Recently diagnosed with HIV? Click here

Lubricant and condoms

From Treat Yourself Right • 11 June 2009

It’s important to use water-based lubricant with condoms, as without it, they are more prone to breaking.

Using lubricant when you have sex can also facilitate your pleasure. If you are having sex with a man, using water-based lubricant helps reduce friction and make the condom work optimally. If you are using a dental dam or other barrier for oral sex, the lubricant goes on the genital side, and the mouth on the non-lubricated side.

NEVER use oil-based lubricants like Vaseline, papaw cream, hand cream or other substances as these can weaken the latex. In addition, they are not good for the vaginal mucosa, as they can clog its self-cleansing mechanisms.

NEVER use two condoms at once – this can cause friction and make condom failure (splitting, tearing or falling off) more likely.

Treat Yourself Right

‹ SexupOral sex ›
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Technorati
Text size: font smallerfont normalfont larger print-friendly version of this pagePDF version of this pageemail this page to a friend

The article you are viewing is part of the larger (multi-page) resource Treat Yourself Right.

View the introductory page.

In stock. Printed copies of this resource are available from the NAPWA office. Contact NAPWA if you would like a copy mailed to you.

This Resource was first published on 11 June 2009 — more than two years ago.

While the content of this resource was checked for accuracy at the time of publication, NAPWA recommends checking to determine whether the information is the most up-to-date available, especially when making decisions which may affect your health.

HIV Clinical Trials update

Recently updated entries from the NAPWA Clinical Trials database.

more