Why Do Women Have Tight Vaginas?

A woman may notice that her vagina feels tighter than usual. This may happen as a result of changes over the course of a woman’s life. These changes may be due to aging and natural events such as pregnancy and childbirth. Such changes could make the vagina feel tighter than usual. This tightness can cause discomfort or pain during sexual penetration.

Can a Vagina Be Too Tight?

Women experience a number of natural vaginal changes as they age, get pregnant, and have children. A woman’s vagina is almost never too tight for sex. The pain or discomfort may and symptoms of other issues. When unaroused, the vagina is between 3 and 4 inches long and may not be lubricated enough for comfortable intercourse. When aroused, the vagina expands in width and length and has sufficient lubrication. To stop the pain, discomfort, and feeling of being too tight, a woman should spend more time getting aroused before penetration.

Here are other possible causes of discomfort during intercourse:

• illness
• congenital conditions
• stress
• injury
• hormonal fluctuations

Managing vaginal tightness as a result of the aforementioned would require a medical expert.

How Does the Vagina Get Tight?

During pregnancy, the vagina changes to prepare for childbirth. Here are other factors that directly affect the vagina and make it tight.

• hormonal-related changes
• sex
• pregnancy
• childbirth and breast-feeding

We`ll discuss how all of these cause vaginal tightness.

Hormonal-Related Changes

A woman’s vagina changes naturally as a result of hormonal fluctuations that happen at various times during her life. These fluctuations may be due to her monthly menstrual cycles and the loss of those cycles as she reaches menopause. During a woman`s childbearing years, her hormones will fluctuate at various points in her cycle. When she has her first period, hormone levels of progesterone and estrogen are low, then begin to increase as she gets older and her cycle progresses, then fluctuates thereafter. The increased levels of progesterone and estrogen may make the vagina feel more lubricated and elastic during this time. After ovulation, hormones drop again, and the vagina may feel less dry and flexible, causing feelings of tightness. During menopause, estrogen levels drop, and vaginal tissue thins. These changes cause women to feel tighter in their vaginas.

Sex

When a woman is aroused, her vagina expands and lengthens. It also releases a natural lubricant that prepares her vagina for penetration. If she is poorly aroused, the vagina may not expand or be well lubricated. This can cause pain, discomfort, and a feeling of tightness. There are various ways to get well aroused. For some women, it`s a prolonged build-up or foreplay with their partner, while others practice relaxation techniques. There are also lubricants that can make sex more pleasurable. Water-soluble lubricants are ideal if you`re using condoms, as the oils in oil-based lubricants can break down the condom.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy causes various changes in a woman’s vagina. During pregnancy, the vagina changes to prepare for childbirth. A more enlarged uterus is one of these changes, and it puts extra pressure on the vagina. Other changes in a woman’s vagina during pregnancy are feelings of fullness or pressure, a change in color, and increased discharge and lubrication.

The feeling of vaginal fullness and pressure during pregnancy can make a woman feel like her vagina is tighter than normal. The increase in vaginal lubrication during pregnancy may also make a woman’s vagina feel more elastic than usual. A woman’s vagina will recover its natural elasticity after childbirth.

Childbirth and Breast-Feeding

During childbirth, the vagina grows and expands to accommodate the delivery of a baby. After birth, it may contract to its normal size. It is only natural for women to experience changes to their vagina after vaginal birth. Some even experience injury through tearing or episiotomy. While the injuries heal, the vagina may feel tighter or more tender than before. Breast-feeding mothers may experience vaginal dryness due to changes in hormones. This dryness can also make them feel tight in their vagina during intercourse.

Can a Vagina Be Too Loose?

Vaginal tissues become thinner during the menopause, however, the vagina does not loosen. Some women fear that after vaginal birth, their vagina will never return to a pre-birth tightness. Although the vagina changes during pregnancy and childbirth, it returns to a similar size and shape as it was before the pregnancy.

Women can strengthen their pelvic floor after childbirth. The increased strength may help to prevent urinary leaks and improve comfort during sex, however, it will not change the shape or elasticity of the vagina.

Does Menopause Affect Vaginal Looseness?

During menopause, women worry about vaginal looseness because the vaginal tissues becoming thinner. This change may produce a sensation that a woman is losing elasticity and tightness. Note that the vaginal tissues only change, the vagina does not loosen.

Even though there are situations that cause temporary loss of elasticity or swelling, the vagina regains a normal level of tightness eventually. Permanent loss of vaginal tightness is only a myth. A vagina will expand during sex and childbirth, however, it always returns to its natural state afterward. After childbirth, it may take some time for the vagina to recover its normal elasticity. Women are advised to see their doctor if they experience any symptoms of infection or sudden changes in how their vagina feels.

Vagina Myths you Should Debunk

• Having sex with multiple partners will loosen the vagina.
• Having vaginal birth stretches the vagina out forever.
• Virgins have extremely tight vaginas because their hymen is intact.
• Virgins should bleed the first time they have sex.
• If a woman is tight during sex then she has a quality vagina that has not experienced much sex.
• Losing your virginity stretches the vagina permanently.

Other Sex and Vaginal Facts you Should Know

• A woman’s vagina changes at various stages during her life.
• Hormonal changes during menstruation may lead to some feelings of vaginal tightness.
• The feeling of a tight vagina during sexual penetration may be as a result of low arousal.
• About 9 out of 10 cases of HPV go away on their own within two years.
• After abstinence, IUDs and implants are the most effective forms of reversible birth control.
• Implants and IUDs don`t protect against any STDs.
• The acid/base balance of the vagina is around 4, which is the same pH as tomatoes, wine, and beer.
• Factors such as vaginal infections, douching, soap, and exposure to semen can change the pH of the vagina.
• Most women will contract HPV but may never know they did.
• There are strains of HPV that can cause cervical cancer or genital warts.
• An overgrowth of bacteria may make the vagina may smell like fish.
• The first written mention of female ejaculation is by Aristotle.
• Women and men with spinal cord injuries can experience orgasm when a partner stimulates the hypersensitive skin around their injury.
• The first two inches of the vagina has the highest amounts of nerve endings and is the most pleasure receptive.
• Transudation is the process of vaginal lubricant moving from the blood capillaries to coat the vaginal canal, colloquially known as a woman getting wet.
• If a woman feels insecure about her relationship, she is less likely to orgasm.