Condom Use

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

• Practice using a condom a few times when you are alone before using one for the first time with a partner.
• Put the condom on as soon as your penis is hard. Do NOT go inside your partner unless you are wearing a condom. Put the condom over the tip of your penis, then unroll it all the way to the base. Handle the condom carefully so you don't tear or puncture it. Leave about 1 inch of space at the tip of the condom. This leaves room to catch semen and sperm so the condom doesn't break.
• If the condom breaks or tears during sex, pull your penis out right away and put on a new condom.
• After sex, hold on to your penis and the top edge of the condom. Pull both out of your partner at the same time. Remove the condom carefully. Do NOT wait until your penis gets soft to pull it out. This can cause the condom to leak or slip off.
• Use a condom only once. Then throw it away. Use a new condom every time you have sex.
• If you need to wet the condom, use a lubricant with a water base. Don't use lubricants such as petroleum jelly, cooking oil, shortening, lotion, or saliva. These may weaken the rubber.
• For better protection from diseases and pregnancy, use a condom with a sperm-killing chemical called nonoxynol-9 or use birth control jelly or foam. Some condoms come already coated with spermicidal lubricant.
• Store condoms in a cool, dry place. Heat will weaken the rubber and can cause the condom to break. Don't keep them in your pocket, purse, wallet, or inside a car for long periods of time.
• Don't use condoms that are old, cracked, sticky, brittle, or discolored.
• Try talking with your partner about what both of you like and don't like about condoms. This may make them easier to use.