Any masturbation tips for a newbie??

So I was never one to touch myself ever. For not particular reason I just never had the urge to if that makes sense? It wasn’t until I got a boyfriend and I suddenly was hornier than ever so I needed an outlet lol.

Well I’ve been masturbating for a few months now and my go to method is the pillow method. I’ve tried fingering a few times but it was uncomfortable and just didn’t make me feel anything?

We’ve had sex once and it hurt when he went inside which I kinda expected (I was a virgin so this was my first time also I wasn’t wet enough, it just happened real quick I wasn’t totally prepared). But since then I’ve been trying to use a brush handle (i know i know but I don’t have a proper toy so I make due lol) and it still hurts when I try and insert it. Not as much as when I had sex!! but it’s like an uncomfortable feeling and I can’t seem to go past a small length. (Keep in mind before all this I never even inserted so much as a tampon so having something inside me is completely new territory for me!!!!)

So does anyone have any tips on how to relieve the pain? Does it take a while for a vagina to get used to being stretched that much? Do I just need to practice more until that uncomfortable feeling isn’t there anymore?