The hymen is a fold of the vaginal mucosa with some holes. Hymen covers the vagina and serves as a kind of screen between the internal and external genital organs. It is located at a distance of 2-3 cm from the labia minora.
What are the hymen?
The anatomy of the hymen for each woman is unique. In this case, the shape, appearance, thickness of the mucosa and blood supply are very individual. Physicians call about 25-30 varieties of hymen.
The hymen can contain from one to several holes of various shapes and sizes. Among the most common are ring-shaped, cloisonne and latticed.
In addition, we know such kinds of hymen as semilunar, fimbriated, lobular, dentate, scrappy, forked, tubular, labial, bicontinuous, unperforated, etc. The figure shows some of these species.
It is interesting to note that in some women the hymen is so elastic that its first rupture occurs only after the birth of the first-born. While before the birth, during sex, the spittle is stretched, while not tearing.
If the hymen in the form of a narrow strip that surrounds the lower edge of the vagina - its owner will not feel any special pain.
Not always with defloration - the destruction of the hymen, there are bloody discharge. This is due to the peculiarities of the blood supply of each woman, in some cases, blood simply can not be.
The hymen can have different types, but during defloration a lot depends on the elasticity of the mucous membrane itself. Thus, the greatest elasticity of the hymen is observed in girls 17-21 years old. That's why defloration at this age is quite easy. Over the years, its elasticity decreases, and at 30 years is already 20% of the previous potential.
The physiological significance of the hymen to this day gives rise to controversy. Some scientists believe that this is a vestigial organ, derived from the distant past. While another group of researchers claims that it performs a protective function, protecting against various infections.