Thread: want to use tampons but can't..

There is no easy way to get used to tampons. I was a swimmer/lifeguard during high school so tampons were a must for me. Just start with the small ones and work your way up to the larger tampons when you feel comfortable. As long as you insert and remove carefully, you won't tear your hymen.

I second redhead22, you can also put a tiny bit of lube on it, which will make it eaiser, when inserted properly you shouldn't be able to feel it, although this may take a bit of getting used to. They come with a little instruction book, so take a look at that and just make sure you get the angle right.

You may laugh, but I didn't even know I had a vagina until I read the instructions included in the tampon box when I was 14 (already had my period for a year). My mom never took time to explain things to me. Lol.

Getting it in: make sure it's far enough in there or else it will be uncomfortable.

Getting it out: I hurt badly the first time I tried to take mine out. (The same day I read that box.) It was because, well, it's dry and absorbent and I didn't have anything to lubricated it. I tried to take it out too early. When you decide to use it, wait until it's actually time to change it before trying to remove it, or else it can be uncomfortable.

Good luck. When you get it worked out, I find tampons to be more comfortable and less diaper-feeling.

lol im not laughing at you......i promise!! its jsut i have a friend who is the exact same way!! she wont use tampons. its really not so bad though! yeah ok....i rememeber when i first started using them, and trust me, the first few times are akward!! but its akward for everyone! but ive been using them since like two years after my first period and trust me, you just get used to it!

and once you get used to it, you dont even think about it any more........like brushing you teeth....or something like that! haha ok thats a terrible example...hmmmm..

anyway its jsut something you do! lol dont worry about it. there is no way to take the akwardness out of using a tampon! you just cant worry about it!!

Ok I have to admit it... I'm in my 20s and don't use tampons. I've tried but they never stay in, swimming is still a disaster (that was not a fun canoe trip, let me tell you that much), it's uncomfortable, I worry about it the whole time it's in... so yeah I just stick with the thin pads. I will say that I haven't tried tampons since becoming sexually active, so who knows it may be easier... I don't feel all that motivated to try though, lol. So anyway, don't feel bad about not being familiar with using them; you're certainly not alone!

and lol florence I'm with you though; I had no idea what was even down there until recently, I'm ashamed to say. My bf definitely knew far more about all that than I did! I can definitely and ashamedly say that I had no idea that you have sex in the same place as where you pee. I had this vague idea that there were two holes somehow... I didn't even know what a vagina looked like - and certainly not my own! Never looked until recently. It wasn't what I expected but it's growing on me now, haha.

It may sound silly, but you could always lay a vanity mirror (big enough for a good view, of course) down on the toilet seat, prop one leg up on the toilet by the mirror, so you can get a good view of what you're doing and compare to the instructions that come in the box. It took me almost 7 months to get it right, and once I tried with the mirror, it was easy as could be!

I also recommended this to my 15 year old sister and it worked quite well.

I was the same way, I was really scared to use tampons. I suggest trying some long slender ones to start with, because most regular tampons expand so that they're wide, and that's a little more difficult. The long slender ones are much easier to get in and out. I also suggest getting some kind of lubricant (I have Asrtoglide that I use just for getting tampons in) because it makes it a lot quicker and smoother when the tampon itself is caked with lubricant.

I debated on responding to this topic a little while ago, because my story is really discouraging, but it might be informative. I tried switching to tampons at 18 because I began getting rashes from the big thick pads (I was also a virgin at the time.) The first time I ever tried a tampon, it was fine, until I tried to take it out. It got stuck, and I yanked and pulled for literally hours until I started feeling so much pain that I was crying. When I finally got a mirror and looked to see what was wrong, I discovered a thick band of flesh stretched across the opening preventing the tampon from getting out. It was my hymen, which was very irregularly shaped. Instead of the normal thin, cresent hymen that most girls have, mine was septate shaped.. meaning it stretched right across the middle, so I had two small openings. The tampon was small enough to fit in one of the little holes, but when it expanded, it was much to big to get out. I had to get my hymen surgically removed.

Okay.. so I'm sorry that it's a bit of a horror story, but it's rare. But considering the tampon trauma I went through, and the luck I have with them now, I think anyone can wear them. I was so scared of them that I never tried one again until after I had sex about 30 times. I don't think the sex helped me physically, but more mentally because I knew that my hymen was fully gone and nothing could get hung up on it again. Nowadays, I never have sex, and my vagina has shrunk back to the original size before I had sex.. and the tampon still fits fine.

My advice would just be to examine your vagina first or maybe visit the gyno just to make sure you won't have any problems with the tampon. If you're fine, then there's really nothing to be afraid of. After a couple periods, it's easy to forget that you're even wearing a tampon. :]

Oh, also, never try to take it out too early, I normally wait until I see a little bit of blood on the string outside because that means most of the tampon has become saturated and should slide out easier. It's also really important to make sure you put it in as far as it will go (applicators have finger grips on them - you should push it in until your fingers get to your vagina.) It's impossible to push it in TOO far with the applicator, but most tampon discomfort comes from not being in far enough. Also, when I'm not bleeding too heavily, I still use a light pad, it will hurt if you use a tampon on a light day.