic bone, allowing the vibrations to ripple through your body and stimulate your clitoris.

Why can rippling be so pleasurable?

‘A lot of people like it because the clitoris is basically equivalent to the head of the penis, so it’s the most sensitive area,’ sex expert Gigi Engle tells Metro.

‘Many people with penises when they have hand jobs, don’t always like super aggressive touching on the penis head, and the same goes for the clitoris.

‘With rippling, it moves the vibrator away from the most sensitive area, so you’re getting a secondary vibration to that area without directly touching it, which can be intense.’

Essentially, you’re getting that pleasurable sensation but without the direct contact, so it’s less full-on.

It’s also great at the start of a masturbation session before your clitoris has warmed up, for lack of a better term.

Why can only some women tolerate direct clitoral stimulation?

If you like holding a sex toy directly onto your nub of nerves, that’s great, but that’s not guaranteed to feel pleasurable for all women.

‘Some people may have their clitoral hood retract during arousal and that acts as a buffer, so when it’s retracted, it exposes nerves which are very sensitive,’ Gigi explains.

‘That’s why having something on the pubic bone or the vaginal opening, labia, or even thighs, can feel really good.’

For 54% of women, they enjoy pressing a sex toy against their pubic bone (where your hair grows). An expert at OMGYES explains this allows soft vibrations to travel down to the hidden, internal parts of the clitoris, as well as the visible parts.

One woman who took part in the study says: ‘A big, rumbly vibrator against the pubic bone creates a soft hum that’s a great starter feeling.’

Another lady preferred a different location. ‘Using my vibrator through my labia reaches more of the internal parts of my clit,’ she explains.

The expert adds that sexual experiences are subjective for everyone, and what works for someone, won’t necessarily work for someone else.

What sex toys should you use to ripple?

While anything with a vibration will work, Gigi says there will be some toys that work better than others for this.

The Palm is a tapping vibrator, with 10 vibrating speeds, which is curved and fits in the palm of your hand. Available at sextoys.co.uk, it’s specifically shaped to fit against your body, which makes it a great option for pressing against your pubic bone, for instance.

‘Anything with a more expansive surface area is going to be a better choice, rather than a bullet vibrator, which is very pointed,’ Gigi explains.

Of course, a wand could do the trick too, with a larger head, and these can be a little more powerful, which could help those vibrations ripple far and wide.

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