External ("male") Condoms

During sex, you wear the condom on your penis to prevent semen and sperm from entering your partner's body when you ejaculate (come).

Semen can carry STIs. It also contains sperm. If sperm goes inside a vagina there's a chance it could meet with an egg and lead to pregnancy. Using a condom can stop this from happening.

The condom should be put on when your penis is erect (hard) and before it comes into contact with your partner's body.

To use an external condom correctly, follow these steps:

• Carefully open the foil packaging the condom is wrapped in, taking care not to tear the condom.

• Hold the tip of the condom between your finger and thumb to make sure it's put on the right way around and no air is trapped inside (the condom may split if air is trapped inside).

• Place the condom over the tip of your penis.

• While squeezing the tip of the condom, roll it down over the length of your erect penis.

• If the condom will not unroll, it's probably on inside out – start again with a new condom as there may be semen or sperm on it.

Make sure that the condom stays in place while you're having sex. If it comes off, stop and put on a new one.

After ejaculation (when you've come) and while your penis is still hard, hold the condom in place and carefully withdraw your penis from your partner's body.

You should only take the condom off your penis when there's no further contact with your partner's body.

Wrap the used condom in a tissue and put it in the bin. You should never flush condoms down the toilet as they may block the toilet and can cause environmental damage.

For more information and how to use graphics please visit:

https://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/external-condom-use.html