Precautions and protection

“It’s your fault we are in this soup,” accused Umesh, waving angrily at his wife who announced that she was pregnant for the third time. Umesh’s outburst was enough to push her over the edge. “Oh, please! Here’s a man who doesn’t even know how to wear his zip properly, let alone a condom,” sneered Anita furiously. Obviously, there has been a failure of condom usage in this case. The following might be the reasons for a condom failure:

1. There may be tiny holes in the condom due to manufacturing defects.
2. The small pouch at the tip of the condom is meant to collect the semen on ejaculation. If air is locked in this pouch while hastily wearing a condom, the tip will burst during ejaculation due to excessive pressure.

Sometime when a couple disengage from foreplay and the man tries to put on the condom by himself he is deprived of stimulation temporarily.  Apart from this the man is distracted while he is attempting to wear a condom. This results in his losing the erection. To prevent this, the act of wearing a condom can be incorporated into the foreplay itself. The wife can unroll the condom on the husband’s penis while holding his penis with one hand. This will help him to receive tactile stimulation without interruption. There is also a misconception that condom reduces sexual pleasure. The modern condoms are ultra thin, lubricated, ribbed, dotted or flavored to boost pleasure for both partners. To minimize freak failures:

 Unroll about an inch of the condom and squeeze its tip between the thumb and the forefinger to leave an empty space beyond the penis to catch the semen.

 Ensure that the fine sheath is not torn.

 Do not use Vaseline or other grease for lubrication.

 After the orgasm and before the erection slackens, withdraw the penis  from the vagina, holding the rim of the condom close to the penis.

The writer is a sexologist. Mail him at
dr.narayana@deccanmail.com