View source for Condom

{{Short description|Device for birth control and STI prevention}}
{{About|the transmission barrier and contraceptive device|other uses|Condom (disambiguation)}}
{{About|external (male) condoms, mostly|condoms used internally|Internal condom}}

{{pp|small=yes}}
{{sprotect|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{cs1 config |name-list-style=vanc |display-authors=6}}
{{Infobox Birth control
|image            = Kondom.jpg
|caption          = A rolled-up condom
|pronounce        = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|d|ə|m}} {{respell|KON|dəm}} or {{IPAc-en|uk|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|d|ɒ|m}} {{respell|KON|dom}}
|bc_type          = Barrier
|date_first_use   = Ancient<ref name=Hat2007/><br />Rubber: 1855<ref name=Al2011/><br />Latex: 1920s<ref name=Mc2000/><br />Polyurethane: 1994<br />Polyisoprene: 2008
|rate_type        = [[Pregnancy]]
|failure_measure  = first year, latex
|perfect_failure% = 2
|perfect_failure_ref =<ref name="Trussell 2011">{{cite book |last=Trussell |first=James |year=2011 |chapter=Contraceptive efficacy|editor1-last=Hatcher|editor1-first=Robert A.|editor2-last=Trussell|editor2-first=James|editor3-last=Nelson|editor3-first=Anita L.|editor4-last=Cates|editor4-first=Willard Jr.|editor5-last=Kowal|editor5-first=Deborah|editor6-last=Policar|editor6-first=Michael S. |title=Contraceptive technology |edition=20th revised |location=New York |publisher=Ardent Media |isbn=978-1-59708-004-0 |issn=0091-9721 |oclc=781956734 |pages=779–863|chapter-url=http://www.contraceptivetechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CTFailureTable.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112130150/http://www.contraceptivetechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CTFailureTable.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2013}}</ref>
|typical_failure% = 18
|typical_failure_ref =<ref name="Trussell 2011" />
|duration_effect  =
|reversibility    = Yes
|user_reminders   = Latex condoms are damaged by oil-based [[Personal lubricant|lubricants]]<ref name=Hat2007/>
|clinic_interval  =
|STD_protection_YesNo = Yes<ref name=Hat2007/>
|periods          =
|benefits         = No health care visits required and low cost<ref name=Hat2007/>
|weight_gain_loss =
|risks            =
|medical_notes    =
}}
<!-- Definition and medical uses -->

A '''condom''' is a sheath-shaped [[Barrier contraception|barrier device]] used during [[sexual intercourse]] to reduce the probability of [[pregnancy]] or a [[Sexually transmitted disease|sexually transmitted infection]] (STI).<ref name=Hat2007>{{cite book |last1=Hatcher |first1=Robert Anthony |last2=M.D |first2=Anita L. Nelson |title=Contraceptive Technology |date=2007 |publisher=Ardent Media |isbn=978-1-59708-001-9 |pages=297–311 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=txh0LpjjhkoC&pg=PA297 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918185600/https://books.google.com/books?id=txh0LpjjhkoC&pg=PA297|archive-date=18 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weinstock |first1=S. Alexander |last2=Lesser |first2=Martin L. |last3=Kassman |first3=Leon B. |title=Condom—The need for predictable contraception |journal=Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause |date=2006 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=96–99 |doi=10.1016/j.sram.2006.08.010}}</ref> There are both '''external condoms''', also called '''male condoms''', and [[Internal condom|internal (female) condoms]].<ref name=WHO2008>{{cite book |title=WHO Model Formulary 2008 |year=2009 |isbn=978-92-4-154765-9 |vauthors=((World Health Organization)) |veditors=Stuart MC, Kouimtzi M, Hill SR |hdl=10665/44053 | author-link = World Health Organization |publisher=World Health Organization | hdl-access=free |page=372}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beksinska |first1=Mags |last2=Wong |first2=Rachel |last3=Smit |first3=Jenni |title=Male and female condoms: Their key role in pregnancy and STI/HIV prevention |journal=Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology |date=2020 |volume=66 |pages=55–67 |doi=10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2019.12.001 |pmid=32007451}}</ref>

<!-- Technique -->
The external condom is rolled onto an [[erect penis]] before intercourse and works by forming a physical barrier which limits skin-to-skin contact, exposure to [[Bodily Fluids|fluids]], and blocks [[semen]] from entering the body of a sexual partner.<ref name=Hat2007/><ref name=Sp2011/> External condoms are typically made from [[latex]] and, less commonly, from [[polyurethane]], [[polyisoprene]], or lamb intestine.<ref name=Hat2007/> External condoms have the advantages of ease of use, ease of access, and few side effects.<ref name=Hat2007/> Individuals with [[latex allergy]] should use condoms made from a material other than latex, such as polyurethane.<ref name=Hat2007/> Internal condoms are typically made from polyurethane and may be used multiple times.<ref name=Sp2011>{{cite book |last1=Speroff |first1=Leon |last2=Darney |first2=Philip D. |title=A Clinical Guide for Contraception |date=2011 |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |isbn=978-1-60831-610-6 |pages=305–307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f5XJtYkiJ0YC&pg=PT420 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114203840/https://books.google.com/books?id=f5XJtYkiJ0YC|archive-date=14 November 2016}}</ref>

With proper use—and use at every act of intercourse—women whose partners use external condoms experience a 2% per-year pregnancy rate.<ref name="Hat2007" /> With typical use, the rate of pregnancy is 18% per-year.<ref name="Trussell 2011" /> Their use greatly decreases the risk of [[gonorrhea]], [[chlamydia]], [[trichomoniasis]], [[hepatitis B]], and [[HIV/AIDS]].<ref name="Hat2007" /> To a lesser extent, they also protect against [[genital herpes]], [[human papillomavirus]] (HPV), and [[syphilis]].<ref name="Hat2007" />

<!-- History and culture -->
Condoms as a method of preventing STIs have been used since at least 1564.<ref name=Hat2007/> Rubber condoms became available in 1855, followed by latex condoms in the 1920s.<ref name=Al2011>{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Michael J. |title=The Anthem Anthology of Victorian Sonnets |date=2011 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-848-4 |page=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQxdE8Ryz9YC&pg=PR51 }}</ref><ref name=Mc2000>{{cite book |last1=McKibbin |first1=Ross |title=Classes and Cultures: England 1918–1951 |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-820855-6 |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYuoPxzjnXUC&pg=PA305 }}</ref> It is on the [[World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines]].<ref name="WHO23rd">{{cite book | vauthors = ((World Health Organization)) | title = The selection and use of essential medicines 2023: web annex A: World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 23rd list (2023) | year = 2023 | hdl = 10665/371090 | author-link = World Health Organization | publisher = World Health Organization | location = Geneva | id = WHO/MHP/HPS/EML/2023.02 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> As of 2019, globally around 21% of those using [[birth control]] use the condom, making it the second-most common method after [[Tubal ligation|female sterilization]] (24%).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Contraceptive Use by Method: data booklet |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_contraceptiveusebymethod_databooklet.pdf |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=[[United Nations]] Department of Economic and Social Affairs |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213205500/https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_contraceptiveusebymethod_databooklet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Rates of condom use are highest in East and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.<ref name=":0" /> 
{{TOC limit}}

== Medical uses ==

=== Birth control ===
{{See also|Comparison of birth control methods#Effectiveness of various methods|l1=Comparison of birth control methods: Effectiveness of various methods}}
The effectiveness of condoms, as of most forms of [[contraception]], can be assessed two ways. ''Perfect use'' or ''method'' effectiveness rates only include people who use condoms properly and consistently. ''Actual use'', or ''typical use'' effectiveness rates are of all condom users, including those who use condoms incorrectly or do not use condoms at every act of intercourse. Rates are generally presented for the first year of use.<ref name="hatcher">{{cite book |first1=RA |last1=Hatcher |last2=Trussel |first2= J |last3=Nelson |first3= AL |year=2007 |title=Contraceptive Technology |edition=19th |publisher=Ardent Media |location=New York |isbn=978-1-59708-001-9 |url=http://www.contraceptivetechnology.com/table.html |access-date=26 July 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080531095926/http://www.contraceptivetechnology.com/table.html |archive-date = 31 May 2008 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> Most commonly the [[Pearl Index]] is used to calculate effectiveness rates, but some studies use [[decrement table]]s.<ref name="kippley">{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Kippley |last2=Kippley |first2= Sheila |year=1996 |title=The Art of Natural Family Planning |edition=4th addition |publisher=The Couple to Couple League |location=Cincinnati, OH |isbn=978-0-926412-13-2}}</ref>{{Rp|141}}

The typical use pregnancy rate among condom users varies depending on the population being studied, ranging from 10 to 18% per year.<ref name="Kippley1996">{{cite book |first=John |last=Kippley |author2=Sheila Kippley |year=1996 |title=The Art of Natural Family Planning |edition=4th addition |publisher=The Couple to Couple League |location=Cincinnati, OH |page=146 |isbn=978-0-926412-13-2}}, which cites:
:{{cite journal |last=Guttmacher Institute |title=Choice of Contraceptives |journal=The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics |volume=34 |pages=111–114 |year=1992 |pmid=1448019 |issue=885}}</ref> The perfect use pregnancy rate of condoms is 2% per year.<ref name="hatcher" /> Condoms may be combined with other forms of contraception (such as [[spermicide]]) for greater protection.<ref name="simultaneous">{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/2135759 |jstor=2135759 |title=Efficacy of the Simultaneous Use of Condoms and Spermicides |journal=Family Planning Perspectives |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=226–232 |last1=Kestelman |first1=Philip |last2=Trussell |first2=James |year=1991 |pmid=1743276 |issn = 0014-7354}}</ref>

=== Sexually transmitted infections ===
{{See also|Safe sex}}
[[File:Condom on Obelisk, Buenos Aires.jpg|thumb|upright|A giant replica of a condom on the [[Obelisk of Buenos Aires]], Argentina, part of an awareness campaign for the 2005 [[World AIDS Day]]]]
Condoms are widely recommended for the prevention of [[sexually transmitted infection]]s (STIs). They have been shown to be effective in reducing infection rates in both men and women. While not perfect, the condom is effective at reducing the transmission of organisms that cause [[AIDS]], [[genital herpes]], [[cervical cancer]], [[genital wart]]s, [[syphilis]], [[chlamydia]], [[gonorrhea]], and other diseases.<ref name="planned parenthood">{{cite web |title=Condom |publisher=Planned Parenthood |year=2008 |url=http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control/condom-10187.htm |access-date=19 November 2007 |archive-date=20 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820174700/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control/condom-10187.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Condoms are often recommended as an adjunct to more effective birth control methods (such as [[IUD]]) in situations where STI protection is also desired.<ref name=DualProtection>{{cite journal |pmid=11875378 |title=Dual Protection Against Unintended Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections: What is the Best Contraceptive Approach? |journal=Sexually Transmitted Diseases |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=168–174 |date=March 2002 |last1=Cates |first1=Willard |last2=Steiner |first2=Markus J. |doi=10.1097/00007435-200203000-00007|s2cid=42792667 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

According to a 2000 report by the [[National Institutes of Health]] (NIH), consistent use of latex condoms reduces the risk of [[HIV transmission]] by approximately 85% relative to risk when unprotected, putting the seroconversion rate (infection rate) at 0.9 per 100 person-years with condom, down from 6.7 per 100 person-years.<ref name="workshop">{{cite conference |last=National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |author-link=National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |title=Workshop Summary: Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention |pages=13–15 |date=20 July 2001 |location=Hyatt Dulles Airport, Herndon, Virginia |url=https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/dmid/documents/condomreport.pdf |access-date=22 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009022150/http://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/dmid/documents/condomreport.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2010}}</ref> Analysis published in 2007 from the [[University of Texas Medical Branch]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weller |first1=S. |last2=Davis |first2=K. |date=2002 |title=Condom effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV transmission |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2012 |issue=1 |article-number=CD003255 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD003255 |issn=1469-493X |pmid=11869658|pmc=8407100 }}</ref>and the [[World Health Organization]]<ref>{{cite book |author=World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR) & Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP), INFO Project |year=2007 |title=Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers |publisher=INFO Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |url=http://www.infoforhealth.org/globalhandbook/index.shtml |page=200 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827081805/http://www.infoforhealth.org/globalhandbook/index.shtml|archive-date=27 August 2009}}</ref> found similar risk reductions of 80–95%.

The 2000 NIH review concluded that condom use significantly reduces the risk of gonorrhea for men.<ref name="workshop" /> A 2006 study reports that proper condom use decreases the risk of transmission of [[human papillomavirus]] (HPV) to women by approximately 70%.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1056/NEJMoa053284 |pmid=16790697 |title=Condom Use and the Risk of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection in Young Women |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=354 |issue=25 |pages=2645–2654 |year=2006 |last1=Winer |first1=Rachel L. |last2=Hughes |first2=James P. |last3=Feng |first3=Qinghua |last4=O'Reilly |first4=Sandra |last5=Kiviat |first5=Nancy B. |last6=Holmes |first6=King K. |last7=Koutsky |first7=Laura A.|doi-access=free }}</ref> Another study in the same year found consistent condom use was effective at reducing transmission of [[herpes simplex virus-2]], also known as genital herpes, in both men and women.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-143-10-200511150-00007 |pmid=16287791 |title=The Relationship between Condom Use and Herpes Simplex Virus Acquisition |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |volume=143 |issue=10 |pages=707–713 |year=2005 |last1=Wald |first1=Anna |last2=Langenberg |first2=Andria G.M. |last3=Krantz |first3=Elizabeth |last4=Douglas |first4=John M. |last5=Handsfield |first5=H. Hunter |last6=Dicarlo |first6=Richard P. |last7=Adimora |first7=Adaora A. |last8=Izu |first8=Allen E. |last9=Morrow |first9=Rhoda Ashley |last10=Corey |first10=Lawrence |s2cid=37342783}}</ref>

Although a condom is effective in limiting exposure, some disease transmission may occur even with a condom. Infectious areas of the genitals, especially when symptoms are present, may not be covered by a condom, and as a result, some diseases like HPV and herpes may be transmitted by direct contact.<ref>{{cite web |last=Villhauer |first=Tanya |title=Condoms Preventing HPV? |publisher=University of Iowa Student Health Service/Health Iowa |date=20 May 2005 |url=http://www.uistudenthealth.com/question/default.aspx?q=738 |access-date=26 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314084306/http://www.uistudenthealth.com/question/default.aspx?q=738 |archive-date=14 March 2010}}</ref> The primary effectiveness issue with using condoms to prevent STIs, however, is inconsistent use.<ref name="badnews" />

