How do uncircumcised guys deal with condoms?

April 14, 2005 8:57 PM

How do uncircumcised guys deal with condoms?

Even with a full erection, I have a lot of "play" in my foreskin, and can pull it up to cover the head. In fact, during sex, the foreskin tends to naturally partially cover the head anyway, regardless of insertion method.

When discussing uncircumcised guys and condoms, the instructions always say "pull the foreskin back when putting on the condom", and indeed, this feels like the most natural way to do it. But then during sex, the condom and outer skin move up, leaving much of the bottom portion of the penis exposed, and, lacking a solid "anchor", the condom may even be pulled off.

I have heard mention of, and tried, pulling the foreskin up to cover the head, and then applying the condom over that. This anchors the condom securely, but introduces new problems: It's in direct conflict with the instructions, sensation is substantially reduced, and there is now a possibility of "poking through" the condom--I heard anecdotal evidence of this actually happening somewhere on the web.

A third option I discovered is to acquire a very long condom, several inches longer than the measured penis length, and then apply with the foreskin pulled back, roll halfway down, push the foreskin up, then continue to unroll, effectively covering all skin with a layer of rubber. The problem here is that after there is sufficient lubrication inside the condom to separate the skin and the rubber at the head, you end up with several inches of condom dangling off the end, which doesn't seem terribly safe, even though the bottom is securely anchored. Also, since the latex is less pliable than the skin, there can be some degree of "bunching up" of the rubber.

None of these options seems to make a whole lot of sense in the end; I get the feeling that most guys are having far less trouble with their condoms than I.

Any of this sounds familiar? What are your experiences?

posted by trevyn to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

Foreskin pulled back, definitely. So long as you use an appropriately sized condom and don't get soft, you're not going to "bunch up".

I can't see how you'd "poke through" unless you're using a latex condom that had dried up and become brittle, but you'd never want to use one in that condition to begin with.
posted by AlexReynolds at 9:07 PM on April 14, 2005

My favorite condom was Mentor, which had adhesive at the base. I don't know if those are around anymore, I no longer use condoms. At the time, they were considered the very best, and this certainly was my experience.
posted by Goofyy at 10:54 PM on April 14, 2005

I get the feeling that most guys are having far less trouble with their condoms than I.

Don't count on it. I've always had the impression that condoms were generally perceived as awkward to manage (albeit a happily accepted inconvenience).

you end up with several inches of condom dangling off the end, which doesn't seem terribly safe, even though the bottom is securely anchored.

What do you see as the potential risk here? The condom isn't more likely to break, the extra length doesn't seem like it would even be something either party would be able to feel and it isn't (as you point out) likely to come off.
posted by jjg at 11:07 PM on April 14, 2005

Another vote for foreskin pulled back.

My problem is that by the second or third round of sex, I would already be pretty desensitized "naked" but with the condom it is impossible to reach orgasm no matter what acrobatics I employ. The other is that, sometimes toward the end of the first round and certainly by the second round, the condom chafes my foreskin and I end up being very sore. Lastly, the lack of variety of non-latex (I'm allergic) condoms brands and types is quite annoying.

I'm pretty dependent on my partner being on the pill. Oh well.
posted by randomstriker at 11:34 PM on April 14, 2005

This page from the American Social Health Association (which had the CDC's AIDS hotline contract for years, and where I used to work), says that after you pull the foreskin back and put on the condom, you should then "slide the foreskin forward so it is more comfortable during sex." Maybe that'll help?
posted by mediareport at 11:35 PM on April 14, 2005 [1 favorite]

Yep.., pull it back, unroll, pull foreskin back over head, unroll further. A tuny (seriously, tiny drop of lube inside the condom helps with sensation. I speak from eprsonal experience, and condoms are (outside a long-term, monogamous (well, technically, monoandrous), multiply-tested relationship) non-negotiable.. I've dealt with hundreds of the damned things.

