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- The anonymous writer was almost 17 years old when she learned she was unable to use a tampon because she had a microperforate hymen
- A microperforate hymen is a thin membrane that almost completely covers the opening of a woman's vagina
- The writer was told she would be unable to use a tampon or have sex until the pin-size hole in her hymen was opened
- She revealed that it took weeks to convince her Catholic mother to allow her to have the surgery
A
woman has penned a candid essay about how she was unable to use tampons
or have sex as a teen because she was born with a 'vagina hole' that
was 'smaller than the tip of a pin' and required surgery to be opened.
The
writer, who chose to remain anonymous, was almost 17 years old when she
learned she had a microperforate hymen, or a thin membrane that almost
completely covered the opening of her vagina. After three years of being
unable to use a tampon when she was menstruating, she turned to a
gynecologist for answers.
'[The
doctor] said — without much bedside manner, I would like to add — "You
don't have a vagina hole." She then amended, "Well, you technically do
but it's very small,"' the writer recalled in her essay for xoJane.
The
gynecologist explained that the opening was 'probably smaller than the
tip of a pin' and just large enough that it was able to 'let the blood
out' when she had her period each month.
Anonymous
said that she had gotten her first period when she was 14 year sold and
started using pads because she was 'weirded out' by the thought of
using tampons.
However,
when her period caused her to miss pool parties and wake up with her
lower half covered in her own blood, she decided to start using them.
But
after carefully reading the instructions and unsuccessfully trying and
failing to insert multiple tampons, anonymous said she gave up, figuring
she 'would deal with it later'.
Although
she tried to use tampons every now and then, she didn't start to get
truly frustrated with her inability to insert them until the summer
before her 17th birthday.
When
she declined driving to the beach with her friend who had just gotten
her license because she was menstruating, her friend told her to 'just
stick a tampon in'.
'I
didn't want her to think I was immature or stupid for not being able to
put a tampon in,' she recalled. '[But] no matter how hard I squished
those suckers up in there, they were not budging once they got to a
certain point.'
In
an attempt to help, her friend sent her pictures of vaginas that she
found on a medical website, and while she told her to stop, anonymous
eventually visited the site where the pictures were coming from to do
her own investigating.
And
while she noticed that the vaginas pictured came in all different,
sizes, shapes, and colors, she realized her was 'definitely missing
something important'.
Although
her conservative Catholic mother didn't want her using tampons because
she knew someone who died of toxic shock syndrome, anonymous finally
decided it was time to tell her about the issue.
She
recalled her mother 'awkwardly' offering to help her insert a tampon
for the first time, but anonymous explained that they didn't have an
open relationship when it came to sexuality, so she asked to see a
gynecologist instead.
Anonymous'
doctor explained to her that young women who have a imperforate hymen
usually learn of it earlier in life because the vagina is completely
covered and blood can not be released when they start to menstruate.
'A
girl in that situation will be in so much pain that she will be taken
to a hospital and surgery known as a hymenectomy will be performed so
that she can release the blood. However, I was not so lucky,' she
wrote.
Although
her hymen almost completely covered the opening of her vagina, there
was enough of an opening that anonymous was able to get her period
regularly.
Dr.
Lauren Streicher, a clinical associate professor of obstetrics and
gynecology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, told Daily Mail
Online that an imperforate hymen is actually a common occurrence.
Although
she has not treated the writer, Dr. Streicher said it sounds like that
'in her case there was enough of an opening to let the blood out, but it
was so teeny tiny there is no way she would be able to have
intercourse'.
She
went on to say that some women who choose not to use tampons don't
realize they have a microperforate hymen until they try to have sex for
the first time and can't.
'It
is very important to say that her vagina is normal. It's not that she
has a small vagina,' Dr. Streicher explained. 'She has the same size
vagina as every woman.
'She
just had a membrane covering the vagina that only had a teeny opening
in it that needed to be opened up, and this is not that uncommon.
The
author of the books Sex Rx and The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy
added that it is important to note that you would be hard pressed to
find any gynecologist who hasn't seen or heard of this.
When
the hymen is fully or almost completely covered, a hymenectomy will be
done under local anesthetic and the membrane will be opened in the
center with scissors and a scalpel before the area is sutured.
And
while her situation wasn't uncommon, the writer said in her essay that
she was 'horrified' that she couldn't even attempt to have sex if she
wanted to.
To make matters worse, her conservative mother initially refused to let her have the surgery.
'I
honestly think that she thought the second I got my vagina spliced
open, I would start rampantly having sex with any male who looked in my
general direction,' she said. 'I also think she kind of had this weird
thought that I would sort of be "losing my virginity" by having this
surgery.'
After
creating pie charts and PowerPoint presentations on why she should be
allowed 'to have a vagina hole' over the following weeks, her mother
finally relented and allowed her to have the surgery.
'Ironically,
I still do not use tampons, and it would be a few years before I'd
actually have sex with anyone,' she wrote. 'But at least I got to have a
vagina hole like all the other girls.'
WHAT IS AN IMPERFORATE HYMEN?
An imperforate hymen is a thin membrane that completely covers the opening to the vagina.
Menstrual
blood cannot flow out of the vagina. This usually causes the blood to
back up into the vagina which often develops into an abdominal mass and
abdominal and/or back pain.
Some teens may also have pain with bowel movements and difficulty passing urine.
A microperforate hymen is a thin membrane that almost completely covers the opening to a young women’s vagina.
Menstrual blood is usually able to flow out of the vagina but the opening is very small.
A
teen with a microperforate hymen usually will not be able to insert a
tampon into her vagina and may not realize that she has a very tiny
opening.
If she is able to place a tampon into her vagina, she may not be able to remove it when it becomes filled with blood.
The
treatment for both conditions is minor surgery to remove the extra
hymenal tissue making a normal sized opening for menstrual blood to flow
out.
Source: Center for Young Women's Health
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