The vagina
The word vagina comes from the Latin “vagina” meaning “sheath”.
It is a muscular conduit measuring 8 to 12 cm, through which the blood of menstruation flows and through which the baby emerges during childbirth. The vagina is also where a man’s sex enters during intercourse.
The vagina has 3 parts:
- The entrance, located just after the labia minora and partly closed by a membrane called the hymen. The hymen has holes to allow menstruation to pass through and often tears during the first intercourse. It can tear before this accidentally. Some women are born without a hymen or do not bleed when they have sex for the first time.
- The vaginal conduit itself, which measures 8 to 10 cm on average. As the vagina is a muscle, it is possible to use re-education exercises to make it firmer (after giving birth, for example) without using substances or plants that would only destroy the vaginal flora. This vaginal flora, known as the Doderlein flora, is a group of “good” microbes that live there and protect the vagina from “bad” bacteria. Frequent intimate bathing can destroy this flora and cause infections.
- The bottom of the vagina is called the vaginal dome or cul-de-sac. The cervix opens at the bottom of the uterus.
Source: Toubibadakar