If the issue is slippage, you are (and please don't take this as an insult) using a condom that is too loose. Try using an unlubricated condom, or one of slightly less girth. You'll find that slippage isn't so much of an issue.

Having 'extra' condom hanging over the end would not seem to me to represent a safety issue; there are condoms (no brand names come to mind, as I don't use this type) which actually have extra girth partway up the shaft (almost like a pouch), as the extra movement & friction is said to be pleasurable.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:02 AM on April 15, 2005

Response by poster: Ok, somewhere in my mind I saw these 3 dangling inches of rubber getting wedged somewhere somehow and causing trouble. But really the problem was that it didn't at all fit the classical image of the condom-covered penis.

The issue isn't slippage, the issue is that one needs an extraordinarily long condom to do the pull back, unroll, push forward, unroll more and still end up anywhere near the bottom. It just didn't seem to make sense.

Thanks all for the comments. :)
posted by trevyn at 5:57 AM on April 15, 2005

I get the feeling that most guys are having far less trouble with their condoms than I.

If it's any consolation to you, I am 45 years old, I've had a reasonable amount of sex in my life and in all that time I have managed to successfully use a condom precisely twice. And those occasions seemed more like luck than anything else. I am so grateful that my early sexually-active years were pre-AIDS, and that since then I've been in committed and faithful relationships.

But condoms... I just can't hack 'em. Ever since I was a perma-horny teen I have been completely defeated by those infernal things. I'm uncircumcised, but I don't think that has much to do with it as, unlike yours, my foreskin is very short - so much so it often decides to roll back without any help and I look almost like I'm circumcised. And as others have said, you are supposed to pull the skin back prior to putting a condom on.

But I've had the same sort of problems you describe - trying to get the things to roll down cleanly was always a complete physics problem for me. The damned thing would somehow furl back on itself, or just not seem to want to unroll at all, or I'd end up with too big a gap at the top. And of course, when that sort of thing happened it was pretty inevitable that I'd soon end up with a dick as sad, slack and useless as the condom. I HATE those damned things, and they hate me. They led to some very awkward moments, I can tell you. I became so anxious about my "issues" with them that even by my early twenties my old boy would shrivel like a threatened snail as soon as I got within two minutes of the condom moment. They basically became a non-option for me, and I haven't even tried to put one on in years. Not good in this age of the megavirus, I know, but what can you do? Not have sex?


Just so's you know you're not alone. I hope you have better luck with the damned things than I did.
posted by Decani at 6:14 AM on April 15, 2005

I've got the same problem trevyn. If you shop around you can find long condoms that are a bit narrower. I find the snug fit helps to keep them in place. Lubricated Kimonos are the ones I used to buy.
posted by Mitheral at 8:39 AM on April 15, 2005

Perhaps the trojan brand that has the 'light bulb' look with the extra space at the end to help with sensation is the way to go - clearly it's designed such that the extra space and moving about is acceptable.
posted by phearlez at 2:32 PM on April 15, 2005

Best answer: If you do use a drop of lube as dirtynumbangelboy suggests and can get over the slightly odd look of extra condom hanging off the end, you will probably end your chafing problem and maybe cause some exciting friction. This is the way I am used to uncircumcized guys with condoms looking, honestly, for what that's worth. I agree, it is different than how you think it should work [and how the picture on the box looks] but there are no stability or "wedging" issues with the set-up.
posted by jessamyn at 2:54 PM on April 15, 2005

trevyn >>> the issue is that one needs an extraordinarily long condom to do the pull back

Apparently you've been blessed somewhat more than the rest of us :P I've never had a problem with condom length.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:43 AM on April 16, 2005

Response by poster: Perhaps somewhat, but I don't think a whole lot more. From the sound of things, my foreskin may be a little longer/stretchier, which is what's really exacerbating the length situation.
posted by trevyn at 1:26 PM on April 16, 2005