What is the actual benefit(s) of condoms....

[bobcat2712 15]

My wife and I were talking and realized all condoms will do is prevent someone for getting pregnant.... Here's our reasoning: we perform oral sex on our respective counterparts who may have something.. we then kiss them and/or each other thus transferring "whatever" and/or perform oral sex on each other.

 

All this interaction means that at the end of the session if any one of the participants has anything its been spread to everyone else.

[njbm 2,880]

Some STDs are spread genitally. Your roll of the dice. We are amazed by our bareback friends. We think that they are more likely to have HPV or HSV.

[njbm 2,880]

A friend of ours who started as a swinger going bareback got chlamydia. I believe that is genitally transmitted.

[njbm 2,880]

Correction: Chlamydia can be transmitted orally. I am not a doctor, but the internet has some good resources.

[Guest]

Yeah it's sad to say but in many cases condoms are useless, their main use is simply for stopping pregnancy, but it does depend on the situation.

 

YES - Most of the major STD'S / STI'S can be caught by giving OR receiving oral sex.

 

YES - A much smaller amount of STD'S / STI'S can be caught by kissing, but not as many as oral sex.

 

The point been if you intend to give or receive oral sex during your play sessions then condoms are fairly useless by that point.

 

If a man puts on a condom and fucks a women without heavy kissing, and without any oral sex whatsoever then condoms will dramatically help to stop STD'S / STI'S.

 

But let's be honest sex without oral sex / kissing is fairly bloody boring.

[funcoupledayton 2,708]

Condoms are extremely useful in the prevention of HIV. They do offer some protection against even skin to skin sti's like HPV and herpes. Saying that condoms are basically useless is misleading. There are research studies that give statistics for reduction of transmission for many diseases.

 

Just because you are not eliminating risk completely doesn't mean you should throw all caution to the wind.

[divenaked 325]

I once saw a man at a party have penetrative sex with three women in a mattress room. Didn't change condoms. Hope the ladies were good friends, they shared fluids that night.

[njbm 2,880]

We call the men at house parties who go from woman to woman "bumblebees." Lord, I hope that they are changing their condoms!

[a_d_xxx 663]

I'm right there with you @funcoupledayton, It's called "safer" sex (not "safe" sex) for a reason.

 

Condoms and other safer sex practices minimize risk, not eliminate it, and they need to be used conscientiously and correctly.

 

Will wearing a helmet keep me from breaking an arm in a bike accident? Nope, but I'll still wear one.

 

And I'll use condoms (and use other barriers when negotiated), and change them between partners, and wash my hands, and rinse my mouth, and any number of other things, because I want to protect those I play with as much as I can. I cannot make it perfect, but I'd prefer to know I did my best.

 

FWIW, the risk of transmission for many STI's via oral is much less than that via penetrative sex, and then the risk is often far greater for the penetratee than the penetrator.

 

Finally, not all STI's should be judged the same. HSV? Pretty much a non issue medically. Annoying bumps on your junk. Whoopee. It's the social stigma that is the killer there. HIV? That one's going to have a serious life long health effect for you. Can you guess which of those two diligently using a condom is amazingly effective at protecting against? Yeah, I'll continue to wear one thanks.

 

D

[BuiltForSin 66]

This gets asked fairly often, ten minutes with google will tell you: Using a condom reduces the risk of getting many diseases. That does not mean zero. Pretty much every activity is a risk and we all choose what is worth the risk. We always use condoms and get irritated with couples that at the moment of truth try the "What protection are condoms really? We're fine without them if you are..." after telling us they always use condoms.

 

Our line is pretty simple: we always use condoms and we try to only play with those that always use condoms. We don't (for example) use dental dams when engaging in oral fun. If we had to make a choice between using a dental dam of forgoing oral we would do the later as it reduces the experience enough that it is not worth it. The risk is lower than barebacking but its still a risk that we (and most others) choose to take.

[EastInWest 1,524]

I once saw a man at a party have penetrative sex with three women in a mattress room. Didn't change condoms. Hope the ladies were good friends, they shared fluids that night.

 

Mrs. E has known the woman we play with for 20+ years.

 

She's still not that good of a friend. This isn't an exclusive arrangement.

[njbm 2,880]

Some bareback players tell us that they go bareback with nice people or people they like or trust. Viruses don't use that criteria.

[GoldCoCouple 4,066]

We wear our seat belts when in the car (always have even before it was required) not because we expect to get into an accident, but for the protection they do provide. Even with crumple zones, air bags and seat belts, people are still killed in car crashes. Does this mean we shouldn't ever wear seat belts? We only drive our car in good neighborhoods and around nice people so it should be okay not to wear them?

 

In addition to the protection condoms provide (although how much protection has been argued), they also provide an emotional protection. Others can have her to enjoy, but I'm the only one allowed to cum inside her without a condom. That keeps a boundary in place that they aren't allowed (and the same is true for any women I may be with). It's an intimacy that only the two of us share together.

[firebird09 37]

Oh so if you get an STI from oral sex there is no need to worry about that same infection down there? Wow

[njbm 2,880]

Not sure where you get the above information.

[BuiltForSin 66]

Oh so if you get an STI from oral sex there is no need to worry about that same infection down there? Wow

 

No.. The risk is lower and we choose to take that risk. Kissing is a risk, hell touching involves risk.. Not all risks are the same. If you decide that the risk of unprotected oral is too high and don't want to play with us we understand. If you decide to do oral but only with dental damns that is also your choice - we will not try to change your limits into ours - we just won't be doing oral with you

 

Everyone is free to go sans condom. We are free to think that risk is to high and avoid those people. That is our choice, that is our line where the risk is no longer worth the reward.

[njbm 2,880]

We are hesitant to play with people who go bareback even if they wear condoms for us. They are higher risk.