Learn How to Prevent Unpleasant Vaginal Lesions

Penetration can cause tiny tears and lesions in the vagina. These vaginal lesions and tears can be quite irritating. Here’s how to prevent them.

A lot of women notice vaginal lesions, tears and small wounds after having vaginal intercourse. That’s nothing unusual and, most importantly, it’s not serious, but it can sometimes be very unpleasant, especially during sexual intercourse. If a wound comes into contact with sperm, you feel a burning, smarting pain. The good news is that you can avoid vaginal lesions, but first let’s take a look at their most common causes.

Vaginal lesions are often causes by excessive dryness of the vagina

When you’re turned on, your vagina produces a lubricant. The moistness protects your vagina against vaginal lesions caused by friction during vaginal penetration. If you don’t produce enough lubricant, your vagina is too dry and penetration becomes difficult. This often happens during the menopause because estrogen levels are low, which reduces the moistness of the vagina. A very common cause is that foreplay is too short before vaginal penetration, so a woman isn’t fully aroused. This means that the vagina isn’t moist enough and that increases the risk of small wounds and lesions. Another possible cause is improper use of sex toys or objects that aren’t intended for vaginal penetration and have sharp or rough edges. Some experts also warn that certain sexual positions are more likely to damage your vagina, so it’s worth thinking about your sexual practices if you feel sore all the time.

How can you prevent vaginal lesions?

If you have a problem with vaginal moistness, the recommended and most effective solution is using a lubricant. You can choose from a number of different tastes and scents, but you have to make sure that they’re water-based lubricants if you use condoms. Oil-based lubricants can damage latex, so condoms will provide no protection during sexual intercourse. If you think that your dryness is caused by lack of foreplay, you’ll just have to devote more time to it and wait with penetration until you’re really aroused. A passionate quickie is, of course, very exciting, but if you’re sore long after the excitement is forgotten, you might regret it. As for sex toys, make sure you know the right way to use them and don’t stick potentially dangerous objects into your openings.

More advice on vaginal infections in our Encyclopedia of Sexuality.