After you heal you can exert more force and I suspect that I probably use about 8-10 pounds. It's enough pressure that at the end of the session it feels good to stop pushing as your fingers get sore. On the other hand, I started dilating with the equivalent of big orange (1.5 inches in diameter) and that probably takes more force than a smaller dilator. The smaller ones in some of the sets look like they could be painful if inserted with to much force.