This message is primarily useful for young men who are reading this (although young women should have an idea of how to help select the appropriate size for their male partners.) Young men, please pay attention. This could be some of the most important advice you ever receive.
The most-cited figure for latex condom breakage under proper use is 0.4% – 2.3%. If you have just begun to have sex, and you are seeing rates on the high end of that, or especially a dramatically higher breakage rate — say, upwards of 10% — the most likely solution is that you need to wear a “Magnum” or “Large” size. In my experience, no one thinks to tell young men this.
I think the main culprit is that for most young hetero men, the only erect penises they have seen, other than their own, are in pornographic films. Almost without exception, professional pornographic actors have sizes far in excess of the mean and median of the human population — and I assure you that they are wearing larger sizes (when they do wear them — an upsetting topic for another thread). A male porn star’s erect penis size is no more representative of typical men than female porn stars’ breast size (many young men don’t realize this either, but that is an upsetting topic for yet another thread).
In general, research shows that atypically long penises have a higher rate of slippage failures, and atypically wide penises have a higher rate of breakage failures. The penis circumferance for which standard condoms in the United States are intended is 5″ (~13cm). The formal measurement is the average of the circumferance at the base, in the middle of the shaft, and directly below the glans, but don’t let formal measurements keep you from taking this measurement. Take this measurement as soon as possible. It is important — it could change, or even, save your life, to know the proper condom size you need.
Don’t use an excuse that you need to buy a fabric tape. The cord on your earbuds will suffice. Don’t use an excuse of not having a ruler. If you have a piece of printer paper, that will do. Fold it in half lengthwise. 5″ is a half inch shorter than the folded paper along that axis.
I don’t have any idea the range of sizes, outside the median, for which the condoms are considered appropriate. But if it’s not even close, you need to investigate larger options.
Thanks for paying attention.
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We’ve gotten some good giggles out of this in the past at mcgees.org — mostly in the vein of “what am I implying?!” — but this really isn’t a giggling matter. If someone is old enough to have sex, he or she is old enough to learn about — and talk about — ways to make sex safer. This is crucial information for young men — and, in fact, women.
So, if you’re going to giggle, friends: do by email, please. OK?
Oh! And, counter-intuitively, using two condoms simultaneously increases the risk of breakage.
Aside:
As for size? Studies vary (and, predictably, vary largely based on whether they are based on self-measurement or professional measurement), but the typical penis length is considered to be between 5″ and 5.9″. So, relax, dudes. Almost certainly you’re within a reasonable range. Learning what is typical and appropriate in anatomy and sex from watching porn is (to steal someone else’s line) like trying to learn what is typical and appropriate in cars and driving from watching The Fast and the Furious films. What you certainly don’t need is surgery. What you absolutely certainly do not need is a pump, or a pill, or a whatever. Those do nothing, and can cause health damage (in the case of drugs) or severe injury to your penis. Counter-productive, yes?
This is interesting, as one of my tried and true lessons in my Life Skills courses when teenage boys would tell me that they didn’t like using condoms because their penises were much too big for them to be comfortable, was to take a condom and fill it up with a liter of water. And have it not break. Your average condom can accommodate a wide range of sizes. I’m sure there are many guys who should be using magnum sized condoms, but there are also many others who just don’t know what it is supposed to feel like, AND still more who run into problems because they do not know how to use a condom correctly. Ladies (yes ladies) and gentlemen, read the little insert on the box, and practice on a cucumber. If you don’t pinch the tip of a condom when you put it on, air gets inside, making it much more likely to pop or slide off. If you don’t roll it alllllllll the way down, it is also more likely to slip, and semen is more likely to leak out. And while we’re on correct condom usage, though it has nothing to do with breakage, after you orgasm, pull out while you still have an erection; if you wait until you go limp it is much much much more likely that the condom will slip off inside your partner.
Okay, there are enough embarrassing words in here for tons of teenagers to hit on this comment in random google searches, so please, pay attention.
I agree, condom size should be emphasized more, because choosing the right size increases the effectiveness of a condom
I wrote about condom size chart recently and I had some problems finding all the data. I can’t understand why condom manufacturers wont put all the condom sizes on their official website
Pete recently posted..Thick condoms