Condoms may also be useful in treating potentially [[cervical cancer|precancerous cervical changes]]. Exposure to human papillomavirus, even in individuals already infected with the virus, appears to increase the risk of precancerous changes. The use of condoms helps promote regression of these changes.<ref name="Hogewoning2003">{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/ijc.11474 |pmid=14566832 |title=Condom use promotes regression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and clearance of human papillomavirus: A randomized clinical trial |journal=International Journal of Cancer |volume=107 |issue=5 |pages=811–816 |year=2003 |last1=Hogewoning |first1=Cornelis J.A. |last2=Bleeker |first2=Maaike C.G. |last3=Van Den Brule |first3=Adriaan J.C. |last4=Voorhorst |first4=Feja J. |last5=Snijders |first5=Peter J.F. |last6=Berkhof |first6=Johannes |last7=Westenend |first7=Pieter J. |last8=Meijer |first8=Chris J.L.M. |s2cid=12065908 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In addition, researchers in the UK suggest that a hormone in semen can aggravate existing cervical cancer, condom use during sex can prevent exposure to the hormone.<ref>{{cite news |title=Semen can worsen cervical cancer |publisher=Medical Research Council (UK) |url=http://www.mrc.ac.uk/NewsViewsAndEvents/News/MRC002621 |access-date=2 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804173650/http://www.mrc.ac.uk/NewsViewsAndEvents/News/MRC002621 |archive-date=4 August 2008}}</ref>

=== Causes of failure ===
[[File:Condom on penis 1.jpg|thumb|Condom fitting in size over a silicone dildo]]
Condoms may slip off the penis after [[ejaculation]],<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0010-7824(94)90048-5 |pmid=7956211 |title=Breakage and slippage of condoms in family planning clients |journal=Contraception |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=117–129 |year=1994 |last1=Sparrow |first1=Margaret J. |last2=Lavill |first2=Kay}}</ref> break due to improper application or physical damage (such as tears caused when opening the package), or break or slip due to latex degradation (typically from usage past the expiration date, improper storage, or exposure to oils). The rate of breakage is between 0.4% and 2.3%, while the rate of slippage is between 0.6% and 1.3%.<ref name="workshop" /> Even if no breakage or slippage is observed, 1–3% of women will test positive for semen residue after intercourse with a condom.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.contraception.2004.05.008 |pmid=15504381 |title=Effectiveness of the male latex condom: Combined results for three popular condom brands used as controls in randomized clinical trials |journal=Contraception |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=407–413 |year=2004 |last1=Walsh |first1=Terri L. |last2=Frezieres |first2=Ron G. |last3=Peacock |first3=Karen |last4=Nelson |first4=Anita L. |last5=Clark |first5=Virginia A. |last6=Bernstein |first6=Leslie |last7=Wraxall |first7=Brian G.D.}}</ref><ref name="pinhole">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0010-7824(99)00098-0 |pmid=10717781 |title=Evaluation of prostate-specific antigen as a quantifiable indicator of condom failure in clinical trials |journal=Contraception |volume=60 |issue=5 |pages=289–298 |year=1999 |last1=Walsh |first1=Terri L. |last2=Frezieres |first2=Ron G. |last3=Nelson |first3=Anita L. |last4=Wraxall |first4=Brian G.D |last5=Clark |first5=Virginia A.}}</ref> Failure rates are higher for [[anal sex]], and until 2022, condoms were only approved by the FDA for [[vaginal sex]]. The [[One Male Condom]] received FDA approval for anal sex on 23 February 2022.<ref name="FDA_releases" >{{cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-permits-marketing-first-condom-specifically-indicated-anal-intercourse |title=FDA Permits Marketing of First Condom Specifically Indicated for Anal Intercourse |author=Alison Hunt |date=23 February 2022 |website=fda.gov |publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224220856/https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-permits-marketing-first-condom-specifically-indicated-anal-intercourse }}</ref><ref name="The_Hill_approves" >{{cite news |last=Dress |first=Brad |date=25 February 2022 |title=FDA approves first condom meant for anal sex |url=https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/595847-fda-approves-first-condom-meant-for-anal-sex |work=The Hill |location=Washington, DC |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225202754/https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/595847-fda-approves-first-condom-meant-for-anal-sex |url-status=live }}</ref>

Different modes of condom failure result in different levels of semen exposure. If a failure occurs during application, the damaged condom may be disposed of and a new condom applied before intercourse begins&nbsp;– such failures generally pose no risk to the user.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/095646249300400206 |pmid=8476971 |title=How Often do Condoms Break or Slip off in Use? |journal=International Journal of STD & AIDS |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=90–94 |year=1993 |last1=Richters |first1=Juliet |last2=Donovan |first2=Basil |last3=Gerofi |first3=John |s2cid=40148918}}</ref> One study found that semen exposure from a broken condom was about half that of unprotected intercourse; semen exposure from a slipped condom was about one-fifth that of unprotected intercourse.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0010-7824(02)00478-X |pmid=12586324 |title=Use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to measure semen exposure resulting from male condom failures: Implications for contraceptive efficacy and the prevention of sexually transmitted disease |journal=Contraception |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=139–150 |year=2003 |last1=Walsh |first1=Terri L. |last2=Frezieres |first2=Ron G. |last3=Peacock |first3=Karen |last4=Nelson |first4=Anita L. |last5=Clark |first5=Virginia A. |last6=Bernstein |first6=Leslie |last7=Wraxall |first7=Brian G.D}}</ref>

Standard condoms will [[Human penis size|fit almost any penis]], with varying degrees of comfort or risk of slippage. Many condom manufacturers offer "snug" or "magnum" sizes. Some manufacturers also offer custom sized-to-fit condoms, with claims that they are more reliable and offer improved sensation/comfort.<ref name="cbstheyfit">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/for-condoms-maybe-size-matters-after-all/ |title=For Condoms, Maybe Size Matters After All |access-date=11 November 2008 |date=11 October 2007 |work=CBS News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018232455/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/business/main3358444.shtml |archive-date=18 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/business/main3358444.shtml |title=Next big thing, why condom size matters |access-date=11 November 2008 |publisher=Menstruation.com |date=11 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018232455/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/11/business/main3358444.shtml |archive-date=18 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theyfit.ch/launch/ |title=TheyFit: World's First Sized to Fit Condoms |access-date=11 November 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023203354/http://www.theyfit.ch/launch/ |archive-date=23 October 2008}}</ref> Some studies have associated larger penises and smaller condoms with increased breakage and decreased slippage rates (and vice versa), but other studies have been inconclusive.<ref name="fhi3" />

It is recommended for condoms manufacturers to avoid very thick or very thin condoms, because they are both considered less effective.<ref>{{cite book |last=World Health Organization |first= Department of Reproductive Health and Research |title=The male latex condom: specification and guidelines for condom procurement 2003 |year=2004 |url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/9241591277/en/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809013157/http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/9241591277/en/index.html|archive-date=9 August 2009}}</ref> Some authors encourage users to choose thinner condoms "for greater durability, sensation, and comfort",<ref>{{cite book |last=Corina |first= H. |year=2007 |title=S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College |publisher=Marlowe and Company |location=New York |pages=207–210 |isbn=978-1-60094-010-1}}</ref> but others warn that "the thinner the condom, the smaller the force required to break it".<ref>{{cite report |author=World Health Organization and The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS |title=The male latex condom |url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACM645.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325173328/http://data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-pub01/JC003-MaleCondom-FactSheets_en.pdf|archive-date=25 March 2009 |access-date=18 August 2009}}</ref>

Experienced condom users are significantly less likely to have a condom slip or break compared to first-time users, although users who experience one slippage or breakage are more likely to suffer a second such failure.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/01.olq.0000148295.60514.0b |pmid=15614119 |title=Female Condom and Male Condom Failure Among Women at High Risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases |journal=Sexually Transmitted Diseases |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=35–43 |year=2005 |last1=Valappil |first1=Thamban |last2=Kelaghan |first2=Joseph |last3=MacAluso |first3=Maurizio |last4=Artz |first4=Lynn |last5=Austin |first5=Harland |last6=Fleenor |first6=Michael E. |last7=Robey |first7=Lawrence |last8=Hook |first8=Edward W. |s2cid=1218353|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/2136075 |jstor=2136075 |title=Can Condom Users Likely to Experience Condom Failure be Identified? |journal=Family Planning Perspectives |volume=25 |issue=5 |pages=220–226 |last1=Steiner |first1=Markus |last2=Piedrahita |first2=Carla |last3=Glover |first3=Lucinda |last4=Joanis |first4=Carol |year=1993 |pmid=8262171}}</ref> An article in ''Population Reports'' suggests that education on condom use reduces behaviors that increase the risk of breakage and slippage.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liskin |first1=Laurie |last2=Wharton |first2=Chris |last3=Blackburn |first3=Richard |title=Condoms&nbsp;– Now More than Ever |journal=Population Reports |volume=H |issue=8 |date=September 1991 |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA10968291&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=08870241&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true |access-date=13 February 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918025414/http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA10968291&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=08870241&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true |archive-date=18 September 2016}}</ref> A [[Family Health International]] publication also offers the view that education can reduce the risk of breakage and slippage, but emphasizes that more research needs to be done to determine all of the causes of breakage and slippage.<ref name="fhi3" />

Among people who intend condoms to be their form of birth control, pregnancy may occur when the user has sex without a condom. The person may have run out of condoms, or be traveling and not have a condom with them, or dislike the feel of condoms and decide to "take a chance". This behavior is the primary cause of typical use failure (as opposed to method or perfect use failure).<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/00007435-199909000-00007 |pmid=10494937 |title=The Real Problem with Male Condoms is Nonuse |journal=Sexually Transmitted Diseases |volume=26 |issue=8 |pages=459–462 |year=1999 |last1=Steiner |first1=Markus J. |last2=Cates |first2=Willard |last3=Warner |first3=Lee|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Another possible cause of condom failure is [[Birth control sabotage|sabotage]]. One motive is to have a child against a partner's wishes or consent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Childfree And The Media |publisher=Childfree Resource Network |year=2000 |url=http://www.freewebs.com/childfreelinks/paper.htm |access-date=8 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312214534/http://www.freewebs.com/childfreelinks/paper.htm |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref> Some commercial sex workers from [[Nigeria]] reported clients sabotaging condoms in retaliation for being coerced into condom use.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beckerleg |first1= Susan |last2=Gerofi |first2= John |title=Investigation of Condom Quality: Contraceptive Social Marketing Programme, Nigeria |publisher=Centre for Sexual & Reproductive Health |date=October 1999 |url=http://www.jsieurope.org/docs/condom_quality.pdf |access-date=8 April 2007 |pages=6, 32 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614112129/http://www.jsieurope.org/docs/condom_quality.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007}}</ref> Using a fine needle to make several pinholes at the tip of the condom is believed to significantly impact on their effectiveness.<ref name="kippley" />{{Rp|306–307}}<ref name="pinhole" /> Cases of such condom sabotage have occurred.<ref>{{cite web |title=Canadian man who poked holes in condoms to impregnate girlfriend loses appeal |work=New York Daily News |date=7 March 2014 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-put-holes-condoms-sex-girlfriend-loses-appeal-article-1.1714830 |access-date=15 August 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120103130/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-put-holes-condoms-sex-girlfriend-loses-appeal-article-1.1714830 |archive-date=20 November 2014}}</ref>

====Use of multiple condoms ("double bagging")====
{{Anchor|Double_bagging}}
"Double bagging", the practice of using two condoms at once, might increase or decrease the risk of sperm leaking through; expert opinions are divided, and it may depend on additional factors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cantone |first=Jason |date=October 14, 2002 |others=Quotes Kathie Spegal, Planned Parenthood's director of community services, and McKinley Health Center medical director Dr. David Lawrance |title=Dispelling the myths: Experts go to task with medical lore: Using two condoms is safer than using one. |work=The Daily Illini |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign independent student newspaper; copyright Illini Media Co. |page=10 |volume=132 |id=[[Newspapers.com]] [https://www.newspapers.com/image/757347891/?terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms&match=1 757347891].}}</ref> Using two condoms may increase the risk of slippage, though the condoms often become stuck together after use.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Deshmukh |first=Vikas <!-- the relevant paragraph ends with "- Dr Vikas Deshmukh, consultant sexologist at Manovikas Clinic" --> |date=16–19 Feb 2019 <!-- the Ahmedabad Mirror article is on the 19th; the rest are on the 16th --> |editor-last=Paul |editor-first=Anindita <!-- the article starts with "By Anindita Paul" --> |title=8 things sexologists wish you knew about sex: 6. Using two condoms is better than one |work=Bangalore Mirror; Pune Mirror; Mumbai Mirror; Ahmedabad Mirror |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |id={{ProQuest|2181327530|2181330078|2181332946|2182686310}}.}}</ref><ref name="Rugpao et al Feb 1997 JAIDS">{{Cite journal |last=Rugpao |first=Sungwal |last2=Beyrer |first2=Chris |last3=Tovanabutra |first3=Sodsai |last4=Natpratan |first4=Chawalit |last5=Nelson |first5=Kenrad E. |last6=Celentano |first6=David D. |last7=Khamboonruang |first7=Chirasak |date=February 1997 |title=Multiple Condom Use and Decreased Condom Breakage and Slippage in Thailand |url=https://journals.lww.com/jaids/abstract/1997/02010/multiple_condom_use_and_decreased_condom_breakage.11.aspx |journal=Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology |publisher=<!-- "© 1997 Lippincott–Raven Publishers, Philadelphia" --> |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=169–173 |doi=10.1097/00042560-199702010-00011 |issn=1077-9450 |pmid=9052727 <!-- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9052727/ and https://europepmc.org/article/med/9052727 --> |id=Scholars@[[Duke University|Duke]] [https://scholars.duke.edu/publication/1528341 1528341].}}</ref> It may also increase the chance of tearing or breaking if there is friction between the condoms.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kopa |first=Zsolt |last2=Scafa |first2=Raffaele |last3=Graziani |first3=Andrea |last4=Goulis |first4=Dimitrios G. |last5=Ferlin |first5=Alberto |date=Oct 2024 <!-- date of print issue --> |orig-date=First published 29 July 2024; online 20 September 2024 <!-- also: Received 30 May 2024, Revised 19 July 2024, Accepted 22 July 2024 --> |title=Male contraception: Focus on behavioral and barrier methods |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/andr.13722 |format=Review Article |journal=Andrology |publisher=<!-- "published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology." --> |volume=12 |issue=7 |pages=1535–1540 |doi=10.1111/andr.13722 |hdl=11577/3548731 |issn=2047-2919 |eissn=2047-2927 |pmid=39075932 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}</ref> However, lubricant can be added between the condoms to decrease friction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Albert |first=Alexa E. |last2=Warner |first2=David Lee |last3=Hatcher |first3=Robert A. |last4=Trussell |first4=James |last5=Bennett |first5=Charles |date=November 1995 |title=Condom Use among Female Commercial Sex Workers in Nevada's Legal Brothels |url=https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.85.11.1514 |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=85 |issue=11 |pages=1514–1520 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.85.11.1514 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=1615688 |pmid=7485663 |id={{EBSCOhost|9511201537}}. {{ProQuest|215103932|215104349}}.}}</ref> If multiple condoms are used, an exposure break only occurs if all of the condoms are broken.<ref name="Rugpao et al Feb 1997 JAIDS" /> 

