7 reasons why your vagina may feel too tight, and what you can do about it

Treatment for a vagina that feels tight may include pelvic floor physical therapy, hormone replacement therapy, or estrogen cream.

A vagina that feels tight can make it painful to insert anything from a tampon to a penis. Childbirth, yeast infections, and STIs are common causes of a tight vagina. Other causes include medical conditions like vaginismus, endometriosis, and menopause.

There are many different reasons why your vagina may feel too tight, resulting in pain while inserting a tampon or during sex. In fact, an estimated 75% of women experience pain during intercourse at some point in their lives.

Front-To-Back Wiping Your Vagina: It's A Huge Conversation On TikTok Right Now

Here's Why And What An Expert Says

2022 New Year's Resolution: learn how to wipe.

Hello, people with vaginas. Now, some of you may or may not have been taught as little kids that — after using the restroom — you should always wipe from the front to the back. And, if you weren't taught it as a kid, then I am sure at some point in your adolescent or adult life, you have learned it.

What causes incontinence during pregnancy?

There are many causes for incontinence during pregnancy and postpartum. Some of the proposed factors are:

• hormonal changes,
• pelvic floor muscle and connective tissue modifications,
• bladder neck widening (due to the weight of both the uterus and the growing fetus),
• anatomical injuries during delivery.^{1, 2}

A hormone called relaxin is produced during pregnancy to help soften the muscles and ligaments in preparation for delivery. As the uterus and baby grow throughout pregnancy more load is placed on the pelvic floor muscles causing the pelvic floor muscles to become weaker.³ Also constipation, which is commonly seen in pregnancy, puts an additional load on the pelvic floor.⁴ Furthermore, the pelvic floor has additional strain placed on it during labor; the pelvic floor muscle is stretched five times its original length.⁵

A personal journey and testimonial from one of my patients:

I was diagnosed with vaginismus 4 years ago. I never heard of such medical condition until after I got married. At first my husband and I didn't know what to do, we didn't know what the issues were or how to overcome it. Being born and raised in Armenia and being Christian I wasn't that open about talking to sex with others and so it wasn't easy to seek help. But eventually I went to an Ob-Gyn and luckily she knew about the medical condition (not many doctors know). She referred me to a physical therapist and I couldn't believe it and thought it's something I can handle myself. I ordered a kit from vaginismus.com and started practicing with dilators. There was some small progress but wasn't much helpful.