Latex Condoms and Risks of STDs : Part 3

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 3 of 3)

If the condom does not have a reservoir top, pinch the tip enough to leave a half-inch space for semen to collect.

While pinching the half-inch tip, place the condom against the penis and unroll it all the way to the base. If you are using spermicide or lubricant, put more on the outside of the condom.

If you feel the condom break during intercourse, stop immediately and withdraw. Do not continue until you put on a new condom and, if using spermicide, apply more.

After ejaculation and before the penis gets soft, grip the rim of the condom and carefully withdraw.

To remove the condom, gently pull it off the penis, being careful the semen doesn't spill out.

Wrap the used condom in a tissue and throw it in the trash where others won't handle it. Because condoms may cause problems in sewers, don't flush them down the toilet. Afterwards, wash your hands with soap and water.

Be aware that drugs and alcohol may affect your judgment and your ability to use a condom properly.

Although condoms afford good protection for vaginal and oral sex (where the penis is in contact with the mouth), the protection they give for anal sex is questionable. The Surgeon General of the Public Health Service has said, "Condoms provide some protection, but anal intercourse is simply too dangerous a practice."

Condoms may be more likely to break during anal intercourse than during other types of sex because of the greater amount of friction and other stresses involved. Even if the condom doesn't break, anal intercourse is very risky because it can cause rectal tissue to tear and bleed, allowing disease germs to pass more easily from one partner to another.

Because condoms are used for both birth control and reducing the risk of disease, some people think that other forms of birth control will also protect them against disease. This is not true. Even if you use another form of birth control, you need a condom to reduce the risk of getting STDs.

Condoms do not make sex 100 percent safe, but, if properly used, they can reduce the chance of contracting STDs, including AIDS. This can mean protection not only for you and your partner, but also for any children you may have in the future.

Who Should Use a Condom?

To lessen the chance of being infected with AIDS or other STDs, people who take part in risky sexual behavior should always use a condom. High-risk behaviors include having sex — vaginal, anal or oral — with:

A person who has an STD. This is the riskiest behavior. If you know your partner is infected, the best rule is to avoid intercourse (including oral sex). If you do decide to have sex with an infected person, always be sure to use a condom from start to finish, every time.

Someone who has shared needles to inject drugs with an infected person.

Someone whose past partner(s) was infected. Because the AIDS virus can be in the body a long time before a person gets sick, if your partner had intercourse with a person infected with HIV, he or she could pass it on to you even if the sexual contact was a long time ago — even as long as 10 years — and even if your partner seems perfectly healthy.

Use of a condom is also important for an uninfected pregnant woman because it can help protect her and her unborn child from STDs.

STD Facts

• Sexually transmitted diseases affect more than 12 million men and women in the United States each year.
• Anyone can become infected through sexual intercourse with an infected person.
• Many of those infected are teenagers or young adults.
• Changing sexual partners adds to the risk of becoming infected.
• Sometimes, early in the infection, there may be no symptoms, or symptoms may be easily confused with other illnesses.

Sexually transmitted diseases can cause:

• tubal pregnancies, sometimes fatal to the mother and always fatal to the fetus
• death or severe damage to a baby born to an infected woman
• sterility
• cancer of the cervix in women
• damage to other parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys and brain
• death to infected individuals

See a doctor if you have any of these STD symptoms:

• discharge from the vagina, penis or rectum
• pain or burning during urination or intercourse
• pain in the abdomen (women), testicles (men), and buttocks and legs (both)
• blisters, open sores, warts, rash, or swelling in the genital area, sex organs, or mouth
• flu-like symptoms — including fever, headache, aching muscles, or swollen glands — which may accompany or precede STD symptoms.

Some of the material in this article was taken from the FDA pamphlet Condoms and Sexually Transmitted Diseases ... Especially AIDS. Copies of the pamphlet and other information about condoms and STDs are available from the National AIDS Hotline 24 hours a day.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.