A literature review in ''Contraceptive Technology Update'' recommends that "When clinicians see women and men who have experienced multiple breaks or slippages, it would be wise to encourage them to use two condoms."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 2011 <!-- listed on the webpage as "January 1, 2011", but https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/permalink/01NLM_INST/vdtut1/alma995639723406676 and the list of issues indicate that the frequency is monthly, so the specific date is likely spurious --> |title=Ask The Experts: What's the evidence for using two condoms? |url=https://www.clinician.com/articles/21369-ask-the-experts-what-s-the-evidence-for-using-two-condoms |journal=Contraceptive Technology Update |publisher=<!-- ProQuest: "Publisher: Relias Learning", "Copyright AHC Media LLC Jan 2011"; webpage: "Clinician.com by Relias. © Relias LLC 2025." --> |publication-place=<!-- ProQuest: "Place of publication: Atlanta"; webpage: "mailing address: 1010 Sync St., Suite 100, Morrisville, NC 27560-5468, USA" --> |issn=0274-726X |id={{ProQuest|818679650}}.}}</ref> A literature review by Planned Parenthood concludes that "It seems that there is no evidence-based information to support advising against double bagging. On the other hand, the evidence to support double bagging is limited, but positive. It may be best to advise that if double bagging increases a person's sense of comfort and security, there is no harm in using more than one condom, and there may be benefits."<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2011 |title=The Truth About Condoms |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/b6/0e/b60e3140-1199-427e-ab00-88d33640ec9c/truth_about_condoms.pdf |publisher=Katharine Dexter McCormick Library, Planned Parenthood Federation of America |type=Fact Sheet |publication-place=New York, NY}}</ref> 

With two latex condoms, heat and friction can cause them to disintegrate; however, layering a [[Condom#Lambskin|lambskin condom]] and a [[latex]] condom can be helpful if one of the partners is [[Latex allergy|allergic to latex]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boskey |first=Elizabeth |date=July 16, 1993 |title=Condom safety |work=Chicago Tribune |department=Voice of the people <!-- i.e. letters to the editor --> |location=Evanston <!-- the article starts with "EVANSTON—" --> |page=18 <!-- listed as "18" in "NORTH SPORTS FINAL Edition", and "N18", "D18", and "NW18" presumably in other editions; for e.g. ProQuest 1823678601, the printed page says "18" even through ProQuest's metadata says "N18" --> |publication-place=Chicago, IL |volume=147<!--"th year" --> |issue=197 |issn=1085-6706 |id=[[Newspapers.com]] [https://www.newspapers.com/image/418343952/?match=1&terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms 418343952], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/418343686/?match=1&terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms 418343686], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/418342956/?match=1&terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms 418342956], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/418342407/?match=1&terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms 418342407], [https://www.newspapers.com/image/418342691/?match=1&terms=%22double%20bagging%22%20condoms 418342691]. {{ProQuest|283575815|1823678601|1823675947|1823678930}}.}}</ref> For sex workers, presenting clients with a leading question, such as the choice between one or two condoms, or between a male or a [[female condom]], is often easier than directly requesting that they use a condom, and makes it more likely that a condom will be used.<ref name="Rugpao et al Oct 1997 STD">{{Cite journal |last=Rugpao |first=S. |last2=Tovanabutra |first2=S. |last3=Beyrer |first3=C. |last4=Nuntakuang |first4=D. |last5=Yutabootr |first5=Y. |last6=Vongchak |first6=T. |last7=de Boer |first7=M.A. |last8=Celentano |first8=D.D. |last9=Nelson |first9=K.E. |date=October 1997 |title=Multiple Condom Use in Commercial Sex in Lamphun Province, Thailand: A Community-Generated STD/HIV Prevention Strategy |url= |journal=Sexually Transmitted Diseases |publisher=<!-- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins --> |volume=24 |issue=9 |pages=546–549 |issn=0148-5717 |jstor=44967135 |id=Journals@[[Ovid Technologies|Ovid]] [https://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=ovftc&NEWS=N&AN=00007435-199710000-00010 00007435-199710000-00010].}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Sokal |first=David |last2=Ankrah |first2=E. Maxine |date=October 1997 |title=Would You Like to Use One Condom or Two? |department=Editorial |journal=Sexually Transmitted Diseases |volume=24 |issue=9 |pages=550–551 |issn=0148-5717 |jstor=44967136 |id=Journals@Ovid [https://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=ovftc&NEWS=N&AN=00007435-199710000-00011 00007435-199710000-00011].}}</ref> Using multiple condoms, especially more than two, may decrease pleasure, prolong intercourse, and/or cause irritation to a woman's vagina.<ref name="Rugpao et al Oct 1997 STD" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wolitski |first=Richard J. |last2=Halkitis |first2=Perry N. |last3=Parsons |first3=Jeffrey T. |last4=Gómez |first4=Cynthia A. |date=Aug 2001 |title=Awareness and use of untested barrier methods by HIV-seropositive gay and bisexual men |url=https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/aeap.13.4.291.21430 |journal=AIDS Education and Prevention |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=291–301 |doi=10.1521/aeap.13.4.291.21430 |issn=0899-9546 |id={{ProQuest|198007057}}.}}</ref> The use of multiple condoms is a [[Behaviour therapy|behavioral therapy]] for treating [[premature ejaculation]], though it is not always sufficient.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Veettil Raveendran |first=Arkiath |last2=Agarwal |first2=Ankur |date=January 25, 2021 |title=Premature ejaculation - current concepts in the management: A narrative review |url=https://knepublishing.com/index.php/ijrm/article/view/8176 |journal=International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM) |publisher=<!-- Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Research and Clinical Center for Infertility --> |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=5–22 |doi=10.18502/ijrm.v19i1.8176 |issn=2476-3772 |pmc=7851481 |pmid=33553999 |id={{ProQuest|2682809094}}.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kemp |first=Kristen |date=Apr 1999 |title=The six best sex positions |magazine=Cosmopolitan |pages=208–211 |volume=226 |issue=4 |issn=0010-9541 |id={{EBSCOhost|1686917}}. {{Gale|A54256531}}. {{ProQuest|199366853}} (''ProQuest Central'', accession number 04208575).}}</ref> 

In summary, the consensus seems to be that using two condoms instead of one usually decreases risk if properly lubricated but increases risk if not, and that using more condoms generally results in less sexual stimulation for men.

== Side effects ==
The use of latex condoms by people with an [[Latex allergy|allergy to latex]] can cause allergic symptoms, such as skin irritation.<ref>{{cite press release |date=4 September 2014 |title=Phase III FIRST (MM-020/IFM 07-01) trial of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) plus dexamethasone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are not candidates for stem cell transplant published in New England Journal of Medicine |url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/dc-snf090414.php |publisher=AAAS |agency=Celgene Corporation |access-date=10 October 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026122745/http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-09/dc-snf090414.php|archive-date=26 October 2014}}</ref> In people with severe latex allergies, using a latex condom can potentially be life-threatening.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Berek |editor1-first=Jonathan S. |year=2007 |chapter=Condoms |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3erI0J8tEQC&pg=PA256 |title=Berek & Novak's Gynecology |page=256 |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |isbn=978-0-7817-6805-4 |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114183233/https://books.google.com/books?id=P3erI0J8tEQC&pg=PA256 |url-status=live }}</ref> Repeated use of latex condoms can also cause the development of a latex allergy in some people.<ref>{{cite news |last=White |first=Melissa |date=1 October 2014 |title=Size Does Matter, When It Comes to Condoms |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-white/size-does-matter-when-it-comes-to-condoms_b_5907974.html |newspaper=Huffington Post |access-date=10 October 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006063713/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-white/size-does-matter-when-it-comes-to-condoms_b_5907974.html|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> Irritation may also occur due to [[spermicide]]s that may be present.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6579-9_5 |chapter=Barrier Methods |title=Contraception for Adolescent and Young Adult Women |pages=63–76 |year=2014 |last1=Woodhams |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Gilliam |first2=Melissa |isbn=978-1-4614-6578-2}}</ref>

== Use ==
[[File:CondomUse2 alternative.jpg|thumb|Illustrations showing how to put on a condom]]
External condoms are usually packaged inside a foil or plastic wrapper, in a rolled-up form, and are designed to be applied to the tip of the penis and then unrolled over the [[erection|erect]] penis. It is important that the closed end or the teat of the condom is pinched when the condom is placed on the tip of the penis. This will ensure that air is not trapped inside the condom which could cause it to burst during intercourse. In addition, this leaves space for the semen to collect which reduces the risk of it being forced out of the base of the device. Most condoms have a teat end for this purpose. Soon after ejaculating and whilst the penis is still erect, the male should withdraw from his partner's body. This to avoid semen seeping from the condom as the penis becomes more flaccid. The condom should then be carefully removed from the penis away from the other partner. It is recommended that the condom be wrapped in tissue or tied in a knot, then disposed of in a trash receptacle.<ref name="AliceDisposal" /> Condoms are used to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy during intercourse and to reduce the likelihood of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Condoms are also used during fellatio to reduce the likelihood of contracting STIs.

Some couples find that putting on a condom interrupts sex, although others incorporate condom application as part of their foreplay. Some men and women find the physical barrier of a condom dulls sensation. Advantages of dulled sensation can include prolonged erection and delayed ejaculation; disadvantages might include a loss of some sexual excitement.<ref name="planned parenthood" /> Advocates of condom use also cite their advantages of being inexpensive, easy to use, and having few side effects.<ref name="planned parenthood" /><ref name="fwhc">{{cite web |title=Male Condom |publisher=Feminist Women's Health Center |date=18 October 2007 |url=http://www.fwhc.org/birth-control/condom.htm |access-date=19 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121011004/http://www.fwhc.org/birth-control/condom.htm |archive-date=21 November 2007}}</ref>

=== Adult film industry ===
In 2012 proponents gathered 372,000 voter signatures through a [[Popular initiative|citizens' initiative]] in Los Angeles County to put [[Measure B]] on the 2012 ballot. As a result, Measure B, a law requiring the use of condoms in the production of [[pornographic films]], was passed.<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://apha.confex.com/apha/141am/webprogram/Paper282652.html |title=Successful advocacy for condoms in adult films: from idea to ballot, how did we do it? |first=Mark |last=McGrath |date=5 November 2013 |conference=141st Annual Meeting and Expo 2–6 November 2013, Boston, Massachusetts | conference-url = https://apha.confex.com/apha/141am/webprogram/start.html |publisher=[[American Public Health Association]] |location=Boston, Massachusetts |id=Paper no. 282652 | access-date = 8 November 2015 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123031312/https://apha.confex.com/apha/141am/webprogram/Paper282652.html | archive-date = 23 November 2015}}</ref> This requirement has received much criticism and is said by some to be counter-productive, merely forcing companies that make pornographic films to relocate to other places without this requirement.<ref>{{cite news |author=The Times Editorial Board |title=Editorial: condoms for porn actors: a statewide law isn't the answer |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-condoms-porn-20140810-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=27 May 2015 |date=10 August 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603190439/http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-condoms-porn-20140810-story.html|archive-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> Producers claim that condom use depresses sales.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hennessy-Fiske |first1=Molly |last2=Lin II |first2=Rong-Gong |title=Southern California – This Just In: Porn actor has tested positive for HIV; industry clinic officials confirm a quarantine is in effect |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/porn-actor-has-tested-positive-for-hiv-industry-clinic-officials-confirm.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | access-date = 27 May 2015 |date=12 October 2010 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101013025742/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com//lanow//2010//10//porn-actor-has-tested-positive-for-hiv-industry-clinic-officials-confirm.html | archive-date = 13 October 2010}}</ref>

=== Sex education ===
Condoms are often used in [[sex education]] programs, because they have the capability to reduce the chances of pregnancy and the spread of some sexually transmitted infections when used correctly. A recent [[American Psychological Association]] (APA) press release supported the inclusion of information about condoms in sex education, saying "comprehensive sexuality education programs&nbsp;... discuss the appropriate use of condoms", and "promote condom use for those who are sexually active."<ref>{{cite press release |title=Based on the research, comprehensive sex education is more effective at stopping the spread of HIV infection, says APA committee |publisher=American Psychological Association |date=23 February 2005 |url=http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html |access-date=11 August 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060811000127/http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html |archive-date=11 August 2006}}</ref>

In the United States, teaching about condoms in public schools is opposed by some religious organizations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rector |first1= Robert E |last2=Pardue |first2= Melissa G |last3=Martin |first3= Shannan |title=What Do Parents Want Taught in Sex Education Programs? |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |date=28 January 2004 |url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1722.cfm |access-date=11 August 2006 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060810093145/http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg1722.cfm |archive-date=10 August 2006}}</ref> [[Planned Parenthood]], which advocates [[family planning]] and sex education, argues that no studies have shown abstinence-only programs to result in delayed intercourse, and cites surveys showing that 76% of American parents want their children to receive comprehensive sexuality education including condom use.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Study Supports Comprehensive Sex Ed Programs |publisher=Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio |date=7 July 2007 |url=http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/new-study-supports-comprehensive-sex-ed-programs-22184.htm |access-date=26 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018172315/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/local-press-releases/new-study-supports-comprehensive-sex-ed-programs-22184.htm |archive-date=18 October 2009}}</ref>

=== Infertility treatment{{anchor|Infertility treatment}} ===
<!-- [[Conception device]] links to anchor Infertility treatment -->
Common procedures in [[infertility]] treatment such as [[semen analysis]] and [[Artificial insemination|intrauterine insemination]] (IUI) require [[semen collection|collection of semen samples]]. These are most commonly obtained through [[masturbation]], but an alternative to masturbation is use of a special ''collection condom'' to collect semen during sexual intercourse.

