| Tara Langdale
Can Using Tampons Stretch Your Vagina?
It is quite normal to consider the effects of any kind of penetration on your vagina. There are a lot of myths out there as to what will affect its shape and size, etc. So if you’re wondering whether tampons can stretch your vagina or not, you are undoubtedly not the first! From our early teens (and sometimes before) until well into our forties or fifties, we are going to be dealing with periods. That means we’re going to go through a lot of tampons (or some other kind of sanitary products), so it’s probably a fair question to ask!
Therefore, in this article we’ll address that burning question:
Do tampons stretch your vagina?
In a word: no. Tampons cannot stretch your vagina out no matter how many you use, or how many years you use them for. It may seem like they are, especially when they’re difficult to insert, or you’re using larger ones. Younger women may be particularly concerned with this prospect, especially if they haven’t yet had sexual intercourse. The truth is that tampons work just fine for women of all ages and sizes. A virgin may have more difficulty inserting a tampon, and a tampon might break a hymen – but it won’t stretch your vagina.
The vagina is quite a phenomenon really, when you think about it! Since it is full of muscles, it can get very tight in certain circumstances (for instance, through fear and anxiety). On the other hand, it can stretch out to a mind-blowing extent – as is evidenced when women give birth. Even after childbirth, within six months the vagina will return to its usual shape and size, more or less, which can be helped along by kegel exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor.
So if a baby can’t stretch your vagina permanently, there’s no way that lots of sex can either… and it stands to reason that tampons have no chance of doing it! The only thing that is likely to make your vagina permanently looser is age. When our estrogen levels start dropping, we lose some elasticity in the vaginal muscles. That’s just nature, unfortunately.
If you want to stretch your vagina
Rather than being worried about it, you could be asking this question because you’re actually looking for a way to stretch your vagina, of course. If you feel that your vagina is too tight, it makes sense that you’ll want to create some space. Sex can be uncomfortable and tampons can be difficult to insert when you’re too tight down there… but as tampons can’t stretch your vagina, there’s no point in trying to use them for that purpose.
What you can do about this depends on the reason for the vaginal tightness. A common reason is vaginismus; you’ll know if you have vaginismus because you’ll feel really anxious about any kind of penetration, and as a result you’ll tighten up. No matter how hard you try to stretch your vagina (through sex or otherwise), it seems to stay constricted.
Some women want to stretch the vagina out because they have a condition like vaginal stenosis, or vaginal atrophy. In both instances the vagina could be partially closed or shrinking, and some intervention is necessary to stretch out the vaginal passage again. If any of the aforementioned possibilities resonate with you, read on for solutions.
What can you do to stretch the vagina out?
Our recommendation is to use vaginal dilators (also known as vaginal expanders), since these are designed for exactly that purpose. Vaginal dilators can stretch your vagina over time; you start out small and go up a size until you’ve reached the capacity you’re aiming for.
We have plenty of information all over our site about vaginal dilators and what the different type of dilators can do for you. All of them will stretch your vagina, so it’s just a matter of finding the right dilators for you, whether they’re silicone, plastic, or they contain Neodymium magnets. So feel free to take a look around and let us know if you have any questions!
Other VuVa Helpful Links:
7 Reasons for a Tight Vagina and How to Loosen
How to Relax Vaginal Muscles, Vaginismus & Sex
Vaginal Stretching - Keeping in Shape with Dilators
Do Dilators Really Work? Yes, and They can Improve Your Sex Life!
Shop for VuVa Vaginal Dilators
Tara Langdale/ President of VuVa Dilator Company
