Please Help! Problem w/ Vaginal Opening!

[AngelMercy]

Hey there!
This is my first time posting on here, so I'm sorry if I break any rules, I read the Terms and Agreements as best I could. So, recently I have been visiting with my boyfriend for the first time, and we are both very interested in sex (more so me). During the 2 months I visited, we did not get to have penetration intercourse of any kind. We did experiment with other things, but I will leave those details out. The reason I'm posting on here is because I'm very concerned about my vulva/vagina. We noticed my vaginal opening was very small, and we know I need to be aroused before any penetration, but even when I was it was odd. I have a weird flesh like object covering my entire vaginal opening except for a small hole which is right above the space which is over my anus. It it coloured like the inside of my vulva when I pull back my Labia, and it doesn't look like any diagrams I've seen. I know it's isn't a bladder prolapse because it isn't huge, and it isn't painful. I do have my period regularly, and I can get aroused. I'm really worried there's something wrong? Is it blocking my actual vaginal opening? Are you able to help me figure out what this object is?
Thank you!

[Redskies]

Welcome to the boards! And thanks for being so conscientious about the Terms and Conditions

Okay, let's see what we can do to help you figure out what's what with your body

The best place to start, I think, is with Innies & Outies: The Vagina, Clitoris, Uterus and More. Does that help fill you in more about what's where, and what everything does?

Something important to know about the vagina is that it isn't a large hole into the body: the way vaginas work is that they expand around a thing that you choose to put inside. So, even when someone's aroused, the vaginal opening may well still look fairly small. (Also, what diagrams have you seen? There are some diagrams that aren't very accurate in their depiction of genital anatomy, even from some general health sources.)

With those pieces of information, is your body making any more sense to you?

If you're still not sure, what can be really helpful is going to see a sexual/reproductive healthcare provider and asking them to have a look. Is that something you'd like to do, and do you know how and where to get that healthcare?

[AngelMercy]

This does help a bit, thank you!
I'm still a little worried about not being able to have intercourse, but I will see once the time comes.
The diagrams I have seen are the drawn ones that don't really look like any vulva/vagina I've seen, so maybe it was just causing me to worry!
I'm only 16, and although ny parents have said they are okay with me doing certain things as long as I'm safe ( I'm on Birth Control, and my boyfriend's mom bought us Condoms when I was there), but I'm still scared to ask to see a doctor or Gyno. My doctor is a male, and I don't feel comfortable talking to him about my body. I'd like to have a healthcare provider take a look, but I'm scared my parents will want to know why, and I'm not sure where to find a female healthcare provider in my area.

[AngelMercy]

Also, I have to add:
The diagram that is shown in the article you linked, that is was my opening looks like, but what is the large fleshy thing above it? I thought that's where the opening was?

[AngelMercy]

Welcome to the boards! And thanks for being so conscientious about the Terms and Conditions

Okay, let's see what we can do to help you figure out what's what with your body

The best place to start, I think, is with Innies & Outies: The Vagina, Clitoris, Uterus and More. Does that help fill you in more about what's where, and what everything does?

Something important to know about the vagina is that it isn't a large hole into the body: the way vaginas work is that they expand around a thing that you choose to put inside. So, even when someone's aroused, the vaginal opening may well still look fairly small. (Also, what diagrams have you seen? There are some diagrams that aren't very accurate in their depiction of genital anatomy, even from some general health sources.)

With those pieces of information, is your body making any more sense to you?

If you're still not sure, what can be really helpful is going to see a sexual/reproductive healthcare provider and asking them to have a look. Is that something you'd like to do, and do you know how and where to get that healthcare?

Sorry, I'm not sure if I replied wrong, or if you're just busy or offline! I'm sorry to bother you again, but could you please read what I wrote... also, the flesh thing I'm talking about appears to be connected at the top to the outside of the Vaginal Opening, but it slightly dips into the opening. Have you heard of anything like that? Should it be checked out?

[Redskies]

We're not staffed 24/7, so messageboard users will sometimes need to wait a few hours for a staff/volunteer to be available to respond. You're not being a bother: it's simply about whether one of us is available or not. We do always do our very best to read everything all of our users write

Like I said above, the vaginal opening - when it's just sitting there and not being used - is pretty small. Often, in popular ideas and sometimes even in some health information, genital anatomy descriptions are really inadequate and inaccurate: it can often sound like the vagina and vaginal opening is the main focus of the external genitals and takes up most of the space. Because often, so much of the focus is on the vagina! But that's not how anatomy actually is. Like you said about the diagram, there's plenty of external genital area that isn't the vaginal opening.

It sounds like what you're noticing as the "fleshy thing" may be your inner labia: they feel fleshy, and connect to the vaginal opening.

If your own body looks broadly similar to the diagram I linked you to, it's likely that your body is fine and there's nothing wrong. It does sound like you'd feel a lot better by seeing a healthcare provider, though, and that you'd get a lot out of it for your own information. If your parents have been broadly supportive of your own sexual decisions and sexual health so far, there's a good chance they'd be supportive of you seeing a doctor, perhaps? Do you have a sense of what you're scared about if they ask why?