[ ARC forum 2 ]

Good and bad lubricants

Written by Paul B. at 22 May 2003 07:24:27:

As an answer to: Re: lubricant and glans sensitivity.. written by Ivan at 22 May 2003 06:14:00:

> My experience with condoms has been that until I climax, there is very little motion of the condom on the glans or the part of the shaft it covers.

That said, you may be exceptional. Many ( - most?) men lubricate ("pre-cum") quite generously so that the condom readily slips around over the head and adjacent shaft, frequently the entire shaft. This renders moot the advice to "leave space" at the end of the condom, though a "teat" is more likely to remain effective. A tighter condom will also reduce this effect to some extent.

This is the major problem with condoms leading to either loss or tearing. By and large, men tend to lubricate somewhat more reliably than women, if not as copiously, and the condom prevents this from escaping where it does not do the same for the woman's lubrication on the outside, so if the inside is more slippery than the outside, the condom tends to be "captured" in the vagina with either of the above consequences.

And as I have frequently stated, "pre-cum" seems to be an indication of awareness of a woman rather than raw sexual excitement (as suffered by teenagers), so that this effect may be much less prominent with "plain" masturbation.

So in fact, there is some merit in using a condom for masturbation and allowing pre-cum to flow - if it will, and once this happens, manipulating the condom over the glans. Mind you, if you have a foreskin to start with, all this seems very much a backhand(!) way to do it!

> After that, I remove it quite gingerly, as I am even more sensitive in the immediate aftermath.

Semen is a poor lubricant. The coagulation or "gel" phenomenon renders it particularly sticky (that is after all, the purpose), so it increases rather than decreases friction. Indeed, this is one main reason for men's almost universal distaste for the condom - perhaps more so than "lack of sensation" which is itself more the slightly odd sensation of the sticky rubber.

> A condom should be snug on the erection so it won't slip off, hence no rubbing. The contact itself, without rubbing, will be neutral

Perhaps. I fancy you are quite correct here, within the limits I have enumerated.


Answers: