UTIs — urinary tract infections — are really unpleasant, fairly common, and completely curable. But if you think you have a UTI, you need to see a health care provider about it as soon as possible. If left untreated, a UTI can cause a kidney infection, which can be way more serious. Your health care provider will test a sample of your urine to see if you have a UTI, and if you do, she or he will prescribe antibiotics. You can also take an over-the-counter pain reliever like Uristat to deal with the discomfort of a UTI, but those drugs will only help relieve painful symptoms and won’t help cure the infection. You can get a test or treatment for a UTI at your local Planned Parenthood health center, many other clinics, and private health care providers.

The clitoris is the pleasure center of the vulva. It doesn’t have a central role in reproduction like the penis or vagina — it’s pretty much just there to feel good! The clitoris is right under the point where the inner labia meet and form a little hood (known as the clitoral hood, in fact). The head, or glans, of the clitoris may vary in size, but only the tip of the clitoris can be seen at the top of the vulva, under the clitoral hood. Fun fact about the clitoris: the rest of its spongy shaft divides into two “legs” that reach more than five inches inside the body!

You can find a diagram of the vulva — including the clitoris and the clitoral hood —here.

Unless you have a medical problem (like pelvic pain or irregular bleeding), a pelvic exam may be unnecessary until you need your first Pap test. You don’t need to get your first Pap test  — which requires a pelvic exam  — until you’ve been sexually active and have turned 21. In our parents’ generation, doctors thought pelvic exams with Pap tests were needed much more often, but it’s not true today.

Some doctors still require pelvic exams in order to prescribe birth control. In most cases, Planned Parenthood does not. And some do pelvic exams to test for sexually transmitted infections.

It’s a good idea to have a gyn visit with your health care provider before you need a Pap test or birth control. But those checkups are just to make sure you’re healthy, and they may not include a pelvic exam — although some doctors still think they are necessary.

Whenever you do have your first pelvic exam, it’s okay to feel a little nervous or freaked out. You can call your doctor ahead of time to find out if your boyfriend (or anybody else) can accompany you. For a number of reasons, however, it’s unlikely that he’ll be allowed to be with you.

It might make you feel a little better to read up on what a pelvic exam consists of and what it will probably feel like. Click here to learn about pelvic exams and what to expect. Some parts of the exam might be a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t be painful. If you get there and still feel freaked out, tell your health care provider — she or he might be able to adjust things to help you feel more comfortable. You might also feel less tense if you breathe slowly and deeply, relax your shoulders and the muscles between your legs, and ask your health care provider to describe what’s going on.

It sounds like you’re talking about your inner labia — the folds of skin that go from your clitoris to below your vaginal opening, inside the outer labia. Healthy inner labia can come in a lot of different colors (and shapes and sizes!), and sometimes they change color during puberty. It’s all normal! Click here to learn more about what healthy labia look like.

Quickly losing or gaining weight can make your period irregular. So can poor nutrition or over exercising. And so can being pregnant.

Calling a period “irregular” generally means it’s out of the ordinary for you  — it’s earlier or later than usual, heavier or lighter than usual, or it doesn’t show up at all. Many women have irregular periods at some point in their life. But missing multiple consecutive periods can be a sign of pregnancy or another serious condition.  Click here to learn more about your period and some of the things that can make it irregular. If you’re worried that something unhealthy is going on, you should talk with a health care provider. If you think you might be pregnant, you should take a pregnancy test or contact your health care provider or your nearest Planned Parenthood.

Since you already use NuvaRing, you know how it works: you keep the ring in for three straight weeks, take it out for one week (which is when you’ll usually get your period), put a new one in, and repeat. Even during the break week, you’re protected from pregnancy.

Some people like to use NuvaRing continuously to keep from getting their periods. This is simple: all you have to do is skip your break week, and instead put a new ring in every three weeks. It’s normal to have spotting or bleeding for the first six months.

Some women like getting their periods, and others don’t. Using NuvaRing continuously is completely safe, except for women who shouldn’t use NuvaRing in the first place.

Click here to learn more about using birth control continuously.

(Just so you know: this actually wasn’t a question submitted to Ask the Experts; it was a comment that showed up on our new Planned Parenthood Info for Teens Facebook page. So technically, this is a “No One Asked the Experts” post… but we think it’s something a lot of people can relate to, so we wanted to respond.)

Feeling undesirable — like no one we’re interested in will ever notice us, ask us out, or like us back  — is a really lonely but really universal experience. Sometimes it can seem like everybody else in the world is dating and falling in love except for us, and that can make us feel like we’re just not good enough to join the party. But here are two things to keep in mind:

1. Love (or romance, or dating, or mutual likeage, or whatever you want to call it) will show up eventually, if you want it to. And until then, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s an annoying fact of the universe that you can’t fast forward to the part where you find that funny, sweet, cute boyfriend. But what you can do in the meantime is explore all the other things in the world that interest you, and keep becoming the girl you want to be. This might sound corny, but we swear it can help: make a list of all the reasons you’re awesome. Add to it whenever something new occurs to you. And try reading it over when you’re feeling unnoticeable.
   
2. Remember that you’re not alone. Plenty of other people feel the same way and worry about this stuff, too. Relationships can be complicated for everybody  — guys and girls. The same guys who you think barely notice you could be stressing out about the very same thing! Everybody might be so worried about feeling unnoticed, they don’t notice all the unnoticing going on.You could even try striking up conversation with a guy you wish would notice you. (It’s kind of hard to not notice someone who’s talking to you.)

Good luck! 

Yep! It’s totally normal to have some hair growing around the outside of your areolae — the area around the nipple. If it bugs you, you can pluck the hairs out with tweezers. Click here to learn more about your breasts.

Actually, our answer sounds a lot like the one you’ve already heard. Virginity means never having had sex. But there’s no one universal definition of sex…so there’s no one universal definition of virginity.

When people talk about virginity, a lot of the time they mean never having had vaginal intercourse  — sex in which the vagina is penetrated by the penis. That may be true for some people. But not all. For example, plenty of LGBT people don’t think of themselves as virgins because they’ve had other kinds of sex. A lot of people feel that they “lose their virginity” the first time they share an intimate sexual experience with someone else  — and oral sex can certainly be that for many people.

Do you think oral sex counts as sex? If you’ve already had oral sex, did you feel like you lost your virginity? Do you think virginity matters? These are all questions only you can answer.

Click here to learn more about what virginity means.

Yes, it’s completely and totally normal! Lots of people enjoy experimenting with their sexuality throughout their lives. And a lot of people have questions about hteir sexuality, both teenagers and adults. Either way, masturbating to certain images doesn’t always translate into what sex you’re going to be attracted to for the rest of your life. When it comes to sex, it can take us years to figure out who and what we like.

You might want to talk with friends or other people you trust about experimenting with or questioning your sexuality, or you might not want to share that right now. But you don’t need to feel ashamed about it. By the way, people who find that they are attracted to both men and women often call themselves bisexual. Click here to learn more about sexual orientation.