Female condoms are not as popular as male condoms. One of the reasons it is not commonly used is that many people do not know how to use female condoms.
These are the steps to take in inserting and using it:
- First of all, make sure you check the packet for the expiry date to ensure that it is not expired.
- Tear the packet gently with your hands. Don’t use a sharp object (knife, scissors, teeth, razor), so that you don’t tear it.
- Before opening the packet, push the condom down away from the end where you will tear it open. Start tearing from the end of the packet that has a jagged edge or arrow.
- Then position yourself comfortably to insert the condom. You can lie down, stand with one foot on a chair, squat, or sit on the edge of a chair.
- It is the closed end of the condom that is to be inserted into the vagina; it is the inner ring.
- To put it inside the vagina, squeeze the sides of the inner ring together.
- Then push it deep into the vagina till it reaches the cervix.
- You will not feel the condom inside your vagina if you have inserted it properly. But if you feel it, that means you have not inserted properly; in which case, you should remove and reinsert it.
- Let an inch of the outer ring of the condom hang outside the vagina.
- After sexual intercourse, before removing it, squeeze and twist the outer ring of the condom to avoid spilling the semen.
- Pull it out of the vagina carefully.
- Then get rid of it properly in a waste bin. Just like with the male condom, don’t flush it down the toilet!
With practice, you will find that female condoms are easy to insert and use.
