Are Condoms Really Killing Your Erection?

A new study answers an age-old question.

The conventional wisdom around condoms is that they’re awful. They reduce feeling and make sex way worse, right?


Wrong. According to a new study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, which found that the men who blamed condoms for their lackluster hard-ons were actually more likely to just suffer from erectile dysfunction in general. Sorry fellas: the problem isn’t your condoms, but your dick. 


Here’s how the study broke down. Of the 500 straight men between the ages of 18 and 24 surveyed by researchers about their sexual behavior, 38 percent claimed that condoms had no impact on their performance in the sack. By contrast, 32 percent griped that condoms were terrible for their sexual prowess. But the research showed that those men who worried about condoms cramping their style likely had trouble maintaining a boner even without a rubber.


“Condom-associated erection problems have been a very under-researched topic,” study co-author Dr. Cynthia Graham toldThe Daily Beast. “Increasing evidence suggests, however, that they may influence whether condoms are used correctly or from start to finish of sex.”


Sorry guys, but you have no excuse not to rock a rubber. Even if science hasn’t given us the perfect pleasureable condom just yet, the risk of pregnancy and disease is way worse than dealing with an extra obstacle. Besides, there’s nothing sexier than a dude who rises to the occasion — and does it safely, too.

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