Collection condoms are made from [[Silicone rubber|silicone]] or [[polyurethane]], as latex is somewhat harmful to sperm.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Organisation |first1=World Health |title=WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Human Semen and Sperm-Cervical Mucus Interaction |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64599-7 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEfWhZZcC0AC&pg=PA5 |access-date=29 May 2020 |archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829120350/https://www.google.com/books/edition/WHO_Laboratory_Manual_for_the_Examinatio/dEfWhZZcC0AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=latex+affects+sperm&pg=PA5 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Religious views on masturbation|Some religions prohibit masturbation entirely]]. Also, compared with samples obtained from masturbation, semen samples from collection condoms have higher total sperm counts, sperm motility, and percentage of sperm with normal morphology. For this reason, they are believed to give more accurate results when used for semen analysis, and to improve the chances of pregnancy when used in procedures such as intracervical or intrauterine [[Artificial insemination|insemination]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=8288490 |year=1993 |last1=Sofikitis |first1=Nikolaos V. |title=Endocrinological, biophysical, and biochemical parameters of semen collected via masturbation versus sexual intercourse |journal=Journal of Andrology |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=366–373 |last2=Miyagawa |first2=Ikuo |doi=10.1002/j.1939-4640.1993.tb00402.x |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=4054324 |year=1985 |last1=Zavos |first1=P. M. |title=Seminal parameters of ejaculates collected from oligospermic and normospermic patients via masturbation and at intercourse with the use of a Silastic seminal fluid collection device |journal=Fertility and Sterility |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=517–520 |doi=10.1016/S0015-0282(16)48923-5|doi-access=free }}</ref> Adherents of religions that prohibit contraception, such as Catholicism, may use collection condoms with holes pricked in them.<ref name="kippley" />{{Rp|306–307}}

For fertility treatments, a collection condom may be used to collect semen during [[sexual intercourse]] where the semen is provided by the woman's partner. Private [[sperm donors]] may also use a collection condom to obtain samples through masturbation or by sexual intercourse with a partner and will transfer the ejaculate from the collection condom to a specially designed container. The sperm is transported in such containers, in the case of a donor, to a recipient woman to be used for insemination, and in the case of a woman's partner, to a fertility clinic for processing and use. However, transportation may reduce the fecundity of the sperm. Collection condoms may also be used where semen is produced at a sperm bank or fertility clinic.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

''Condom therapy'' is sometimes prescribed to infertile couples when the female has high levels of [[antisperm antibodies]]. The theory is that preventing exposure to her partner's semen will lower her level of antisperm antibodies, and thus increase her chances of pregnancy when condom therapy is discontinued. However, condom therapy has not been shown to increase subsequent pregnancy rates.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0272.1979.tb02229.x |pmid=532982 |title=Experimental Findings with Spermantibodies: Condom Therapy (A Case Report) |journal=Andrologia |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=413–416 |year=2009 |last1=Franken |first1=D.R. |last2=Slabber |first2=C.F. |s2cid=34730913|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=7060795 |year=1982 |last1=Greentree |first1=L. B. |title=Antisperm antibodies in infertility: The role of condom therapy |journal=Fertility and Sterility |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=451–452 |doi=10.1016/S0015-0282(16)46117-0|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=33920 |year=1978 |last1=Kremer |first1=J. |title=Treatment of infertility caused by antisperm antibodies |journal=International Journal of Fertility |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=270–276 |last2=Jager |first2=S. |last3=Kuiken |first3=J.}}</ref>

=== Other uses ===
{{multiple image|total_width=210px|image1=Condom Catheter.png|image2=Cewnik_zewnetrzny_0211.jpg|footer=[[Condom catheter]]s are worn to collect urine.}}
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IMPORTANT: When adding a new listing, please include a reliable source that discusses the use. Many condom uses belong to larger categories of use (e.g., smuggling drugs vs. specifically smuggling alcohol; storing water in emergency situations vs. storage in general); consider referring to general use instead of specific use.

-->
Condoms excel as multipurpose containers and barriers because they are waterproof, elastic, durable, and (for military and espionage uses) will not arouse suspicion if found.

Ongoing military utilization began during World War II, and includes covering the muzzles of rifle barrels to prevent fouling,<ref name="dday">{{cite book |last=Ambrose |first= Stephen E |title=D-Day, June 6, 1944: the climactic battle of World War II |url=https://archive.org/details/ddayjune6194400ambr |url-access=registration |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-671-71359-1}}{{page needed|date=January 2019}}</ref> the waterproofing of firing assemblies in underwater demolitions,<ref>Couch, D (2001). ''The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228''. {{ISBN|0-609-60710-3}}.{{page needed|date=January 2019}}</ref> and storage of corrosive materials and garrotes by paramilitary agencies.<ref>OSS Product Catalog, 1944</ref>

Condoms have also been used to [[drug smuggling|smuggle]] alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs across borders and into prisons by filling the condom with drugs, tying it in a knot and then either swallowing it or inserting it into the [[rectum]]. These methods are very dangerous and potentially lethal; if the condom breaks, the drugs inside become absorbed into the bloodstream and can cause an overdose.<ref>"A 41-year-old man has been remanded in custody after being stopped on Saturday by customs officials at the Norwegian border at Svinesund. He had a kilo of cocaine in his stomach." [http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2671&date=20051212 Smuggler hospitalized as cocaine condom bursts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114175620/http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2671&date=20051212 |date=14 November 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Applebaum |first= Anne |title=Gulag: A History |publisher=Anchor |location=Garden City, N.Y. |year=2004 |page=482 |isbn=978-1-4000-3409-3}}</ref>

Medically, condoms can be used to cover [[endovaginal ultrasound]] probes,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1155/S1064744993000092 |pmid=18476204 |pmc=2364667 |title=Sheathing of the Endovaginal Ultrasound Probe: Is It Adequate? |journal=Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=37–39 |year=1993 |last1=Jimenez |first1=Ronald |last2=Duff |first2=Patrick |doi-access=free}}</ref> or in field chest needle decompressions they can be used to make a one-way valve.<ref>{{cite web |title=Decompression of a Tension Pneumothorax |publisher=Academy of Medicine |url=http://www.academyofmedicine.org/webpages1/ems/paramedicprotocol.pdf |access-date=27 December 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702034023/http://www.academyofmedicine.org/webpages1/ems/paramedicprotocol.pdf |archive-date=2 July 2007}}</ref>

Condoms have also been used to protect scientific samples from the environment,<ref>{{cite news |last=Kestenbaum |first=David |title=A Failed Levee in New Orleans: Part Two |publisher=National Public Radio |date=19 May 2006 |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5418811 |access-date=9 September 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911151343/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5418811 |archive-date=11 September 2006}}</ref> and to waterproof microphones for underwater recording.<ref name="adams">{{cite book |last1=Carwardine |first1= Mark |last2=Adams |first2= Douglas |title=Last chance to see |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-517-58215-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/lastchancetosee0000adam}}{{page needed|date=January 2019}}</ref>

== Types ==
Most condoms have a reservoir tip or teat end, making it easier to accommodate the man's ejaculate. Condoms come in different sizes and shapes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Anita L. |last2=Woodward |first2=Jo Ann |title=Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Practical Guide for Primary Care |date=2007 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-59745-040-9 |page=312 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7U9ZE_8y0kwC&pg=PA312 |access-date=11 September 2020 |archive-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504112733/https://books.google.com/books?id=7U9ZE_8y0kwC&pg=PA312 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=WHO2010>{{cite book |title=Male latex condom. Specification, prequalification and guidelines for procurement, 2010 |date=2010 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-159990-0 |page=127 |url=https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/9789241599900/en/ |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927033913/http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/family_planning/9789241599900/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Corson |first1=S. L. |last2=Derman |first2=R. J. |title=Fertility Control |date=1995 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-9697978-0-7 |page=263 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30EzZPp1ypYC&pg=PA263 |access-date=11 September 2020 |archive-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504112644/https://books.google.com/books?id=30EzZPp1ypYC&pg=PA263 |url-status=live }}</ref>

They also come in a variety of surfaces intended to stimulate the user's partner.<ref name=WHO2010/> Condoms are usually supplied with a [[Personal lubricant|lubricant]] coating to facilitate penetration, while flavored condoms are principally used for oral sex.<ref name=WHO2010/> As mentioned above, most condoms are made of latex, but [[#Synthetic|polyurethane]] and [[#Lambskin|lambskin]] condoms also exist.

=== Internal condom ===
{{Main|Internal condom}}
[[File:Préservatif féminin.jpg|thumb|right|An internal condom]]

External condoms have a tight ring to form a seal around the penis, while internal condoms usually have a large stiff ring to prevent them from slipping into the [[body orifice]]. The Female Health Company produced an internal condom that was initially made of polyurethane, but newer versions are made of [[nitrile rubber]]. Medtech Products produces an internal condom made of latex.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avert.org/female-condom.htm |title=The Female Condom |publisher=AVERT |access-date=26 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228152904/http://www.avert.org/female-condom.htm |archive-date=28 December 2013}}</ref>

=== Materials ===

==== Natural latex ====
[[File:Condom unrolled durex.jpg|thumb|375px|An unrolled latex condom]]

Latex has outstanding elastic properties: Its [[tensile strength]] exceeds 30&nbsp;MPa, and latex condoms may be stretched in excess of 800% before breaking.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Relationship of condom strength to failure during use |journal=PIACT Prod News |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–2 |year=1980 |pmid=12264044 |author1=Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology PIACT}}</ref> In 1990 the [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] set standards for condom production (ISO 4074, Natural latex rubber condoms), and the [[European Union|EU]] followed suit with its [[European Committee for Standardization|CEN]] standard (Directive 93/42/EEC concerning medical devices). Every latex condom is tested for holes with an electric current. If the condom passes, it is rolled and packaged. In addition, a portion of each batch of condoms is subject to water leak and air burst testing.<ref name="badnews">{{cite journal |last=Nordenberg |first=Tamar |title=Condoms: Barriers to Bad News |journal=[[FDA Consumer]] |date=March–April 1998 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=22–5 |pmid=9532952 |url=https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ByAudience/ForPatientAdvocates/HIVandAIDSActivities/ucm126370.htm |access-date=7 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308051921/https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ByAudience/ForPatientAdvocates/HIVandAIDSActivities/ucm126370.htm |archive-date=8 March 2010}}</ref>

While the advantages of latex have made it the most popular condom material, it does have some drawbacks. Latex condoms are damaged when used with oil-based substances as [[Personal lubricant|lubricants]], such as [[petroleum jelly]], [[cooking oil]], [[baby oil]], [[mineral oil]], [[skin lotion]]s, [[Sunscreen|suntan lotions]], [[cold cream]]s, [[butter]] or [[margarine]].<ref>[http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42331/1/1885960018_eng.pdf Essentials of Contraceptive Technology > Chapter 11 Condoms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808195319/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42331/1/1885960018_eng.pdf |date=8 August 2017 }} From the Knowledge for Health Project, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved July 2010.</ref> Contact with oil makes latex condoms more likely to break or slip off due to loss of elasticity caused by the oils.<ref name="fhi3">{{cite journal |last=Spruyt |first=Alan B |title=Chapter 3: User Behaviors and Characteristics Related to Condom Failure |journal=The Latex Condom: Recent Advances, Future Directions |url=http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/booksReports/latexcondom/behavcharac.htm |year=1998 |access-date=8 April 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927122314/http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/booksReports/latexcondom/behavcharac.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> Additionally, [[latex allergy]] precludes use of latex condoms and is one of the principal reasons for the use of other materials. In May 2009, the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) granted approval for the production of condoms composed of [[Vytex]],<ref>{{cite press release |title=FDA Clearance for Envy Natural Rubber Latex Condom Made with Vytex NRL |publisher=Vystar |date=6 May 2009 |url=http://www.vytex.com/BizDocs/R-EnvyFDA_Clearance.pdf |access-date=26 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007172424/http://www.vytex.com/BizDocs/R-EnvyFDA_Clearance.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2011}}</ref> latex that has been treated to remove 90% of the [[antibody generator|proteins responsible for allergic reactions]].<ref>{{cite web |title=How Vytex Works |publisher=Vystar |year=2009 |url=http://www.vytex.com/Consumers/howvytexworks.aspx?pageid=C8 |access-date=26 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530223349/http://www.vytex.com/Consumers/howvytexworks.aspx?pageid=C8 |archive-date=30 May 2010}}</ref> An allergen-free condom made of synthetic latex (polyisoprene) is also available.<ref name="isoprenepr" />

==== Synthetic ====
The most common non-latex condoms are made from [[polyurethane]]. Condoms may also be made from other synthetic materials, such as [[AT-10 resin]], and most [[polyisoprene]].<ref name="isoprenepr">{{cite press release |title=Lifestyles Condoms Introduces Polyisoprene Non-latex |publisher=HealthNewsDigest.com |date=31 July 2008 |url=http://healthnewsdigest.com/news/New_Product_460/Lifestyles_Condoms_printer.shtml |access-date=24 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080823054656/http://healthnewsdigest.com/news/New_Product_460/Lifestyles_Condoms_printer.shtml |archive-date=23 August 2008}}</ref>

Polyurethane condoms tend to be the same width and thickness as latex condoms, with most polyurethane condoms between 0.04&nbsp;mm and 0.07&nbsp;mm thick.<ref>{{cite web |title=Condoms |work=Condom Statistics and Sizes |date=12 March 2008 |url=http://blog.condomman.com/articles/condom-use/all-you-need-to-know-on-condom-statistics-and-sizes/ |access-date=31 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525205018/http://blog.condomman.com/articles/condom-use/all-you-need-to-know-on-condom-statistics-and-sizes/ |archive-date=25 May 2013}}</ref>

Polyurethane can be considered better than latex in several ways: it conducts heat better than latex, is not as sensitive to temperature and ultraviolet light (and so has less rigid storage requirements and a longer shelf life), can be used with oil-based [[Personal lubricant|lubricants]], is less allergenic than latex, and does not have an odor.<ref name="nonlatex">{{cite journal |title=Nonlatex vs Latex Condoms: An Update |journal=The Contraception Report |volume=14 |issue=2 |date=September 2003 |url=http://www.contraceptiononline.org/contrareport/article01.cfm?art=243 |access-date=14 August 2006 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060926035226/http://www.contraceptiononline.org/contrareport/article01.cfm?art=243 |archive-date = 26 September 2006 }}</ref> Polyurethane condoms have gained FDA approval for sale in the United States as an effective method of contraception and HIV prevention, and under laboratory conditions have been shown to be just as effective as latex for these purposes.<ref name="AlicePolyLatex">{{cite web |title=Are polyurethane condoms as effective as latex ones? |publisher=Columbia University |date=22 February 2005 |url=http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1842.html |access-date=25 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530000038/http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1842.html |archive-date=30 May 2007}}</ref>

However, polyurethane condoms are less elastic than latex ones, and may be more likely to slip or break than latex,<ref name="nonlatex" /><ref name="AlicePoly">{{cite web |title=Prefers polyurethane protection |publisher=Columbia University |date=4 March 2005 |url=http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1203.html |access-date=25 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609115429/http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1203.html |archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref> lose their shape or bunch up more than latex,<ref name="PPAA">{{cite news |title=Allergic to Latex? You Can Still Have Safer Sex |url=http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/05/02/allergic-to-latex-you-can-still-have-safer-sex |access-date=2 May 2012 |publisher=Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona |date=2 May 2012 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910032846/http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/05/02/allergic-to-latex-you-can-still-have-safer-sex/|archive-date=10 September 2012}}</ref> and are more expensive.

