For young girls who have just started with their periods would want to know what products to use to manage their blood flow, as we have discussed about all the different options in the previous blog one of them is tampon, but as with all other products, girls and women have query about this as well, one of the most frequently asked question is, will it take away the virginity? As with menstruation hygiene products a young girl needs to understands exactly what is happening with her body—and that choosing to use tampons will not impact her virginity. Virginity is an important concept for many cultures and religion for morality concept. And women would prefer not losing their virginity to a tampon instead of an actual sexual act. It’s important to note that virginity is not a medical term but is a cultural concept to determine the chastity of a woman.
First things first, let’s talk about what virginity is? This is a complicated question and you might get different answers depending on who you ask. For women, the technical definition of a virgin is someone who has not had sexual intercourse where a man’s penis penetrates her vagina. By this action the hymen, of a women tears and causes some bleeding, the amount of blood varies from person to person.
Let’s discuss what hymen is to understand this concept even better.
The hymen is a thin membrane with no function that surrounds the opening of the vagina. It often forms a half-moon-shaped or donut-shaped rim around the exterior opening of the vaginal canal. Sometimes, the hymen is very minimal or not there at all. In any case, having a hymen, minimum or not there at all is all very normal.
Now coming to the point whether tampon actually breaks your hymen?
Your hymen doesn’t actually “break” when something is inserted into the vagina, it stretches. While it’s possible that a tampon will stretch your hymen, just a little bit, it’s also possible that your hymen has already stretched in other ways, like playing sports, riding horses etc. Tampons are small, and can usually be inserted through the existing opening of your hymen. This opening allows the period blood and clots to come out anyways.
By the time a girl reaches puberty, there is usually more than enough space to allow menstrual blood to pass. If the hymen completely covered the vagina, menstruation would not be possible without surgery.
Even though your hymen is elastic, it’s also very thin and can be stretched, torn, or worn away during activities, as we discussed before, it can get torn even by walking. So, even if you’ve never had penetrative vaginal intercourse, your hymen may not be intact. And there’s nothing wrong with that! The hymen stretches and the opening usually gets larger as a young person matures. The opening may be big enough for a tampon to go in easily. If the tampon (or anything else that is put in the vagina) is bigger than the opening, the hymen will stretch. Sometimes when it stretches there may be some small tears. Going slowly and using lubricant may help.
So the answer is, NO, a tampon will not tear your hymen and take away virginity. It is small and will not be stretching the hymen enough to stretch it to its maximum capacity. It is safe to use for young girls.
