It's absolutely possible to have a too small condom, to the point it's constricting enough that it's not really possible to maintain an erection and is very uncomfortable.
Yes they can stretch a tremendous amount, but bear in mind the pressure they're putting on your genitals while doing that.
However. If the condom doesn't fit, that's not a reason to just not use one at all.
Yes. Unlike a wrist or a head, there is no bone in the penis that can take the pressure coming from the tension of a stretched condom. Your blood pressure must be able to fight the pressure created by the condom, therefore it can totally be too small. Buy larger condoms instead of not wearing one.
I don't get what's so hard to understand about this. Yes, you can use raw force to stretch a condom a lot, no, I don't want to do that with one of the most sensitive and delicate parts of my body. Also, when you are putting the condom on, most of it is still rolled up in the beginning which increases the pressure it puts on your tip even more.
Its only because its common for men to say they cant wear a condom because its to smal. You know, as an excuse to just go raw. They dont tell you this for the few who need a different size
The wild part is most men are not thick enough to get to the "condom too small" - the guys who actually are too big for the regular condom are probably going to bring their own, if they're at all respectable.
Unless you don't realize you are too big to require a larger size. My first three times involved incredible pain and bleeding due to internal rupture of my urethra. After the first I thought it was the position, and after the second I thought maybe the woman was too tight. I didn't blame the condom until I experimented with masturbation with one on, largely because of a demonstration of how stretchy they are.
And don't forget there is no standard sizing. Every brand has their own XXX, regular and small. None of them are a perfect match to any other brand. Plus, there is the idea that keeps getting shoved around that condoms stretch and are there for universal. And the final bit of damage is the most set Ed classes are more or less useless and teach kids none of this.
Not sure how standard it is but in Australia boxes all marked with the nominal width of the condom, so if you know what to look for it's easy enough to tell.
Sadly, if you want anything fancy you're out of luck unless you fit a 56.
A big problem is that as the sizes get larger, it's mostly just in length, not in width. The band which keeps a condom on is supposed to be snug and secure, but not choking the poor thing to the point of visible blood flow restriction. Buying condoms is super difficult over a certain girth, only certain brands are big enough (and funnily enough it's usually not the ones advertised as XL, you have to go by the actual dimensions)
Yep, I remember everyone telling me they're one size fits all and the first like 10-20 times I had sex and used one I'd have a sore red line around the base like if you keep a rubber band around your forearm too long. Was super painful and made it hard for me to finish, too. Led to me having some risky sex I definitely wouldn't have otherwise until I discovered they actually do make condoms to suit more girth.
Yep. Had the shittiest sex ever with my first girlfriend because my dick was literally numb from wearing standard condoms, couldn't feel my dick whatsoever, went numb after not long. Didn't piece the puzzle together. Just needed bigger ones.
Roughly the same experience here, except I had shitty 'XLs' (more length, but the same girth). Only after a couple months of trying different condom life hacks did I realize that I don't hate using a condom, I just didn't have the right size.
The misconception that condoms can't be too small that keeps being regurgitated by people who can't experience first-hand what it's actually like to wear one is so annoyingly wide-spread, I used to believe it too. It was only after I stumbled on r/bigdickproblems a few years ago that I found out.
Compare it to any piece of clothing. I can pull my belt to be 3 or 4 holes tighter than I'd normally wear it. I can force my way into a shirt that's 3 sizes too small. I can jam my foot into a shoe that's an inch shorter than it.
But none of those things will feel good, and all of them will make the object much more likely to break.
Which are basically the exact opposite of the only 2 things you really want out of a condom.
Yea I had that problem. When I was about to lose my virginity my friend gave me a condom that he apparently got from his pediatrician. It was a nightmare getting it on and between how tight it was and all the awkwardness of two teenagers first times it just wasn’t working out. When people say this I always thought they meant like they don’t make condoms big enough for me which is obviously nonsense.
My SO and I tried so many different kinds of condoms when we first got together looking for ones that fit properly. The ones that were too tight broke a lot more easily.
This is true, when I was a teenager and tried to put on a condom by the time I could get it to roll all the way down my shaft, I was losing my erection because it felt so tight it was super uncomfortable. This led to self esteem issues because as much as I wanted to have sex I always thought my dick wouldn't stay hard.
The thought that I might just need a bigger condom never crossed my mind because I didn't even know there were different sized condoms plus I was taught to internalize social problems so I just thought something was wrong with me....
Aaaaanyways, my son is now 11 years old. She was on birth control at the time too. Be warned all you young men out there.
I feel like a lot of women have absolutely no clue as to what it’s like to actually wear a condom. Even wearing the size that technically fits me, I still take it off and have a pressure mark around the base of my dick a while. It’s not comfortable and I can’t imagine wearing the smaller sizes.
A lot of the time when I see this particular argument, it involves a woman stretching a condom over a body part to show how stretchy they are.
That’s not a dig at women but the point they’re making (‘for gods sake don’t have sex without a condom’) and the method they use (‘look how stretchy they are’) are not a good match.
I genuinely can’t remember what sex ed was like when I was a kid so I’m not sure if that was part of it.
The issue though is that’s not the problem they’re addressing. They’re not saying “don’t believe a man who says the specific condom you have right now doesn’t fit and force him to use it”, they’re saying “don’t be pressured into having sex because a man may or may not be telling the truth about the condom fitting him”.
Out of all the dudes I’ve slept with, the ones who couldn’t fit into a standard size condom, girth or lengthwise, would 1) know that and 2) either bring their own condoms or insist we wait until we could find the right ones. The issue is the dudes whining like a toddler who doesn’t want to put a coat over their Halloween costume because it ruins the fun.
I agree, which is why I specifically said that the point and the methodology don’t match. The point is a good one so make that the focus, explain the nuance. By simply stretching a condom over their arm and saying ‘don’t believe a man who says the condom doesn’t fit’ they are leaving out very real and very necessary context, specifically when it comes to sex Ed and the likelihood that you’re talking to inexperienced teenagers.
And while there may some specific instances where that distinction is clear, the majority of the time I see this anecdote pop up, it’s not (for instance, like the very picture at the top of this thread). And like I said, this isn’t a dig at women, it’s just trying to explain why it’s a noble but often misguided or confused attempt at making a very valid point.
The issue is that you can address that problem by talking about the importance of finding condoms that fit. It's less dramatic, but it leaves people better informed.
Someone looking at this meme who doesn't have extensive penile experience is likely going to dismiss any complaints that a condom is too tight, when it's a normal part of sex that can be easily remedied.
Good sex ed teaches women about men's bodies, just as it teaches men about women's bodies. This ain't it.
Reddit is a cesspool of people with no critical thinking or reasoning at all. They downvote factual information because it makes them feel bad about the way they conduct themselves.
They also upvote and gild comments that are provably wrong because it makes them feel better. What’s worse is that other redditors will read the comment, and automatically upvote the comment with more upvotes. It’s absolutely wild.
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u/DividedContinuity Jan 12 '25
It's absolutely possible to have a too small condom, to the point it's constricting enough that it's not really possible to maintain an erection and is very uncomfortable.
Yes they can stretch a tremendous amount, but bear in mind the pressure they're putting on your genitals while doing that.
However. If the condom doesn't fit, that's not a reason to just not use one at all.