Polyisoprene is a synthetic version of natural rubber latex. While significantly more expensive,<ref name="isopreneglove">{{cite web |title=Polyisoprene Surgical Gloves |publisher=SurgicalGlove.net |year=2008 |url=http://www.surgicalglove.net/polyisoprene.html | access-date = 24 August 2008 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080918193917/http://www.surgicalglove.net/polyisoprene.html | archive-date = 18 September 2008}}</ref> it has the advantages of latex (such as being softer and more elastic than polyurethane condoms)<ref name="isoprenepr" /> without the protein which is responsible for latex allergies.<ref name="isopreneglove" /> Unlike polyurethane condoms, they cannot be used with an oil-based lubricant.<ref name="PPAA" />

==== Lambskin ====
Condoms made from the intestines of sheep, labeled "lambskin", are also available. Although they are generally effective as a contraceptive by blocking sperm, studies have found that they are less effective than latex in preventing the transmission of [[sexually transmitted infections]] because of pores in the material.<ref>{{cite book |author=Boston Women's Health Book Collective |title=Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era |publisher=Touchstone |location=New York, NY |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7432-5611-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ourbodiesoursel00bost/page/333 333] |url=https://archive.org/details/ourbodiesoursel00bost/page/333}}</ref> This is because intestines, by their nature, are porous, permeable membranes, and while sperm are too large to pass through the pores, viruses—such as [[HIV]], [[herpes]], and [[genital warts]]—are small enough to pass.<ref name="PPAA" />

As a result of laboratory data on condom porosity, in 1989, the FDA began requiring lambskin condom manufacturers to indicate that the products were not to be used for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite web |title=FDA Consumer Investigative Reports - Condoms Relabeled for Accuracy |date=January 1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIct5Kf9iHcC&pg=SA1992-PA42 |access-date=23 September 2019 |archive-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504112841/https://books.google.com/books?id=LIct5Kf9iHcC&pg=SA1992-PA42 |url-status=live }}</ref> The FDA cautions that while lambskin condoms "provide good birth control and a varying degree of protection against some, but not all, sexually transmitted diseases", people do not know what STIs a partner might have, and thus cannot assume that a lambskin condom will protect them.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

While lambskin condoms avoid triggering [[latex allergies]], [[polyurethane]] condoms do as well, while also protecting more reliably against STIs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=James S. |last2=Erkek |first2=Emel |date=2004-08-24 |title=Latex allergy: diagnosis and management |journal=Dermatologic Therapy |language=en |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=289–301 |doi=10.1111/j.1396-0296.2004.04024.x |issn=1396-0296|doi-access=free |pmid=15327474 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Kulig |first=John |date=October 2003 |title=Condoms: the basics and beyond |journal=Adolescent Medicine |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=633–645, vii |doi=10.1016/S1041349903500494 |doi-broken-date=11 July 2025 |issn=1041-3499 |pmid=15122165}}</ref> As slaughter by-products, lambskin condoms are also not vegetarian. Pharmacist advice prepared by the ''[[Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal]]'' says that lambskin condoms "are generally not recommended" due to limited STI prevention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ruddock |first=Brent |date=September 2004 |title=Condoms protect you: shield yourself from STIs |journal=Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal |volume=137 |issue=7 |page=42 |id={{ProQuest|221125941}}}}</ref> An article in ''Adolescent Medicine'' advises that they "should be used only for pregnancy prevention".<ref name=":1" />

=== Spermicide ===
Some latex condoms are lubricated at the manufacturer with a small amount of a [[nonoxynol-9]], a [[spermicide|spermicidal chemical]]. According to ''[[Consumer Reports]]'', condoms lubricated with spermicide have no additional benefit in preventing pregnancy, have a shorter shelf life, and may cause [[urinary tract infection]]s in women.<ref>{{cite web |title=Condoms: Extra protection |work=ConsumerReports.org |date=February 2005 |url=http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/archive/2005/02/eng0502tcv.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=condom |access-date=26 July 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In contrast, application of separately packaged spermicide ''is'' believed to increase the contraceptive efficacy of condoms.<ref name="simultaneous" />

Nonoxynol-9 was once believed to offer additional protection against STIs (including HIV) but recent studies have shown that, with frequent use, nonoxynol-9 may increase the risk of HIV transmission.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nonoxynol-9 and the Risk of HIV Transmission |work=HIV/AIDS Epi Update |publisher=Health Canada, Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control |date=April 2003 |url=http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/epiu-aepi/hiv-vih/nonoxynol-eng.php |access-date=6 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929172125/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/epiu-aepi/hiv-vih/nonoxynol-eng.php |archive-date=29 September 2009}}</ref> The [[World Health Organization]] says that spermicidally lubricated condoms should no longer be promoted. However, it recommends using a [[nonoxynol-9]] lubricated condom over no condom at all.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nonoxynol-9 ineffective in preventing HIV infection |work=World Health Organization |year=2006 |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/release55/en/index.html |access-date=26 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321074537/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/release55/en/index.html |archive-date=21 March 2011}}</ref> {{as of|2005}}, nine condom manufacturers have stopped manufacturing condoms with nonoxynol-9 and [[Planned Parenthood]] has discontinued the distribution of condoms so lubricated.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boonstra |first=Heather |title=Condoms, Contraceptives and Nonoxynol-9: Complex Issues Obscured by Ideology |journal=The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy |volume=8 |issue=2 |date=May 2005 |url=http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/08/2/gr080204.html |access-date=8 April 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070420165133/http://guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/08/2/gr080204.html |archive-date=20 April 2007}}</ref>

=== Ribbed and studded ===
[[File:Kondom - abgerollt - hängend.jpg|thumb|upright=0.15|A ribbed condom]]
Textured condoms include studded and ribbed condoms which can provide extra sensations to both partners. The studs or ribs can be located on the inside, outside, or both; alternatively, they are located in specific sections to provide directed stimulation to either the [[G-spot]] or [[Frenulum of prepuce of penis|frenulum]]. Many textured condoms which advertise "mutual pleasure" also are bulb-shaped at the top, to provide extra stimulation to the penis.<ref name="about">{{cite web |title=Condom Types: A look at different condom styles |url=http://contraception.about.com/od/malecondom/tp/CondomTypes.htm |last=Stacey |first=Dawn |access-date=8 December 2008 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219035952/http://contraception.about.com/od/malecondom/tp/CondomTypes.htm|archive-date=19 December 2008}}</ref> Some women experience irritation during [[vagina]]l intercourse with studded condoms.

=== Flavored ===
Flavored condoms are specialized condom products that have a flavor-coating and that are specially designed for an [[Oral sex|oral intercourse]] exclusively, and not for [[Sexual penetration|penetrative acts]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-05-15 |title=Sex toys in Nepal |url=https://condompasal.com/sex-toys-in-nepal/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Condom Pasal |language=en-US }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Originally flavored condoms used to be more of a novelty item, rather than for actual protection. However, now there are [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] approved flavored condoms on the market.<ref name="Google Books">{{cite book |author=Anijar, Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5geneDtDUgC&dq=%22flavored+condoms%22&pg=PA112 |title=ISBN 978-0820474076 (Culture and the Condom) |publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8204-7407-6 |access-date=6 June 2021}}</ref> Some flavored condoms also have a flavor-specific scent added to them.<ref name="Durex India">{{cite web |title=Why Do Condoms Have Flavours? |url=https://www.durexindia.com/blogs/explore-sex/introduce-new-flavors-into-your-sex-life |access-date=6 June 2021 |publisher=Durex India}}</ref>

Some concerns of using flavored condoms in vaginal penetration exist, since flavored condoms have some amounts of sugar on them, and inserting sugar to vagina can end up resulting in [[Vaginal yeast infection|candidal vulvovaginitis]] or [[bacterial vaginosis]].<ref name="Bustle">{{cite web |author=McGowan, Emma |date=21 February 2020 |title=A Sex Educator Reveals What You Should Know Before You Buy Flavored Condoms |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/are-flavored-condoms-safe-heres-what-to-know-21792152 |access-date=6 June 2021 |publisher=Bustle}}</ref> People with [[latex allergy]] should avoid using flavored latex-material condoms, and instead use [[polyurethane]] or [[polyisoprene]] condoms.<ref name="WebMD">{{cite web |title=What You Need to Know About Flavored Condoms |url=https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/what-you-need-to-know-about-flavored-condoms |access-date=6 June 2021 |publisher=[[WebMD]]}}</ref>

=== Other ===
The [[anti-rape condom]] is another variation designed to be worn by women. It is designed to cause pain to the attacker, hopefully allowing the victim a chance to escape.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rape-aXe: Questions and answers |publisher=Rape-aXe |year=2006 |url=http://www.antirape.co.za/questions.htm |access-date=13 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503104839/http://www.antirape.co.za/questions.htm |archive-date=3 May 2009}}</ref>

A [[#Infertility treatment|collection condom]] is used to collect semen for fertility treatments or sperm analysis. These condoms are designed to maximize sperm life.

In February 2022, the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) approved the first condoms specifically [[indicated]] to help reduce transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during anal intercourse.<ref>{{citation-attribution|1={{cite press release | title=FDA Permits Marketing of First Condom Specifically Indicated for Anal Intercourse | website=U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) | date=23 February 2022 | url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-permits-marketing-first-condom-specifically-indicated-anal-intercourse | access-date=27 February 2022 | archive-date=24 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224220856/https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-permits-marketing-first-condom-specifically-indicated-anal-intercourse }} }}</ref>

== Prevalence ==
The prevalence of condom use varies greatly between countries. Most surveys of contraceptive use are among married women, or women in informal unions. Japan has the highest rate of condom usage in the world: in that country, condoms account for almost 80% of contraceptive use by married women. On average, in developed countries, condoms are the most popular method of birth control: 28% of married contraceptive users rely on condoms. In the average less-developed country, condoms are less common: only 6–8% of married contraceptive users choose condoms.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |title=Family Planning Worldwide: 2008 Data Sheet |publisher=Population Reference Bureau |year=2008 |url=http://www.prb.org/pdf08/fpds08.pdf |access-date=27 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911033118/http://www.prb.org/pdf08/fpds08.pdf |archive-date=11 September 2008}} Data from surveys 1997–2007.</ref><!--
Note: percent of married contraceptive users using condoms calculated by dividing % of married women using condoms by percent of married women using any method of contraception -->

== History ==
{{Main|History of condoms}}
[[File:De Morbo Gallico.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A page from ''De Morbo Gallico'' ('On the French Disease'), [[Gabriele Falloppio]]'s treatise on syphilis. Published in 1564, it describes what is possibly the first use of condoms.]]

=== Before the 19th century ===
Whether condoms were used in ancient civilizations is debated by archaeologists and historians.<ref name="collier">{{cite book |first=Aine |last=Collier |year=2007 |title=The Humble Little Condom: A History |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY |isbn=978-1-59102-556-6}}</ref>{{Rp|11}} In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, pregnancy prevention was generally seen as a woman's responsibility, and the only well documented contraception methods were female-controlled devices.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|17,23}} In Asia before the 15th century, some use of [[Glans penis|glans]] condoms (devices covering only the head of the penis) is recorded. Condoms seem to have been used for contraception, and to have been known only by members of the upper classes. In China, glans condoms may have been made of oiled silk paper, or of lamb intestines. In Japan, condoms called ''Kabuto-gata'' (甲形) were made of tortoise shell or animal horn.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|60–1}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Matsumoto|first1=Y. Scott|last2=Koizumi|first2=Akira|last3=Nohara|first3=Tadahiro|date=October 1972|title=Condom Use in Japan|journal=Studies in Family Planning|volume=3|issue=10|page=251|doi=10.2307/1964707|jstor=1964707}}

Condom Use in Japan,</ref>
[[File:Shun- Kabuto-gata, yoroi-gata 春- 甲形, 鎧形 (Spring- Helmet, Armour) (BM 2012,3051.1).jpg|Japanese [[Shunga]] [[Ukiyoe]] from the 19th century depicting Kabuto-gata among its sex toys used among women, stored by the [[British Museum]]|thumb|upright=1.2]]
In 16th-century Italy, anatomist and physician [[Gabriele Falloppio]] wrote a treatise on [[syphilis]].<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|51,54–5}} The earliest documented strain of syphilis, first appearing in Europe in a 1490s outbreak, caused severe symptoms and often death within a few months of contracting the disease.<ref name=Scars_of_Venus>{{cite book |last=Oriel |first= JD |title=The Scars of Venus: A History of Venereology |location=London |publisher=Springer-Verlag |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-387-19844-6}}</ref><ref name=Diamond1>{{cite book |last=Diamond |first= Jared |year=1997 |title=Guns, Germs and Steel |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton |page=210 |isbn=978-0-393-03891-0}}</ref> Falloppio's treatise is the earliest uncontested description of condom use: it describes linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. The cloths he described were sized to cover the glans of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|51,54–5}}<ref name=pai>{{cite web |title=Special Topic: History of Condom Use |publisher=Population Action International |year=2002 |url=http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/Condoms_Count/Special_Topic_History_of_Condom_Use.shtml |access-date=18 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714101959/http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Reports/Condoms_Count/Special_Topic_History_of_Condom_Use.shtml |archive-date=14 July 2007}}</ref> Falloppio claimed that an experimental trial of the linen sheath demonstrated protection against syphilis.<ref name="youssef">{{cite journal |last=Youssef |first=H |date=1 April 1993 |title=The history of the condom |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=86 |pages=226–228 |pmid=7802734 |issue=4 |doi=10.1177/014107689308600415 |pmc=1293956}}</ref>

After this, the use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. The first indication that these devices were used for birth control, rather than disease prevention, is the 1605 theological publication ''De iustitia et iure'' (On justice and law) by Catholic theologian [[Leonardus Lessius]], who condemned them as immoral.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|56}} In 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of "condons", the first documented use of that word or any similar spelling.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|66–8}} Other early spellings include "condam" and "quondam", from which the Italian derivation ''guantone'' has been suggested, from ''guanto'', "a glove".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=condom |title=Condom &#124; Search Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=18 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118222011/http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=condom |archive-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Condom 1900.jpg|left|thumb|A condom made from animal intestine circa 1900]]
In addition to linen, condoms during the [[Renaissance]] were made out of intestines and bladder. In the late 16th century, Dutch traders introduced condoms made from "fine leather" to Japan. Unlike the horn condoms used previously, these leather condoms covered the entire penis.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|61}}

