What you need to know about sexual health--Part 5 of 7

An interview with Dr. Mark Schuster, the author of Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask)

By Valentina Cardenas, 17, Ramona Convent (Alhambra)

This interview contains frank information about teens and sex. After consulting with L.A. Youth’s teen staff and their friends at various schools, we prepared these questions to give teens the information they want to know, but might be afraid to ask. Our purpose is not to offend, but rather to help teens make informed decisions.

Dr. Mark Schuster, director of the UCLA/Rand Center for Adolescent Health Promotion, answered our questions about sex. His book for parents, “Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask)” was published in 2003.  This is part 5 of a 7 part series.

13. Should you get tested for STDs before you have sex?

“No, there’s no need to do it before you’ve ever had, but then again we should be careful what we mean by sex. If you’ve never had oral sex or vaginal sex or anal sex, then no you don’t need to get tested before. But once you start having sex, if you do start, then you should talk to your doctor about getting tested regularly. I recommend every 6 months, that’s actually more often than most people recommend, some people recommend every year. But I think that if you’re having sex then you should get tested. I think it’s better safe than sorry.”

14. Does it always hurt the first time for vaginal sex?

“Well, no, that really depends on the individual. I haven’t heard of it hurting for boys, but it can hurt the first time for girls. It doesn’t always hurt, but she should know that it might hurt and she shouldn’t be surprised. She shouldn’t think that if it hurts the first time it will always hurt in the future. The pain depends on the individual and how much they react to pain. It could be totally insignificant to hurting a lot. Not usually being so much that she wishes to never have sex again, but enough that it’s painful. She can also have a hymen, the little band of tissue covering the vagina, we often say “breaks” during intercourse. It doesn’t really break; it’s almost like it gets stretched. In some cases, it’s very tight, so when the penis is going through it, it can really hurt a lot.” 

15. Will using a tampon, or horseback riding, or just being very athletic, can that loosen the tissue?

They say that, a tampon might stretch a very tight hymen, but you shouldn’t assume that if you’ve used a tampon, that you won’t have any pain. You still could have some pain, absolutely. The tampon is not as large as the typical penis, it’s not usually going to so-called “break” the hymen. They also say that gymnasts or horseback riders usually break their hymen, it’s not clear how true that really is. It can break or be stretched out without having had sex, but it’s not always the case. I guess in the past, this was used as an excuse by some women who wanted to claim they had never had sex, they would say that they broke their hymen while horse-back riding. But I don’t want to take their excuses away from them.