(Male) Pain during sex, uncircumcised, condoms

[Dean in Farmvegas]

I wrote here a while back about pain during oral sex. My girlfriend and I have moved to the real thing now, and I am having problems with condoms.

Every time I put on a condom I feel pain while having sex. Each time the pain is just a little different.

Our first time I never put on a condom so I put it on the best I could. I pulled down the foreskin and everything. There was this pinching or very rough rubber feeling on the top of my head (not the tip of my head, for clarification).

The second time I figured not to pull the foreskin back, and the pain was a little more intense.

Then I decided to do some research. The third time I pulled the foreskin back, and put a small amount of lubricant inside the tip of the condom. The results were the same.

We thought to use larger condoms; foreskin down. When I tried those for the first time it felt a lot better, and the pain only occurred rarely. However I was not able to climax because of the occasional pain.

Next was the same but with the addition to some lubricant, and the pain returned.

Next we tried a different brand, and the pain was very intense, so much so that I had to stop. And the same happened the next time.

She is on the pill so we had normal sex and everything was fine, no pain at all, and I was able to climax. We tried this spermicidal foam stuff, but I felt a strong burning sensation during sex.

I'm wondering is,
- Should I use a different brand of condom?
- Am I using the wrong size of condom?
- Putting on the condom wrong?
- Am I just too sensitive? Should I see a doctor?

If anyone has any answers or advise I would be very appreciative. Thank you.

[Beagle]

I'm uncircumcised, and I have no problem with condoms whatsoever. If you arent' having pain with urination or visible inflamation, there probably is no medical problem. I suspect too tight a condom. You do know that you're supposed to roll the condom on, not pull it on like a sock? I suspect you're pulling on the tiny thread of tissue at the bottom of the head of the penis that prevents the foreskin from being retracted too far.

[Dean in Farmvegas]

Yeah, I've been rolling on the condom from the beginning. The pain doesn't come from putting it on, but intercourse itself. Whenever I move out is when the pain occurs, not when I'm moving/thrusting in. It happens even when I'm going very slow, so it's not the speed or repetitions that are causing it. Also, the pain only occurs on the top and not the bottom where the tiny thread of tissue is located.

[Beagle]

Ok, this is a tough one. The key here is going to be isolating the problem. Does this happen during masturbation? Also, you need to pull back the foreskin and look for visible signs of inflammation. You also need to try a size larger condom and see if the results are the same.

If none of these are the problem, I want you to try to masturbate with a condom on to see if you have pain. (Yes, I know that sounds crazy but we're trying to isolate a problem.) If so, try to figure out the exact motion that is causing the pain. Let me know what happens.

One possibility is that the condom is simply holding the foreskin back and the exposed head is very sensitive. A wrinkle in the foreskin on the backstroke could theoretically cause this problem. Let me know what happens. I'm going to be in and out the next few days, so you may not get an immediate response but I'll make it a point to check on you.

[Dean in Farmvegas]

I've been out of town as well and had the opportunity to try masturbating with a condom only recently. The problem seems to be with the up stroke (towards the head, the pulling out motion during sex). The foreskin is rolling up onto the head; with the condom this makes the sensation kind of painful.

[Beagle]

Good. You got the information we need. One possibility is that the condom is simply too tight. You may want to consider a larger size. Just make sure it fits snugly enough to do it's job.

Otherwise, I think you're just going to have to experiment with what to do with the foreskin when you put on the condom. I'm uncircumcised and I've never had this problem. However, I'm very careful to make sure the foreskin is in it's natural position when I position the condom. I think you just need to do some experimentation on your own and let me know what you come up with. Now that you know what the problem is, you can find a work-around.