Are you wearing your condom properly?

An incorrectly worn condom can tear or burst during sex, causing many problems later on. We compile an easy guide on wearing the condom correctly.

Sometimes, all you want to do is grab your partner and get on with it right there on the kitchen table. Or you wake up completely aroused in the middle of the night, wanting to have sex. While it’s great to be spontaneous, it does not do to forget one basic factor in lovemaking: wearing a condom.

You might even have a condom handy, but you’re not sure if you’re wearing it right. An ill-fitting condom will always feel either too tight or too loose, so stop right there if the condom doesn’t fit, because it will most certainly cause problems during sex. Then you’re wondering if the condom is torn or not. Basically, you’re not sure if your condom wearing technique is right.

Take a look at these steps outlining how to use a condom:

Handle with care. You might be in a hurry to open the condom packet and get it on, but this haste can result in tearing of the condom. By now, you’ve heard umpteen stories of what happens when you have sex with a torn condom, so be careful. Hold the packet with two fingers and open it gently with the other hand. Don’t pull the condom roughly, or you will tear it.

Unroll it a little, right side up. Hold the condom by the base – this is where the plastic ring is. Now unroll the condom slightly, with gentle fingers. Don’t open it all the way, or you won’t be able to put it on properly.

Get the air out. Now that your penis is erect, place the condom on it. Hold the ring with one hand, and squeeze the tip of the condom with the other. This gets the excess air out of the condom, or the condom will burst during use. That’s painful and counterproductive.

Roll, use. Roll the condom over your erect penis gently, till it unrolls all the way. If the condom is the right size, it will fit snugly like a glove, instead of being too tight or sliding around on your penis. Once the condom is securely in place, you can get on with sex.

Throw away carefully. After use, hold the base of the condom and gently disengage your penis from it. Hold the condom upright and knot it carefully with the other hand, so that you don’t spill its contents everywhere. Dispose of safely in the trash. Do not keep the same condom on if you want to have sex again in the same session. Condoms are designed for just a single use, so throw away the first one and reach for a fresh one the second time around.