What kinds of condoms are available for men with very large penises? I have trouble fitting into Magnum XLs and smaller sizes are painful, if I manage to get them on. Do you have any advice?
Contrary to what you might have heard in your high school sex education class, condom fit is very important. In the past, men who said that condoms were too small or uncomfortable were often vilified by sexuality educators who said that this was just an excuse used by those who were selfishly trying to convince their partners to have unprotected sex. To “prove” that average-size condoms can fit anyone, educators would unroll them over their forearms and heads or would blow them up like balloons to show just how stretchy latex is.
Yes, you can certainly put a condom over your entire forearm if you like, but you know what? It’s kind of constrictive. If sex educators really want to encourage people to use condoms, it’s better to acknowledge that people have penises of different sizes and shapes and that they tend to have strong preferences for one brand or another because of how they fit and feel.
I recommend that people try as many different brands and styles as possible to find one that they like. Durex recently started making a condom called XXL that, to my knowledge, is the biggest condom on the market. This would be my first suggestion to someone who has tried Magnum XLs and found them uncomfortable.
Large non-latex condoms (such as Lifestyles Skyn Large) might be another option, since some people feel that polyisoprene, the material used to make these condoms, is stretchier and softer than latex.
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A third option is to have your partner use an FC2, aka “female” or insertable condom, instead. Internal/insertable condoms can be used vaginally or anally by people of any gender. They are designed to loosely line the inside of the vagina or anus and are not constrictive to either partner, but provide the same type of pregnancy and STI protection that external condoms do. For more information about insertable condoms, read my previous SEXPress column on this topic.
Laura Anne Stuart owns the Tool Shed, an erotic boutique on Milwaukee’s East Side. She has a master’s degree in public health and has worked as a sexuality educator for more than fifteen years. Want Laura to answer your questions in SEXpress? Send them to laura@shepex.com. Not all questions received will be answered in the column, and Laura cannot provide personal answers to questions that do not appear here. Questions sent to this address may be reproduced in this column, both in print and online, and may be edited for clarity and content.