[[File:Condoomgebruik in de 19e eeuw.png|right|thumb|170px|[[Giacomo Casanova]] tests his condom for holes by inflating it]]
[[Giacomo Casanova|Casanova]] in the 18th century was one of the first reported using "assurance caps" to prevent impregnating his mistresses.<ref>Fryer P. (1965) 'the Birth controllers', London: Secker and Warburg and Dingwall EJ. (1953) 'Early contraceptive sheaths' BMJ, 1 Jan: 40–1 in Lewis M. 'A Brief history of condoms' in Mindel A. (2000) 'Condoms', BMJ books</ref>

From at least the 18th century, condom use was opposed in some legal, religious, and medical circles for essentially the same reasons that are given today: condoms reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, which some thought immoral or undesirable for the nation; they do not provide full protection against sexually transmitted infections, while belief in their protective powers was thought to encourage sexual promiscuity; and, they are not used consistently due to inconvenience, expense, or loss of sensation.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|73,86–8,92}}

Despite some opposition, the condom market grew rapidly. In the 18th century, condoms were available in a variety of qualities and sizes, made from either linen treated with chemicals, or "skin" (bladder or intestine softened by treatment with [[sulfur]] and [[lye]]).<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|94–5}} They were sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets, and at the theater throughout Europe and Russia.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|90–2,97,104}} They later spread to America, although in every place there were generally used only by the middle and upper classes, due to both expense and lack of sex education.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|116–21}}

=== 1800 through 1920s ===
[[File:El Paral·lel 1894-1939- exhibit at CCCB in Barcelona (78).JPG|thumb|An old-fashioned condom package]]
The early 19th century saw contraceptives promoted to the poorer classes for the first time. Writers on contraception tended to prefer other birth control methods to the condom. By the late 19th century, many feminists expressed distrust of the condom as a contraceptive, as its use was controlled and decided upon by men alone. They advocated instead for methods controlled by women, such as diaphragms and spermicidal douches.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|152–3}} Other writers cited both the expense of condoms and their unreliability (they were often riddled with holes and often fell off or tore). Still, they discussed condoms as a good option for some and the only contraceptive that protects from disease.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|88,90,125,129–30}}

Many countries passed laws impeding the manufacture and promotion of contraceptives.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|144,163–4,168–71,193}} In spite of these restrictions, condoms were promoted by traveling lecturers and in newspaper advertisements, using euphemisms in places where such ads were illegal.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|127,130–2,138,146–7}} Instructions on how to make condoms at home were distributed in the United States and Europe.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|126,136}} Despite social and legal opposition, at the end of the 19th century the condom was the Western world's most popular birth control method.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|173–4}}

[[File:Surgeon Sage Says.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|During World War I, the U.S. military was the only one that did not promote condom use. Posters such as these were intended to promote abstinence.]]
Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, American rates of sexually transmitted infections skyrocketed. Causes cited by historians include the effects of the American Civil War and the ignorance of prevention methods promoted by the [[Comstock laws]].<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|137–8,159}} To fight the growing epidemic, sex education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. They generally taught abstinence was the only way to avoid sexually transmitted infections.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|179–80}} Condoms were not promoted for disease prevention because the medical community and moral watchdogs considered STIs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. The stigma against people with these diseases was so significant that many hospitals refused to treat people with syphilis.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|176}}

[[File:Condom with manual from 1813.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Condom (and manual) from 1813]]
The German military was the first to promote condom use among its soldiers in the later 19th century.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|169,181}} Early 20th century experiments by the American military concluded that providing condoms to soldiers significantly lowered rates of sexually transmitted infections.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|180–3}} During [[World War I]], the United States and (at the beginning of the war only) Britain were the only countries with soldiers in Europe who did not provide condoms and promote their use.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|187–90}}

In the decades after World War I, there remained social and legal obstacles to condom use throughout the U.S. and Europe.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|208–10}} Founder of psychoanalysis [[Sigmund Freud]] opposed all methods of birth control because their failure rates were too high. Freud was especially opposed to the condom because he thought it cut down on sexual pleasure. Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. In 1920 the Church of England's [[Lambeth Conferences#Sixth Conference (1920)|Lambeth Conference]] condemned all "unnatural means of conception avoidance". The Bishop of London, [[Arthur Winnington-Ingram]], complained of the huge number of condoms discarded in alleyways and parks, especially after weekends and holidays.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|211–2}}

However, European militaries continued to provide condoms to their members for disease protection, even in countries where they were illegal for the general population.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|213–4}} Through the 1920s, catchy names and slick packaging became an increasingly important marketing technique for many consumer items, including condoms and cigarettes.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|197}} Quality testing became more common, involving filling each condom with air followed by one of several methods intended to detect loss of pressure.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|204,206,221–2}} Worldwide, condom sales doubled in the 1920s.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|210}}

=== Rubber and manufacturing advances ===
In 1839, [[Charles Goodyear]] discovered a way of processing natural rubber, which is too stiff when cold and too soft when warm, in such a way as to make it elastic. This proved to have advantages for the manufacture of condoms; unlike the sheep's gut condoms, they could stretch and did not tear quickly when used. The [[vulcanized rubber|rubber vulcanization]] process was patented by Goodyear in 1844.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Reprinted from ''India Rubber World'' |title=CHARLES GOODYEAR—The life and discoveries of the inventor of vulcanized India rubber |journal=Scientific American Supplement |issue=787 |date=31 January 1891 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14009 |access-date=8 June 2008 |archive-date=25 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225204441/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Charles Goodyear Story: The Strange Story of Rubber |journal=Reader's Digest |date=January 1958 |url=http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_story.html |access-date=8 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509075421/http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_story.html |archive-date=9 May 2008}}</ref> The first rubber condom was produced in 1855.<ref name=billy>{{cite web |title=Rubbers haven't always been made of rubber |work=Billy Boy: The excitingly different condom |url=http://www.billy-boy.com/english/info/ |access-date=9 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721104435/http://www.billy-boy.com/english/info/ |archive-date=21 July 2006}}</ref> The earliest rubber condoms had a seam and were as thick as a bicycle inner tube. Besides this type, small rubber condoms covering only the [[Glans penis|glans]] were often used in England and the United States. There was more risk of losing them and if the rubber ring was too tight, it would constrict the penis. This type of condom was the original "capote" (French for condom), perhaps because of its resemblance to a woman's bonnet worn at that time, also called a [[Bonnet (headgear)|capote]].

For many decades, rubber condoms were manufactured by wrapping strips of raw rubber around penis-shaped molds, then dipping the wrapped molds in a chemical solution to cure the rubber.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|148}} In 1912, Polish-born inventor [[Julius Fromm]] developed a new, improved manufacturing technique for condoms: dipping glass molds into a raw rubber solution.<ref name="billy" /> Called ''cement dipping'', this method required adding gasoline or benzene to the rubber to make it liquid.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|200}}
Around 1920 patent lawyer and vice-president of the [[United States Rubber Company]] Ernest Hopkinson<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/ResHopkinsonE.html | title=Ernest Hopkinson Residence - New York City | access-date=16 June 2022 | archive-date=9 August 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809081556/http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/ResHopkinsonE.html | url-status=live }}</ref> invented<ref>{{US patent|1423525A}}, {{US patent|1423526A}}</ref> a new technique of converting [[latex]] into rubber without a coagulant ([[demulsifier]]), which featured using water as a solvent and warm air to dry the solution, as well as optionally preserving liquid latex with ammonia.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_chemical-engineering_1930-02_37_2/page/100/mode/2up | title=Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering 1930-02: Vol 37 Iss 2 | date=February 1930 | publisher=Access Intelligence LLC }}</ref> Condoms made this way, commonly called "latex" ones, required less labor to produce than cement-dipped rubber condoms, which had to be smoothed by rubbing and trimming. The use of water to suspend the rubber instead of gasoline and benzene eliminated the fire hazard previously associated with all condom factories. Latex condoms also performed better for the consumer: they were stronger and thinner than rubber condoms, and had a shelf life of five years (compared to three months for rubber).<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|199–200}}

Until the twenties, all condoms were individually hand-dipped by semi-skilled workers. Throughout the decade of the 1920s, advances in the automation of the condom assembly line were made. The first fully automated line was patented in 1930. Major condom manufacturers bought or leased conveyor systems, and small manufacturers were driven out of business.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|201–3}} The skin condom, now significantly more expensive than the latex variety, became restricted to a niche high-end market.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|220}}

=== 1930 to present ===
[[File:"3 Merry Widows" tin.jpg|thumb|Condom tin, "3 Merry Widows" brand, circa 1930.]]
[[File:Packet of "Anti-baby" condoms, German.jpg|alt=Shows purple packet of "Anti-baby" condoms from Germany. c1980s.|thumb|A packet of "Anti-baby" condoms from Germany. c1980s.]]
In 1930 the Anglican Church's [[Lambeth Conferences#Seventh: 1930|Lambeth Conference]] sanctioned the use of birth control by married couples. In 1931 the [[National Council of Churches|Federal Council of Churches]] in the U.S. issued a similar statement.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|227}} The Roman Catholic Church responded by issuing the encyclical ''[[Casti connubii]]'' affirming its opposition to all contraceptives, a stance it has never reversed.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|228–9}} In the 1930s, legal restrictions on condoms began to be relaxed.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|216,226,234}}<ref name="note">{{cite web |title=Biographical Note |work=The Margaret Sanger Papers |publisher=Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. |year=1995 |url=http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss43_bioghist.html |access-date=21 October 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912180741/http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss43_bioghist.html |archive-date=12 September 2006}}</ref> However, during this period [[Italian fascism|Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]] increased restrictions on condoms (limited sales as disease preventatives were still allowed).<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|252,254–5}} During the Depression, condom lines by [[Julius Schmid (manufacturer)|Schmid]] gained in popularity. Schmid still used the cement-dipping method of manufacture which had two advantages over the latex variety. Firstly, cement-dipped condoms could be safely used with oil-based [[Personal lubricant|lubricants]]. Secondly, while less comfortable, these older-style rubber condoms could be reused and so were more economical, a valued feature in hard times.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|217–9}} More attention was brought to quality issues in the 1930s, and the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] began to regulate the quality of condoms sold in the United States.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|223–5}}

Throughout World War II, condoms were not only distributed to male U.S. military members, but also heavily promoted with films, posters, and lectures.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|236–8,259}} European and Asian militaries on both sides of the conflict also provided condoms to their troops throughout the war, even Germany which outlawed all civilian use of condoms in 1941.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|252–4,257–8}} In part because condoms were readily available, soldiers found a number of [[#Other uses|non-sexual uses]] for the devices, many of which continue to this day. After the war, condom sales continued to grow. From 1955 to 1965, 42% of Americans of reproductive age relied on condoms for birth control. In Britain from 1950 to 1960, 60% of married couples used condoms. The [[combined oral contraceptive pill|birth control pill]] became the world's most popular method of birth control in the years after its 1960 début, but condoms remained a strong second. The U.S. [[United States Agency for International Development|Agency for International Development]] pushed condom use in developing countries to help solve the "world population crises": by 1970 hundreds of millions of condoms were being used each year in India alone.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|267–9,272–5}}(This number has grown in recent decades: in 2004, the government of India purchased 1.9 billion condoms for distribution at family planning clinics.)<ref>{{cite report |first=AP |last=Sharma |title=Annual Report of the Tariff Commission |page=9 |publisher=India government |year=2006 |url=http://tc.nic.in/areports/annualreport-2005-06.pdf |access-date=16 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619062117/http://tc.nic.in/areports/annualreport-2005-06.pdf |archive-date=19 June 2009}}</ref>
[[File:NYC condom 2019.jpg|thumb|A condom given out by NYC Health Department during the [[Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019]] celebrations.]]
In the 1960s and 1970s quality regulations tightened,<ref>Collier, pp. 267, 285</ref> and more legal barriers to condom use were removed.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|276–9}} In Ireland, legal condom sales were allowed for the first time in 1978.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|329–30}} Advertising, however was one area that continued to have legal restrictions. In the late 1950s, the American [[National Association of Broadcasters]] banned condom advertisements from national television; this policy remained in place until 1979.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|273–4,285}}

After it was discovered in the early 1980s that [[AIDS]] can be a sexually transmitted infection,<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Cluster of Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia among Homosexual Male Residents of Los Angeles and range Counties, California |journal=Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |volume=31 |issue=23 |pages=305–307 |date=18 June 1982 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm |access-date=15 June 2008 |pmid=6811844 |author1=Centers for Disease Control (CDC) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224023702/http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001114.htm |archive-date=24 February 2008}}</ref> the use of condoms was encouraged to prevent transmission of [[HIV]]. Despite opposition by some political, religious, and other figures, national condom promotion campaigns occurred in the U.S. and Europe.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|299,301,306–7,312–8}} These campaigns increased condom use significantly.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|309–17}}

Due to increased demand and greater social acceptance, condoms began to be sold in a wider variety of retail outlets, including in supermarkets and in discount department stores such as Walmart.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|305}} Condom sales increased every year until 1994, when media attention to the AIDS pandemic began to decline.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|303–4}} The phenomenon of decreasing use of condoms as disease preventatives has been called ''prevention fatigue'' or ''[[condom fatigue]]''. Observers have cited condom fatigue in both Europe and North America.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Adam BD, Husbands W, Murray J, Maxwell J |title=AIDS optimism, condom fatigue, or self-esteem? Explaining unsafe sex among gay and bisexual men |journal=Journal of Sex Research |date=August 2005 |doi=10.1080/00224490509552278 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=238–248 |pmid=19817037 |s2cid=5772698}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Walder |first=Rupert |title=Condom Fatigue in Western Europe? |work=Rupert Walder's blog |publisher=RH Reality Check |date=31 August 2007 |url=http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/08/31/condom-fatigue-in-western-europe |access-date=29 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515234305/http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2007/08/31/condom-fatigue-in-western-europe |archive-date=15 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jazz |title=Condom Fatigue Or Prevention Fatigue |publisher=Isnare.com |url=http://www.isnare.com/?aid=87040&ca=Sexuality |access-date=29 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713063621/http://www.isnare.com/?aid=87040&ca=Sexuality |archive-date=13 July 2011}}</ref> As one response, manufacturers have changed the tone of their advertisements from scary to humorous.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|303–4}}

New developments continued to occur in the condom market, with the first polyurethane condom—branded Avanti and produced by the manufacturer of Durex—introduced in the 1990s.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|32–5}} Worldwide condom use is expected to continue to grow: one study predicted that developing nations would need 18.6 billion condoms by 2015.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|342}} {{as of|2013|September}}, condoms are available inside prisons in Canada, most of the European Union, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and the US states of Vermont (on 17 September 2013, the Californian Senate approved a bill for condom distribution inside the state's prisons, but the bill was not yet law at the time of approval).<ref>{{cite web |title=Everybody wants condom vending machines |url=http://grist.org/list/everybody-wants-condom-vending-machines/?sub_email=sundaybottle%40hotmail.com |work=[[Grist (magazine)|Grist]] |access-date=19 September 2013 |author=Holly Richmond |date=18 September 2013 |archive-date=5 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805060218/http://grist.org/living/everybody-wants-condom-vending-machines/?sub_email=sundaybottle%40hotmail.com%7C |url-status=live }}</ref>

