The thin membrane around the vaginal opening. The hymen has a central perforation which is usually stretched or torn by the use of tampons or during sexual intercourse for the 1st time.
Imperforate hymen is a rare condition in which the hymen has no perforation; at the onset of menstruation, menstrual blood collects in the vagina, causing lower abdominal pain.
The condition is easily corrected by a minor operation.
The thin membranous fold partially closing the lower end of the virginal VAGINA. If the opening is small, the hymen will tear at the time of ?rst intercourse, usually with a little bleeding.
n. the membrane that covers the opening of the vagina at birth but usually perforates spontaneously before puberty. If the initial opening is small it may tear, with slight loss of blood, at the first occasion of sexual intercourse.
n. a genus of small widely distributed parasitic tapeworms. The dwarf tapeworm, H. nana, only 40 mm in length, lives in the human intestine. Fleas can be important vectors of this species, and children in close contact with flea-infested dogs are particularly prone to infection. H. diminuta is a common parasite of rodents; humans occasionally become infected on swallowing stored cereals contaminated with insect pests – the intermediate hosts for this parasite. Symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, and headache are obvious only in heavy infections of either species. Treatment involves a course of *anthelmintics.... hymenolepis
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