See if you can tell where it hurts during sex.

If it is the skin on the outside of your vagina, down by your bottom, chances are that your vaginal opening is smaller than normal. A doctor can help you fix that.

If it hurts inside your vagina during sex, what kind of hurt is it? A burning feeling can mean that you have little cuts or tears inside or that something is irritating your vaginal walls. This could be caused by lubricants, soaps, or lotions on your partner's skin, or if he is just simply too big to fit inside you, or you may be allergic to his semen.

If it's a dull pain or an ache way up inside, it could be that he is hitting your cervix.

My advise to everyone, is to use plenty of water-based lubricant, pay attention to your body, and if it is truly bothersome, go see the doctor.

Some women spot and/or cramp when they ovulate (approx 10 days after start of last period).

Some women spot right before thier period (due the build up of blood in the uterine lining and the cervix preparing for menstration).

Both are completly normal.

Spotting is also common during the first couple months of pregnancy at your normal time of menstration.

If you are pregnant and your spotting is more than just a little bit of light pink, I would see your OBGYN just to be safe.

Let me tell you about my menstral issues, and maybe it will help you...

I started having periods when I was 11. They have always been very heavy for the first two or three days, with cramps that would double me over, then "normal" flow for another two or three days, and then light for a few days. I would be wearing a pad for 7 or 8 days every 28 days and would always end up with a friction burn on my butt. So, for the next 5 years, my mom would help me put diaper cream on my tush and we muscled through it. At 16 she decided I was old enough to use tampons, and that helped with the rash, but I was still having awful cramps and heavy periods. At 17 the doctor put me on birth control. Just regular old Ortho Tri-Cyclin, and the heavy bleeding went away, but the cramps were still there. I got pregnant at 21 and went back on birth control after my son was born, got pregnant again at 25 and ended up getting an IUD after my daughter was born. With the IUD, I was right back to heavy periods and cramps worse than before, but I did not want any more children, and due to family beliefs, (please don't ask. It's complicated and makes absolutly no sense at all) tubal ligation was not an option. Well, I started having problems with PMDD when I was about 28 or 29, so I started taking Zoloft. It helped with my mood, but I think my hormones must have changed right around that time because my periods went from a 28 day cycle to a 21 day cycle and I started spotting and cramping during ovulation too, so literally, I had some sort of bleeding going on every other week. When I turned 30 and Yaz was getting rave reviews, my doctor put me on that with the Zoloft. Finally my PMDD was under controll, but there was one side effect. I was spotting everyday. At first I thought it was just my body getting used to being on the pill after so many years, but when I finished the first pack, and starting the second, The spotting became bleeding, and it didn't stop. About the middle of the second month, I changed to Yasmine. The bleeding still did not stop AND I started getting migrane headaches every few days. I was missing work and after about a month of headaches, my boss asked me to go back to the doctor. I stopped the pill but kept having migranes and kept bleeding. I had a pap smear, pelvic exam, internal ultrasound, external ultrasound, and all the doctor could come up with was that my uterus was enlarged. No tumors, no cysts, no fibroids. He told me that he had tried everything he could think of to get me on a "normal" cycle and that it was not working. He also said that he could tell I was quite miserable, and recommended a hysterectomy. I turned 31 on July 13, my surgery was July 15.

I am two weeks and a couple days post-op right now. I have not had a migrane since and I cannot tell you the relief I feel of never having to have a period again. No more pain, no more rashes, no more wearing Depends to bed in case I overflow in the night. Recovery hasn't exactly been a walk in the park, but it's only a few weeks out of my life and then I will be back to myself for the rest of my life.

If you are sexually active and have had more than one partner it is important for you to get to know your body and to know how to take care of it.

Don't use perfumed soaps, lotions, or body products on your genitals.
Make sure you are using tampons and other feminine products safely.
Don't douch with anything other than vinigar and water, only once or twice a month.
Know your sexual partner and thier history.  

When you do have irritated skin, try to pinpoint the cause.

Is it because you used a soap or other product that may have irritated your skin?
Is it because you may have douched too often?
Is your underware rubbing you in a not so nice way?
Did you use a personal lubricant or brand of condom that you may be allergic to?

Or could it be something else?

Do you notice any unusual odor, or discharge?
Do you have any sores that you've never had before?

For something simple like chafing from clothing or not using enough lubricant during sex, diaper cream with zinc oxide will sooth the skin and heal it pretty quickly.

If you notice an odor, or discharge you should see the doctor. It could be a yeast infection, which you can usually tell by holding a mirror and parting the vaginal lips with your fingers. If you notice anything resembling cottage cheese, it's most likely yeast. Or it could be bacterial vaginitis. With this type of infection, you may notice an odor and a clear discharge that is runny, and may resemble snot when you wipe after going potty.

For other irritation, there are many many different over the counter feminine products sold at Walgreens, RiteAid, and at your local grocery store in the "girlie isle".

If your slight itching turns into an itch that makes you want to rip your clothes off and attack it with a bristly hairbrush (in otherwords, if you can't easily ignore it) please go see the doctor.

If you don't have a regular doctor, you can always go to Planned Parenthood. They are very good at helping young women keep themselves healthy.

www.plannedparenthood.com