The global condom market was estimated at US$9.2 billion in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Condom Market Size, Share {{!}} Global Industry Growth Report, 2019-2026 |url=https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/condom-market |access-date=2 January 2021 |website=www.grandviewresearch.com |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118171001/https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/condom-market |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Etymology and other terms ===
The term ''condom'' first appears in the early 18th century: early forms include ''condum'' (1706 and 1717), ''condon'' (1708) and ''cundum'' (1744).<ref name="oed">{{OED|condom, n. }}</ref> The word's etymology is unknown. In popular tradition, the invention and naming of the condom came to be attributed to an associate of England's [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]], one "Dr. Condom" or "Earl of Condom". There is however no evidence of the existence of such a person, and condoms had been used for over one hundred years before King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|54,68}}

A variety of unproven Latin etymologies have been proposed, including {{lang|la|condon}} (receptacle),<ref name=condon>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=Susan |last2=Kepron |first2=Charis |title=Of Lemons, Yams and Crocodile Dung: A Brief History of Birth Control |journal=University of Toronto Medical Journal |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=156–158 |date=March 2002 |url=http://www.utmj.org/issues/79.2/Historical.pdf |access-date=26 July 2009|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20061013222550/http://www.utmj.org/issues/79.2/Historical.pdf|archive-date = 13 October 2006 }}</ref> {{lang|la|condamina}} (house),<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thundy |first=Zacharias P |title=The Etymology of Condom |journal=American Speech |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=177–179 |date=Summer 1985 |doi=10.2307/455309 |jstor=455309}}</ref> and {{lang|la|cumdum}} (scabbard or case).<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|70–1}} It has also been speculated to be from the Italian word ''guantone'', derived from ''guanto'', meaning glove.<ref name="oetyd">{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |title=Condom |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |date=November 2001 |url=http://etymonline.com/?term=condom |access-date=7 April 2007 |archive-date=20 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720132643/http://etymonline.com/?term=condom |url-status=live }}</ref> William E. Kruck wrote an article in 1981 concluding that, "As for the word 'condom', I need state only that its origin remains completely unknown, and there ends this search for an etymology."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kruck |first=William E | author-link = American Dialect Society |title=Looking for Dr Condom |journal=Publication of the American Dialect Society |volume=66 |issue=7 |pages=1–105 |year=1981}}</ref> Modern dictionaries may also list the etymology as "unknown".<ref name="oed"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Condom |work=[[Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]] |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/condom |access-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424232222/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/condom |archive-date=24 April 2009}}</ref>

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Other terms are also commonly used to describe condoms. In North America condoms are also commonly known as ''[[prophylactics]]'', or ''rubbers''. In Britain they may be called ''French letters''<ref>{{cite web |title=French letter |work=[[Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]] |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/french%20letter |access-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424023036/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/french%20letter |archive-date=24 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{OED|French letter, n. }}</ref> or ''rubber johnnies''.<ref>{{OED|rubber johnny, n. }}</ref> Additionally, condoms may be referred to using the manufacturer's name.

== Society and culture ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2023}}
Some moral and scientific criticism of condoms exists despite the many benefits of condoms agreed on by [[scientific consensus]] and sexual health experts.

Condom usage is typically recommended for new couples who have yet to develop full trust in their partner with regard to STIs. Established couples on the other hand have few concerns about STIs, and can use other methods of birth control such as [[birth control pill|the pill]], which does not act as a barrier to intimate sexual contact. Note that the polar debate with regard to condom usage is attenuated by the target group the argument is directed. Notably the age category and stable partner question are factors, as well as the distinction between heterosexual and homosexuals, who have different kinds of sex and have different risk consequences and factors.

Among the prime objections to condom usage is the blocking of erotic sensation, or the intimacy that barrier-free sex provides. As the condom is held tightly to the skin of the [[Human penis|penis]], it diminishes the delivery of stimulation through rubbing and friction. Condom proponents claim this has the benefit of making sex last longer, by diminishing sensation and delaying male ejaculation. Those who promote condom-free heterosexual sex (slang: "[[Bareback (sex)|bareback]]") claim that the condom puts a barrier between partners, diminishing what is normally a highly sensual, intimate, and spiritual connection between partners.

=== Religious ===
{{See also|Christian views on birth control|Catholic teachings on sexual morality#Contraception}}
The [[United Church of Christ]] (UCC), a [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] denomination of the [[Congregationalist]] tradition, promotes the distribution of condoms in churches and faith-based educational settings.<ref name="CNA2009"/> Michael Shuenemeyer, a UCC minister, has stated that "The practice of safer sex is a matter of life and death. People of faith make condoms available because we have chosen life so that we and our children may live."<ref name="CNA2009">{{cite web |title=United Church of Christ committee recommends condom distribution at churches |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/15505/united-church-of-christ-committee-recommends-condom-distribution-at-churches |agency=[[Catholic News Agency]] |access-date=17 March 2020 |date=26 March 2009 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317184408/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/united_church_of_christ_committee_recommends_condom_distribution_at_churches |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church opposes all kinds of sexual acts outside of marriage, as well as any sexual act in which the chance of successful conception has been reduced by direct and intentional acts (for example, [[Human sterilization|surgery to prevent conception]]) or foreign objects (for example, condoms).<ref>{{cite web |title=Humanæ Vitæ |author=Pope Paul VI |date=25 July 1968 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |access-date=23 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303114045/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html |archive-date=3 March 2011 |author-link=Pope Paul VI}}</ref>

The use of condoms to prevent [[Sexually Transmitted Infections|STI]] transmission is not specifically addressed by Catholic doctrine, and is currently a topic of debate among theologians and high-ranking Catholic authorities. A few, such as Belgian Cardinal [[Godfried Danneels]], believe the Catholic Church should actively support condoms used to prevent disease, especially serious diseases such as [[AIDS]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hooper |first1=John |last2=Osborn |first2=Andrew |title=Cardinal backs use of condoms |work=The Guardian |date=13 January 2004 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/13/religion.catholicism |access-date=26 August 2009 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827223205/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/13/religion.catholicism |archive-date=27 August 2013}}</ref> However, the majority view—including all statements from the Vatican—is that condom-promotion programs encourage promiscuity, thereby actually increasing STI transmission.<ref name="catholicafrica">{{cite journal |last=Alsan |first=Marcella |title=The Church & AIDS in Africa: Condoms & the Culture of Life |journal=Commonweal: A Review of Religion, Politics, and Culture |volume=133 |issue=8 |date=April 2006 |url=http://www.aids.net.au/us-catholic-20060421.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821143901/http://www.aids.net.au/us-catholic-20060421.htm |archive-date=21 August 2006 |access-date=28 November 2006}}</ref><ref name="vatican">{{cite web |last=Trujillo |first=Alfonso Cardinal López |title=Family Values Versus Safe Sex |publisher=Pontifical Council for the Family |date=1 December 2003 |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20031201_family-values-safe-sex-trujillo_en.html#Pregnancy | access-date = 18 July 2009 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090728003316/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20031201_family-values-safe-sex-trujillo_en.html#Pregnancy | archive-date = 28 July 2009}}</ref> This view was most recently reiterated in 2009 by [[Pope Benedict XVI]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Condoms 'not the answer to AIDS': Pope |work=World News Australia |publisher=SBS |date=17 March 2009 |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1012144/Condoms-'not-the-answer-to-AIDS':-Pope | access-date = 26 July 2009 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130618074844/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1012144/Condoms-%27not-the-answer-to-AIDS%27%3A-Pope | archive-date = 18 June 2013}}</ref>

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest organized body of any world religion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Major Branches of Religions |url=http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity |publisher=adherents.com |access-date=14 September 2006 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315022054/http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html#Christianity |archive-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> The church has hundreds of programs dedicated to fighting the [[HIV/AIDS in Africa|AIDS epidemic in Africa]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Karanja |first=David |title=Catholics fighting AIDS |journal=Catholic Insight |date=March 2005 |url=http://catholicinsight.com/online/bioethics/AIDSAfrica.shtml |access-date=23 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104093716/http://catholicinsight.com/online/bioethics/AIDSAfrica.shtml |archive-date=4 January 2008}}</ref> but its opposition to condom use in these programs has been highly controversial.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barillari |first=Joseph |title=Condoms and the church: a well-intentioned but deadly myth |work=Daily Princetonian |date=21 October 2003 |url=http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/10/21/8911/ |access-date=23 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418153048/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/10/21/8911/ |archive-date=18 April 2009}}</ref>

In a November 2011 interview, Pope Benedict XVI discussed for the first time the use of condoms to prevent STI transmission. He said that the use of a condom can be justified in a few individual cases if the purpose is to reduce the risk of an HIV infection.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jonathan Wynne-Jones |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/the-pope/8148944/The-Pope-drops-Catholic-ban-on-condoms-in-historic-shift.html |title=The Pope drops Catholic ban on condoms in historic shift |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=20 November 2010 |access-date=20 November 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122052824/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/the-pope/8148944/The-Pope-drops-Catholic-ban-on-condoms-in-historic-shift.html |archive-date=22 November 2010}}</ref> He gave as an example male prostitutes. There was some confusion at first whether the statement applied only to homosexual prostitutes and thus not to heterosexual intercourse at all. However, [[Federico Lombardi]], spokesman for the Vatican, clarified that it applied to heterosexual and transsexual prostitutes, whether male or female, as well.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first1=Rachel |last1=Donadio |first2=Laurie |last2=Goodstein |title=Vatican Confirms Shift on Condoms as AIDS Prevention |date=23 November 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221084914/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/europe/24pope.html | archive-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> He did, however, also clarify that the Vatican's principles on sexuality and contraception had not been changed.

=== Scientific and environmental ===
More generally, some scientific researchers have expressed objective concern over certain ingredients sometimes added to condoms, notably [[talc]] and [[nitrosamine]]s. Dry dusting powders are applied to latex condoms before packaging to prevent the condom from sticking to itself when rolled up. Previously, talc was used by most manufacturers, but [[cornstarch]] is currently the most popular dusting powder.<ref name="fhi4">{{cite journal |last=Gilmore |first=Caroline E |title=Chapter 4: Recent Advances in the Research, Development and Manufacture of Latex Rubber Condoms |journal=The Latex Condom: Recent Advances, Future Directions |url=http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/booksReports/latexcondom/recentadvances.htm |access-date=8 April 2007 |year=1998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405095036/http://www.fhi.org/en/RH/Pubs/booksReports/latexcondom/recentadvances.htm |archive-date=5 April 2007}}</ref> Although rare during normal use, talc is known to be potentially irritant to mucous membranes (such as in the vagina). Cornstarch is generally believed to be safe; however, some researchers have raised concerns over its use as well.<ref name="fhi4" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wright |first1= H |last2=Wheeler |first2= J |last3=Woods |first3= J |last4=Hesford |first4= J |last5=Taylor |first5= P |last6=Edlich |first6= R |title=Potential toxicity of retrograde uterine passage of particulate matter |journal=J Long Term Eff Med Implants |volume=6 |issue=3–4 |pages=199–206 |year=1996 |pmid=10167361}}</ref>

Nitrosamines, which are potentially [[carcinogenic]] in humans,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jakszyn |first1= P |last2=Gonzalez |first2= C |title=Nitrosamine and related food intake and gastric and oesophageal cancer risk: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence |journal=World J Gastroenterol |volume=12 |issue=27 |pages=4296–4303 |year=2006 |pmid=16865769 |pmc=4087738 |doi=10.3748/wjg.v12.i27.4296 |doi-access= free }}</ref> are believed to be present in a substance used to improve elasticity in latex condoms.<ref name="dw">{{cite news |last=DW staff |title=German Study Says Condoms Contain Cancer-causing Chemical |publisher={{Lang|de|[[Deutsche Welle]]|italic=no}} |date=29 May 2004 |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1220847,00.html |access-date=8 April 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311112244/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1220847,00.html |archive-date=11 March 2007}}</ref> A 2001 review stated that humans regularly receive 1,000 to 10,000 times greater nitrosamine exposure from food and tobacco than from condom use and concluded that the risk of cancer from condom use is very low.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Proksch |first= E |title=Toxicological evaluation of nitrosamines in condoms |doi=10.1078/1438-4639-00087 |journal=Int J Hyg Environ Health |volume=204 |issue=2–3 |pages=103–110 |year=2001 |pmid=11759152}}</ref> However, a 2004 study in Germany detected nitrosamines in 29 out of 32 condom brands tested, and concluded that exposure from condoms might exceed the exposure from food by 1.5- to 3-fold.<ref name="dw" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Altkofer |first1= W |last2=Braune |first2= S |last3=Ellendt |first3= K |last4=Kettl-Grömminger |first4= M |last5=Steiner |first5= G |title=Migration of nitrosamines from rubber products—are balloons and condoms harmful to the human health? |journal=Mol Nutr Food Res |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=235–238 |year=2005 |pmid=15672455 |doi=10.1002/mnfr.200400050}}</ref>
[[File:Dimethicone Liquid.png|thumb|Dimethicone liquid, commonly used as a lubricant in condoms, has been identified in environmental assessments of rinse-off cosmetic ingredients as a potential concern for aquatic ecosystems when disposed via drains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Albuquerque Vita |first1=Natália |last2=Rodrigues de Souza |first2=Irisdoris |last3=Di Pietro Micali Canavez |first3=Andrezza |last4=Brohem |first4=Carla A. |last5=Cristine Marios Ferreira Pinto |first5=Dâmaris |last6=Schuck |first6=Desirée Cigaran |last7=Leme |first7=Daniela M. |last8=Lorencini |first8=Márcio |date=2023-11-01 |title=The development and application of a novel hazard scoring tool for assessing impacts of cosmetic ingredients on aquatic ecosystems: A case study of rinse-off cosmetics |url=https://academic.oup.com/ieam/article/19/6/1619/7725278 |journal=Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management |language=en |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=1619–1635 |doi=10.1002/ieam.4765 |pmid=36919679 |bibcode=2023IEAM...19.1619D |issn=1551-3777}}</ref>]]
In addition, the large-scale use of disposable condoms has resulted in concerns over their environmental impact via [[littering]] and in [[landfills]], where they can eventually wind up in wildlife environments if not incinerated or otherwise permanently disposed of first. Polyurethane condoms in particular, given they are a form of [[plastic]], are not [[biodegradable]], and latex condoms take a very long time to break down. Experts, such as [[AVERT]], recommend condoms be disposed of in a garbage receptacle, as flushing them down the toilet (which some people do) may cause plumbing blockages and other problems.<ref name="AliceDisposal">{{cite web |title=Environmentally-friendly condom disposal |publisher=Columbia University |date=20 December 2002 |url=http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2311.html |access-date=28 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020050953/http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2311.html |archive-date=20 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avert.org/condom.htm |title=Using Condoms, Condom Types & Condom Sizes |publisher=AVERT |access-date=26 March 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621222629/http://www.avert.org/condom.htm |archive-date=21 June 2009}}</ref> Furthermore, the plastic and foil wrappers condoms are packaged in are also not biodegradable. However, the benefits condoms offer are widely considered to offset their small landfill mass.<ref name="AliceDisposal" /> Frequent condom or wrapper disposal in public areas such as a parks have been seen as a persistent litter problem.<ref name="power">{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.318.7175.48 |pmid=9872892 |pmc=1114541 |title=Narrative based medicine: Why study narrative? |journal=BMJ |volume=318 |issue=7175 |pages=48–50 |year=1999 |last1=Greenhalgh |first1=T. |last2=Hurwitz |first2=B.}}</ref>

