I just can't get it in...

This is really embarrassing, but...I just can't get my tampon in...I first got my period about two years ago, and I've always used pads, but when I tried using a tampon, it just wouldnt go in. I tried for about 20 minutes maybe, and i probably only got it in about half an inch at most. It hurt, so I stopped. I just don't like the idea of putting stuff up there, and since it hurt when I tried, It just made it seem even more scary. Even after I tried, it feels kind of sore and uncomfortable....back to pads...what's going on???

It probably feels "dry"....
Also if it's not far up enough, it will be sitting at the opening of your vagina....if you put your fingers at the opening, and you can feel the end of the tampon, it's too low.....

I don't know what kind you use, but the plastic applicators glide in easier. So hold the end of the larger part between your thumb and middle fingers and push it in far enough so that your fingers are just past your labia....like smoosh.... (put one foot on the toilet), then use your pointer finger to depress the thinner part of the applicator all of the way.

If it doesn't go in, your hymen may be on the thicker side and it may take a fairly decent push if you want it to break....

But if you don't like the "idea of putting stuff up there", then use pads...

“I can't use tampons. They hurt way too much when I try to put them in and I don't think I can break my hymen.”

The Kotex Q/A has answers from a health expert, a mum, and a peer.

It also helps to take a warm bath or shower first...that way, you are more relaxed. You'll get the hang of it.

You also may be using a tampon that is too big. Just like there are different size pads there are different size tampons. You want to start with a smaller one (light day or junior size) to start with. They are easier to get in, then you can go up in size as you figure out what you need for absorbancy.

I had that same problem when I was 13. It was an absolute nightmare for me as well. I stuck with pads, because of my fears and a really bad experience. However, I really do think that you should try looking into that website for assistance AND perhaps trying out the smaller sizes to begin with would make the experience a lot easier and more comfortable for you.

Best wishes!

Hymens don't break. They stretch. It's a really common misconception that hymens break. Sorry. Just felt the need to comment on that because I don't think you should just try pushing harder. That would really hurt and probably not accomplish anything.

The advice here was good. Small plastic applicator. I advise using a finger to just get a feel for what direction your vagina goes. If you try to shove it in the wrong direction, it won't go. That sounds really painfully obvious, but sometimes it isn't always easy to figure out. I insert the stupid thing in a slightly wrong direction all the time and it is unpleasant.

Hymens can tear. From Columbia University:

Sex regrets | Go Ask Alice!

They can but you don't break them when you lose your virginity or put in a tampon.

What do you mean by "break" anyway? I always assumed that the word "break" is used (however incorrectly) to mean that hymens tear and wear away from sex and tampon usage. Hymens can definitely tear and bleed from either. Also, a woman who has given birth vaginally will usually lose all traces of her hymen. A torn hymen is the same as a broken hymen - I think this is just a matter of definition.

There is a common misconception at least with people I know especially when we were younger that in order to put anything in your vagina, you have to break through the hymen which is portrayed to be a membrane that is completely shut. When I was in high school, all of my friends and I were terrified of putting anything in there out of fear of excruciating pain that people (actually health teachers trying to scare us into being abstinent) told us would be present because of the hymen literally physically popping or being punctured. We were told that when you "break" your hymen, it is gone and that people who are not virgins or used tampons or masturbated internally didn't have hymens anymore. The first time you had sex was the only time it hurt because that is when you "lost" your hymen and if you don't bleed the first time after having sex, that would indicate to your husband (because if you're having sex, you must be married or else that is wrong) that you were not a virgin even if you said were. However, to try and seem like they weren't shaming people outright who didn't have hymens that tore, they said you can "break your hymen while innocently horseback-riding". Apparently, a high impact bump to the crotch that you might experience when a horse trots can cause a women to physically break your hymen. That gave an image to me like popping a balloon but it is a piece of skin that bleeds. Yes, my health teachers said all of that. I didn't even go to a Christian school and the sex education taught at my school was considered "progressive". Sex education in this country is beyond deplorable but that's another topic completely.

The hymen can tear and wear away and it does quite frequently do that. But it isn't like you have to pop it in order to make a tampon go in or something. Perhaps that was already clear, but for me personally with my upbringing, whenever I hear someone says "break your hymen", I think of what I was taught in my high school sex ed classes and object to it.

However, I will say that the hymen has a hole in it that I think I read somewhere is on average about the size of a finger or a tampon before being stretched or torn in various other activities. I believe the statistic is something like 1 in 200 women do have a condition where the hole in the membrane is too small to get anything in it in order to stretch it. Instead of jamming a dildo or a penis up there as hard and fast as humanly possible to burst through it yourself (as my sex ed classes implied was necessary), there is a very simple and commonly done surgical procedure to open the hole wider to allow women afflicted with this condition to have sex and use tampons.

Hymens, of course, have a hole in them....they could have two holes (septate) or many (cribiform)

They can be thicker or thinner. They can even have NO hole, but the OP would have known that because there would be a lack of menstrual fluid.

Since using a tampon is difficult, I would say that the hole is small. As was mine.

Semantics aside, (including your use of the term "pop it") I used personal experience to relate to the OP.
Perhaps you didn't have such experiences and, so, cannot relate to the OP.

I'm sorry that you were taught by fear tactics. It must have had a lasting effect on you

I didn't mean to attack you or say that you were wrong or anything. I just read something, interpreted it, and responded. You are only responsible for what you say, not for how I interpret it. If my interpretation wasn't aligned with the point you were making, that's on me and I apologize. No harm, no foul beyond getting a little bit off topic, but effectively bumping the thread, perhaps giving other women who maybe can relate better a chance to see the thread and give their insight. I'm on tapatalk and can't see if anyone has responded to the original question while I've been going on a hymen tangent.

It did have lasting effects on me. That plus religion caused me to not masturbate until I was 17 despite having LOTS of sexual feelings much earlier in off out of a dual fear of going to hell and of being in intense pain. However, with a little bit of private research and a lot of reconsidering religion, I managed to overcome that particular fear. I saw something that reminded me of the rhetoric I heard that scared me able wanted to say what I know now to be true.

I am sorry about that. I see from your posts that there is much that you like to clear up. I forget, sometimes, that peoples "answers/comments" are often self-therapy for them, related directly to their illness. Hence, I never feel attacked so no worries.
I sincerely hope that what you do is of some value in your personal journey to healing.
Hugs to you.

Easy - o.b.tampons.

Small, no applicators, nothing to discard.

But I would still only use them when you absolutely must, and use Kotex pads the rest of the time.

Nope! Meaning - not necessarily. I could not insert anything but narrow, thin o.b.tampons (the best on the market for that purpose) and yet, when it finally came time for PIV, I had no pain, no bleeding, nothing to write home about...yawn!!! I think it is because I am not very dexterous and not lucky with devices. FITBIT had to send me two replacement wristbands in the first couple of months of use. I had to send cell phones back to T-Mobile twice before getting a model that works, etc.

Three components - the hymen, the device aka tampon, and the inserting hands. I probably didn't have a hymen, but boy did I have a problem clumsily messing things up!