Some girls worry that if they use tampons, they will no longer be virgins. The truth is, a virgin is someone who has never had sexual intercourse. Inserting a tampon is definitely not the same as having sex!
So why do girls ask this question so often? Girls who are virgins usually have a hymen, a very thin piece of skin-like tissue that stretches partly across the opening of the vagina. A lot of people mistakenly think that a girl is still a virgin if her hymen has not been broken. Most of the time a girl's hymen breaks after having sex for the first time.
But a girl's hymen can tear in ways that have nothing to do with having sex. For example, it is possible that inserting a tampon might tear the hymen (although that usually doesn't happen). So even if a tampon does break a girl's hymen, she is still a virgin until she has had sexual intercourse.
For more information, check out these articles:All About MenstruationThe Deal With Feminine HygieneVirginity: A Very Personal Decision
Reviewed by: Larissa Hirsch, MDDate reviewed: September 2006Originally reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
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