You can see in the picture below of the “septate hymen” that you have an extra band of hymeneal tissue that is partly blocking the opening to your vagina. Ask your health care provider whether the septum should be removed before having sex (or using a tampon). This is a very simple procedure that can be done in a doctor’s office with local anesthesia or as an outpatient procedure with sedation or general anesthesia (while you are asleep). If you have intercourse while you still have a septate hymen, the opening on one side may be large enough for sexual intercourse or for using tampons, but often the opening is too small and the hymen can tear during sex which can cause bleeding and pain. Similarly a tampon may get stuck if the string ends up going out a small opening and the tampon swells with blood. Read more about septate hymen here.