While biodegradable,<ref name="AliceDisposal" /> latex condoms damage the environment when disposed of improperly. According to the [[Ocean Conservancy]], condoms, along with [[marine debris|certain other types of trash]], cover the [[coral reef]]s and smother [[sea grass]] and other bottom dwellers. The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] also has expressed concerns that many animals might mistake the litter for food.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hightower |first1=Eve |last2=Hall |first2=Phoebe |title=Clean sex, wasteful computers and dangerous mascara&nbsp;– Ask E |journal=[[E–The Environmental Magazine]] |date=March–April 2003 |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_2_14/ai_98469962 |access-date=28 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227050429/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_2_14/ai_98469962 |archive-date=27 December 2007}}</ref>

=== Cultural barriers to use ===
In much of the Western world, the introduction of [[combined oral contraceptive pill|the pill]] in the 1960s was associated with a decline in condom use.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|267–9,272–5}} In Japan, oral contraceptives were not approved for use until September 1999, and even then access was more restricted than in other industrialized nations.<ref name="cbs">{{cite news |last=Hayashi |first= Aiko |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japanese-women-shun-the-pill/ |title=Japanese Women Shun The Pill |work=CBS News |date=20 August 2004 |access-date=12 June 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629074107/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/20/health/main637523.shtml |archive-date=29 June 2006}}</ref> Perhaps because of this restricted access to hormonal contraception, Japan has the highest rate of condom usage in the world: in 2008, 80% of contraceptive users relied on condoms.<ref name="factsheet" />

Cultural attitudes toward [[gender roles]], [[contraception]], and [[Human sexual activity|sexual activity]] vary greatly around the world, and range from extremely conservative to extremely liberal. But in places where condoms are misunderstood, mischaracterised, demonised, or looked upon with overall cultural disapproval, the prevalence of condom use is directly affected. In less-developed countries and among less-educated populations, misperceptions about how disease transmission and conception work negatively affect the use of condoms; additionally, in cultures with more traditional gender roles, women may feel uncomfortable demanding that their partners use condoms.

As an example, Latino immigrants in the United States often face cultural barriers to condom use. A study on female HIV prevention published in the ''Journal of Sex Health Research'' asserts that Latino women often lack the attitudes needed to negotiate safe sex due to traditional gender-role norms in the Latino community, and may be afraid to bring up the subject of condom use with their partners. Women who participated in the study often reported that because of the general machismo subtly encouraged in Latino culture, their male partners would be angry or possibly violent at the woman's suggestion that they use condoms.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gomez |first=Cynthia A |year=1996 |title=Gender, Culture, and Power: Barriers to HIV-Prevention Strategies for Women |journal=The Journal of Sex Research |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=355–362 |author2=Marín |doi=10.1080/00224499609551853 |jstor=3813287}}</ref> A similar phenomenon has been noted in a survey of low-income American black women; the women in this study also reported a fear of violence at the suggestion to their male partners that condoms be used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kalichman |first1=Seth C. |last2=Williams |first2=Ernestine A. |last3=Cherry |first3=Charsey |last4=Belcher |first4=Lisa |last5=Nachimson |first5=Dena |title=Sexual coercion, domestic violence, and negotiating condom use among low-income African American women |journal=[[Journal of Women's Health]] |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=371–378 |doi=10.1089/jwh.1998.7.371 |pmid=9580917 |date=April 1998}}</ref>

A telephone survey conducted by [[Rand Corporation]] and [[Oregon State University]], and published in the ''[[Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes]]'' showed that belief in [[AIDS conspiracy theories]] among United States black men is linked to rates of condom use. As conspiracy beliefs about AIDS grow in a given sector of these black men, consistent condom use drops in that same sector. Female use of condoms was not similarly affected.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sexualhealth.e-healthsource.com/?p=news1&id=523594 |title=AIDS Conspiracy Theory Belief Linked to Less Condom Use |last=Dotinga |first=Randy |publisher=SexualHealth.com |access-date=26 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702133205/http://sexualhealth.e-healthsource.com/?p=news1&id=523594 |archive-date=2 July 2010}}</ref>

In the African continent, condom promotion in some areas has been impeded by anti-condom campaigns by some Muslim<ref name="northeast kenya" /> and Catholic clerics.<ref name="catholicafrica" /> Among the [[Maasai people|Maasai]] in Tanzania, condom use is hampered by an aversion to "wasting" sperm, which is given sociocultural importance beyond reproduction. Sperm is believed to be an "elixir" to women and to have beneficial health effects. Maasai women believe that, after conceiving a child, they must have sexual intercourse repeatedly so that the additional sperm aids the child's development. Frequent condom use is also considered by some Maasai to cause impotence.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/13691050701208474 |pmid=17612958 |title=Wasting semen: Context and condom use among the Maasai |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=387–401 |year=2007 |last1=Coast |first1=Ernestina |s2cid=27950117 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2502/1/Wasting_semen-context_and_condom_use_among_the_Maasai%28LSERO%29.pdf |access-date=20 January 2019 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924125404/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2502/1/Wasting_semen-context_and_condom_use_among_the_Maasai(LSERO).pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Some women in Africa believe that condoms are "for prostitutes" and that respectable women should not use them.<ref name="northeast kenya">{{cite web |url=http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74336 |title=Muslim opposition to condoms limits distribution |date=17 September 2007 |publisher=PlusNews |access-date=26 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071003165407/http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74336 |archive-date=3 October 2007}}</ref> A few clerics even promote the lie that condoms are deliberately laced with HIV.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/pius-kamau/islam-condoms-and-aids_b_120418.html |title=Islam, Condoms and AIDS |last=Kamau |first=Pius |date=24 August 2008 |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=26 March 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115211414/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pius-kamau/islam-condoms-and-aids_b_120418.html |archive-date=15 November 2009}}</ref> In the United States, possession of many condoms has been used by police to accuse women of engaging in prostitution.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Guza |first1=Megan |title=Condoms criminalized in Allegheny County prostitution cases |url=http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13690556-74/condoms-criminalized-in-allegheny-county-prostitution-cases |access-date=6 June 2018 |publisher=Trib Live |date=3 June 2018 |archive-date=7 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180607043135/http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13690556-74/condoms-criminalized-in-allegheny-county-prostitution-cases |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Big2014>{{cite news |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ny-bill-would-bar-condoms-proof-prostitution |title=NY bill would bar condoms as proof of prostitution |last1=KLEPPER |first1=DAVID |date=27 April 2014 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=27 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427210304/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ny-bill-would-bar-condoms-proof-prostitution |archive-date=27 April 2014}}</ref> The [[Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS]] has condemned this practice and there are efforts to end it.<ref name=Big2014 /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wurth |first1=MH |last2=Schleifer |first2= R |last3=McLemore |first3= M |last4=Todrys |first4= KW |last5=Amon |first5= JJ |title=Condoms as evidence of prostitution in the United States and the criminalization of sex work. |journal=Journal of the International AIDS Society |date=24 May 2013 |volume=16 |issue=1 |article-number=18626 |pmid=23706178 |pmc=3664300 |doi=10.7448/ias.16.1.18626}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2012/10/07/city-cease-using-condoms-evidence-prostitution-cases |title=City to cease using condoms as evidence in prostitution cases |last1=Chanoff |first1=Yael |date=7 October 2014 |website=[[San Francisco Bay Guardian]] |access-date=27 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428022226/http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2012/10/07/city-cease-using-condoms-evidence-prostitution-cases |archive-date=28 April 2014}}</ref>

Middle-Eastern couples who have not had children, because of the strong desire and social pressure to establish fertility as soon as possible within marriage, rarely use condoms.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=3649633 |title=The Sociocultural Context of Condom Use Within Marriage in Rural Lebanon |last1=Kulczycki |first1=Andrzej |date=4 December 2004 |journal=Studies in Family Planning |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=246–260 |doi=10.1111/j.0039-3665.2004.00029.x |pmid=15628783}}</ref>

In 2017, India restricted TV advertisements for condoms to between the hours of 10 pm to 6 am. Family planning advocates were against this, saying it was liable to "undo decades of progress on sexual and reproductive health".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/12/india-bans-condom-adverts-during-primetime-tv "India bans condom adverts during primetime TV"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124215653/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/12/india-bans-condom-adverts-during-primetime-tv |date=24 January 2018 }}. ''The Guardian'', 2017</ref>

=== Major manufacturers ===
{{See also|History of condoms#Major manufacturers}}
One analyst described the size of the condom market as something that "boggles the mind". Numerous small manufacturers, nonprofit groups, and government-run manufacturing plants exist around the world.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|322,328}} Within the condom market, there are several major contributors, among them both for-profit businesses and philanthropic organizations. Most large manufacturers have ties to the business that reach back to the end of the 19th century.

== Research ==
{{See also|Male contraceptive}}
A [[spray-on condom]] made of latex is intended to be easier to apply and more successful in preventing the transmission of diseases. {{as of|2009}}, the spray-on condom was not going to market because the drying time could not be reduced below two to three minutes.<ref name="time">{{cite news |last=Lefevre |first=Callie |title=Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=13 August 2008 |url=http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1832445,00.html | access-date = 26 July 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090523103504/http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1832445,00.html | archive-date = 23 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="spraytv">{{cite web |url=http://www.sf.tv/var/videoplayer.php?videourl=http%3A%2F%2Freal.xobix.ch%2Framgen%2Fsfdrs%2F10vor10%2F2006%2F10vor10_29112006.rm%3Fstart%3D0%3A23%3A35.732%26amp%3Bend%3D0%3A27%3A02.140 |title=Spray-On-Condom |access-date=3 December 2006 |publisher=Schweizer Fernsehen News |date=29 November 2006 |format=streaming video [Real format] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206171909/http://www.sf.tv/var/videoplayer.php?videourl=http%3A%2F%2Freal.xobix.ch%2Framgen%2Fsfdrs%2F10vor10%2F2006%2F10vor10_29112006.rm%3Fstart%3D0%3A23%3A35.732%26amp%3Bend%3D0%3A27%3A02.140 |archive-date=6 December 2006}}</ref><ref name="spray">{{cite web |url=http://www.spraykondom.de/spraycondom/index.php |title=Spray-On-Condom |access-date=3 December 2006 |publisher=Institut für Kondom-Beratung |year=2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061211204724/http://www.spraykondom.de/spraycondom/index.php |archive-date=11 December 2006}}</ref>

The Invisible Condom, developed at [[Université Laval]] in Quebec, Canada, is a gel that hardens upon increased temperature after insertion into the vagina or rectum. In the lab, it has been shown to effectively block HIV and herpes simplex virus. The barrier breaks down and liquefies after several hours. {{as of|2005}}, the invisible condom is in the clinical trial phase, and has not yet been approved for use.<ref>{{cite web |title=Safety, Tolerance and Acceptability Trial of the Invisible Condom in Healthy Women |work=ClinicalTrials.gov |publisher=U.S. National Institutes of Health |date=August 2005 |url=http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00136643?order=6 |access-date=14 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829080802/http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00136643?order=6 |archive-date=29 August 2006}}</ref>

Also developed in 2005 is a condom treated with an erectogenic compound. The drug-treated condom is intended to help the wearer maintain an erection, which should also help reduce slippage. If approved, the condom would be marketed under the Durex brand. {{as of|2007}}, it was still in clinical trials.<ref name="collier" />{{Rp|345}} In 2009, Ansell Healthcare, the makers of Lifestyle condoms, introduced the X2 condom lubricated with "Excite Gel" which contains the amino acid [[Arginine|L-arginine]] and is intended to improve the strength of the erectile response.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lifestyles.com/condoms.php |title=Condoms: Lifestyles Condoms |publisher=Lifestyles.com |access-date=15 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109010100/http://www.lifestyles.com/condoms.php |archive-date=9 January 2011}}</ref>

In March 2013, philanthropist [[Bill Gates]] offered US$100,000 grants through his foundation for a condom design that "significantly preserves or enhances pleasure" to encourage more males to adopt the use of condoms for safer sex. The grant information stated: "The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms decrease pleasure as compared to no condom, creating a trade-off that many men find unacceptable, particularly given that the decisions about use must be made just prior to intercourse. Is it possible to develop a product without this stigma, or better, one that is felt to enhance pleasure?"<ref>{{cite news |title=Bill Gates offers $100,000 grant for improved condoms |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/24/bill-gates-offers-100000-grant-improved-condoms/ |access-date=2 May 2013 |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |date=24 March 2013 |author=Jessica Chasmar |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504144403/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/24/bill-gates-offers-100000-grant-improved-condoms/|archive-date=4 May 2013}}</ref> In November of the same year, 11 research teams were selected to receive the grant money.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weber |first=Peter |date=21 November 2013 |title=Meet the 11 condoms of the future selected by Bill Gates |work=[[The Week]] |url=https://theweek.com/articles/455793/meet-11-condoms-future-selected-by-bill-gates |access-date=7 January 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103033704/https://theweek.com/articles/455793/meet-11-condoms-future-selected-by-bill-gates |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Condoman]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikibooks|Sexual Health|Barrier Birth Control and Spermicide}}
{{Commons category|Condoms}}
* [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/condoms WHO fact sheet on condoms]
* "[https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2014/02/15/sheathing-cupids-arrow Sheathing Cupid's Arrow: the Oldest Artificial Contraceptive May Be Ripe for a Makeover]", ''[[The Economist]]'', February 2014.

{{condom}}
{{Birth control methods}}
{{Human sexuality}}
{{Sex}}
{{Portal bar|Medicine}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Condoms| ]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS]]
[[Category:Prevention of HIV/AIDS]]
[[Category:Penis]]
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[[Category:Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate]]
[[Category:Contraception for males]]