I Had Sex With My Boyfriend For Two Years. Now My Vagina Is Not ...

answers to your questions about sex and relationships
54% of UA undergrad students are single or casually
dating, 36% are exclusively dating one person and 10%
are engaged or married. (2005 Health & Wellness Survey, n=2036)
Q.I had sex with my boyfriend for two years.
Now my vagina is not tight. Is there any
way to make it tighter? Thank you.
A. Unfortunately, it is all too common to hear a young woman referred to as “loose” when she is known
(or suspected) to have engaged in sexual intercourse. And while it is true that first-time intercourse
may break or stretch her hymen, no amount of intercourse will adversely affect (read: stretch) the
natural shape and elasticity of her vagina.
Often when a woman voices concern about her vagina being loose, what she is really noticing is
a lack of strength in her pelvic floor muscles – the muscles surrounding her vagina. To get a better
understanding of this, a woman can insert two fingers into her vaginal opening and then contract
her vaginal muscles as if trying to hold in urine. The tightening around her fingers is produced by
her pelvic floor muscles. While loss of pelvic floor muscle strength is a common consequence of
childbirth, it is not a side effect of intercourse. In fact, sex may even strengthen these muscles due
to the involuntary rhythmic contractions they undergo during orgasm.
If you are concerned about pelvic floor muscle strength, a series of exercises known as Kegel
exercises can increase muscle tone. As a bonus, many women who have been regularly practicing
Kegels for six or more weeks also report increased sensation during intercourse as well as general
increased genital sensitivity.
Here are some basic steps for Kegel-ing:
• Locate the muscles surrounding the vagina. This can be done by clenching your muscles to stop
the flow of urine while peeing and then releasing them to let urine flow again in order to feel
which muscles are working.
• Practice clenching and releasing these pelvic floor muscles anywhere from 5 to 10 times per day,
repeating the Kegels ten times per session. Each clench should last approximately 10 seconds.
Have a question? Send it to sextalk@email.arizona.edu
SexTalk is written by Lee Ann Hamilton, M.A., CHES, Melissa McGee, Ph.D., MPH
& David Salafsky, MPH, health educators at The University of Arizona Campus Health Service.