Dear Almoxy,

Tampons fit into most women's vaginas, but sometimes girls who are first beginning to use them have trouble inserting them. A girl may want to ask someone to show her how to correctly place a tampon in her vagina. She may want to ask her mother, older sister, or another woman she trusts to help her.

It's a good idea to use tampons with soft, tube-shaped applicators when first beginning to use tampons. It's also helpful to remember that the vagina usually doesn't go straight up into the body — usually it angles toward the small of the back. Therefore, when a girl inserts a tampon, it's best for her to relax her vaginal muscles and angle the tampon a little bit toward the small of her back to make insertion easier.

All girls are born with a hymen — the thin skin that stretches across part of the opening of the vagina. Some have so little hymenal tissue that it may appear that they have none. Most girls have some hymenal tissue across part of the opening of the vagina. Usually, it has an opening that lets menstrual flow out of the body, but sometimes this opening is small, making it difficult to insert a tampon. Some girls find it helpful to insert a clean finger or tampon into the vaginal opening and move it slightly from side to side, slowly, to stretch the hymen a bit.

Hope this information helps!

Take care,

teenwire.com^® Editors

This column is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have a medical problem, please call toll-free 1-800-230-PLAN for an appointment with the Planned Parenthood health center nearest you.