Researchers are shooting down long-standing myths that condoms interfere with pleasure.
The new study, led by Debby Herbenick, a sex researcher at Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health found that people who use condoms experience the same amount of pleasure as those going without them.
Herbenick says that the skewed view about condoms hindering the orgasm experience is misconstrued during a male’s teenage years and continues as they age.
“By the time boys are 14 or 15 years old, many have been exposed to “myths and misperceptions” about condoms, mainly that condoms wreck pleasure,” Herbenick suggests. “So it’s no wonder that at 16, 17, 18, when they have begin having sex, young men might resist using them, increasing their risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease or passing one to a partner, not to mention conceiving a baby. “
Researchers examined data from a 2009 study by the National Survey of Sexual Health Behavior which surveyed 1,645 men and women between the ages of 18 and 59 about their sexual activity.
Results showed that 28 percent of men and 22 percent of women used condoms. This finding is quite different from the statistics the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2008 indicating that only 10 percent of women said they used condoms over other modes of contraception.
The new study however did not find a striking difference in regards to sexual arousal, ease of erection and orgasm between those who used condoms and those who do not.
Findings also revealed a variety of ways men are aroused while using condoms and lubricants.
The data found that men who used lubricant inside and outside the condom enhanced their sexual experience. Herbenick hopes this will encourage men to use condoms both for safety and pleasure.
“People aren’t really having any conversations about types of products related to sexual experiences and that’s a shame,” Herbenick said.
Although Church & Dwight Co. the maker of Trojan condoms funded the study, Herbenick stresses that there was no conflict of interest when it came to the results.
“The data is the data…We are free to publish anything we want,” Herbenick emphasized.
