The condom

Why is condom used?

A faithful ally of male and female health, a condom is a contraceptive method that protects women from unwanted pregnancies, while protecting both lovers from sexually transmitted diseases.

Commonly called condom or prophylactic, the condom is the head of the so-called barrier contraceptive methods: it is a thin waterproof sheath made of latex or other hypoallergenic materials which, worn by the man on the erect penis, allows the collection of sperm ejaculated preventing this enters the vagina during the sexual act.

To know more

Theoretical and practical effectiveness How to use Condom typesContact guide Importance of condomsWarnings and recommendations Advantages and disadvantagesWhat to do if it breaks? Female condomGuide to Contraceptive Methods

Contraceptive efficacy

The effectiveness of the condom depends essentially on the correct modality of use : the awkward use of the condom is a real threat both in contraceptive and health terms.

• Outside of sexual abstinence, no contraceptive method - be it hormonal, implantable, natural or barrier - offers assault protection (equal to 100%) from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

When used correctly, the condom still guarantees surprising effectiveness: from a theoretical point of view, the method offers protection against unpleasant pregnancies and venereal diseases close to 99.9%. In practice, unfortunately, the condom succeeds "only" in 84-85% of cases.

As can be seen, the theoretical efficacy does not coincide with the practical one: the failure of the contraceptive method is heavily influenced by the way it is used and by the time of use . This last point deserves a closer look: many young people (and adults) tend to wear condoms only towards the end of the relationship, in the erroneous and common belief that "until ejaculation occurs, the spermatozoa do not pass through the canal vaginal". In reality, the preliminaries can favor a male excitement that favors the early emission of very small quantities of spermatic fluid (sufficient to favor conception).

Curiosity

The risk of early spermatic fluid leakage before the actual ejaculation is even more palpable when a relationship has been consummated a few moments before: in this case, in fact, the spermatic pathways may not have completely emptied, so some spermatozoa could spill into the vagina before the male intercourse.

To increase the contraceptive effectiveness, it is possible to associate a specific spermicide (chemical type contraceptive) to the condom. There are condoms already lubricated with the nonoxynol-9 spermicide; this substance, although it increases the contraceptive efficacy (which is in any case still high), can cause unpleasant side effects to the partner, such as allergic reactions and vaginal irritations.

How to use?

We have seen that the effectiveness of condoms depends essentially on the way they are used. To facilitate understanding, the main guidelines on the correct use of condoms are listed below.

BEFORE WEAR IT

1. Wash your hands before opening the wrapper containing the condom.
2. To avoid tearing the condom, before tearing the package, move it gently to the opposite side (with respect to the opening side).
3. At this point, remove the condom after tearing the wrapper (follow the pre-punched line to make it easier to tear). It is important to be careful not to damage the sheath with fingernails or other sharp objects (eg bracelets, necklaces, piercings, etc.): for this reason, cutting the package with scissors is not recommended.

Choice of condom

Given that the choice of the type of condom always depends on the consumer's needs (greater sensitivity, hypoallergenic, lubricated, etc.), the advice is to prefer condoms with tanks. At the terminal end, condoms fitted with tanks have a small appendix that allows the collection of seminal fluid during intercourse: the aim is to minimize the risk of failure of the method (condom breakage), avoiding both the formation of air at the inside, whether accumulations of spermatic fluid are created.

AS IT LOOKS

Only after putting the above instructions into practice is it possible to wear a condom. Once its perfect integrity is checked, the condom should be adhered to the erect penis:

1. The sheath should be placed on the uncovered glans, with the rubber ring facing outwards
2. The condom must be unrolled along its entire length, taking care to tighten the tank between thumb and forefinger to avoid the creation of air bubbles during intercourse, hypothetical responsible for the breaking of the condom.

If the condom is not equipped with a tank, during the application it is necessary to leave a space of about 1 cm in its end (in correspondence with the glans) to prevent air from forming inside it. However, most modern condoms have tanks.

3. Make sure you have correctly placed the condom on the penis: when you notice that you have slipped it backwards, it is advisable to remove it from the penis, throw it in the trash and replace it with a new one. This practice, often unfortunately dangerously transgressed, is indispensable for contraceptive efficacy: even during the insertion procedure, in fact, it can happen that a quantity - albeit minimal - of seminal fluid comes into contact with the inner walls of the sheath, constituting therefore a possible risk factor for pregnancy.
4. When necessary or desired, specific water-based substances (gels, creams, etc.) can be used to promote vaginal lubrication. Latex condoms should not be combined with oily lubricants (eg vaseline): such behavior can damage the structure of the contraceptive, increasing the risk of method failure. Water-based lubricants are preferred.

HOW TO REMOVE IT

At the end of the relationship, the condom should be held with the fingers at the base of the penis, to prevent it from coming off causing an unwanted pregnancy. Let us remember briefly that after male intercourse, the penis undergoes a natural decrease in volume (which in technical terms is called detumescence): for this reason, it is good to remove the penis from the vagina before the erection is completely completed.

For greater tranquility of contraception, before throwing the condom into the trash, we recommend checking its integrity.

Please note

Before wearing a condom, it is recommended to carefully read the package insert inside the package: there are indeed many types of condoms, the methods of use of which may vary slightly from case to case.