Any teenage girl who has yet to lose her virginity will probably be wondering: does it hurt when your hymen breaks? Well just to put your mind at ease, in most cases it does not hurt at all and in fact many girls will have already broken their hymen prior to sex.
What is the hymen?
The hymen is a ring of tissue that partially covers the vaginal opening. Not all women have the same type of hymen. Some women have hardly any membrane covering the entrance, whereas other women have a condition known as imperforate hymen where the hymen completely blocks the vaginal entrance so that not even menstrual blood is able to escape.
How bad does it hurt when your hymen breaks?
It should not hurt at all when your hymen breaks, but because many girls are worried that they will feel pain during their first experience of sexual intercourse, they tense up and sex does end up being painful.
The other issue girls worry about before having sex for the first time is the bleeding tat is supposed to occur when the hymen breaks. There is a common misconception that when the hymen breaks a girl will bleed profusely. In reality, this is not the case at all. Most women bleed very slightly, and it is often blood stained discharge rather than blood, so do not worry about ruining your bed sheets!
Does it hurt when your hymen breaks?
Sex for the first time is often a little uncomfortable for a girl. Unless she is sufficiently aroused prior to penetration, sex can hurt. Most of the time it is not the hymen breaking that is painful, it is the fact a girl has not been aroused enough that causes discomfort, either due to an inexperienced partner, or because she is nervous. As a result, many girls think first-time sex is a painful experience.
How can you tell if the hymen is still intact?
Because the hymen is very close to the vaginal entrance, if you still have an intact hymen it should be possible to see it using a mirror and a good light. Try lying on your back with your legs open while using a mirror to look at your vagina. If your hymen is still intact, it will look like a ring of flesh around the vaginal opening. If it has already been broken, you will see ragged edges of flesh instead.
In many cases, the hymen has already been broken long before the first sexual experience. This can happen in many ways, from riding a bicycle or horse, to playing sports. The hymen can also be broken if a girl uses tampons during menstruation, although the hole in the middle of the hymen is usually large enough to allow a tampon to penetrate.
For those women who have lost their hymen and wish to have it reconstructed, there is even a surgical procedure available that recreates the hymen and it is known as hymenoplasty. It might seem crazy to artificially recreate the hymen, but in some cultures an intact hymen is a sign of purity and without it, a woman’s social standing could be in danger.