Thanks for your question which has an easy part and slightly more complicated second answer.<\/p>\n
If you are using condoms then you need to use a water-based or silicone-based lubricant and not an oil-based lubricant. Oil-based lubricants are definitely out because they break down the rubber or latex.<\/p>\n
Oil-based lubricants quickly weaken condoms so HIV can pass through. Often an oil-covered condom will split during sex, \u00a0and the user may not realise it is burst or torn until after the event.<\/p>\n
There are many different brands of lube, \u00a0for example KY Jelly, \u00a0ID Glide, \u00a0Astroglide or Liquid Silk, \u00a0which you can buy from a supermarket or chemist. Some lubes are also available free from your GUM clinic or GP. There are also different types, \u00a0for example some lubes are designed specifically for vaginal and anal sex. Its up to you to try them all before you find one that suits you and your partner.<\/p>\n
A slightly more complicated answer relates to some research last year that reported that nearly all lubricants, \u00a0including water-based lubricants, \u00a0damaged rectal tissue in test-tube studies. [1, \u00a02] This was new and the damage may be important because another study reported higher STIs in people using lubricant compared to not using lubricants. [3] However, \u00a0and this is important, \u00a0if you are using condoms then any small cell damage caused but the lubricant will not increase the risk of HIV, \u00a0because the condom will protect your partner from the HIV.<\/p>\n
We don’t recommend one over another – so long as it is water or silicone-based you can experiment to find your preference.<\/p>\n
References<\/p>\n
Hi<\/p>\n
I would appreciate some advice on choosing a good lubricant.<\/p>\n
I read somewhere that certain lubricants (eg KY) actually assist with the transmission of HIV in that they can actually melt condoms and that lubricants in actual fact aren’t advisable for this reason. That article also suggested that water based lubricants are better – is there one that you can recommend?<\/p>\n
I have a new partner and would not want to put them in any danger where the condom’s efficacy is compromised by a lubricant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-topics","category-hiv-transmission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24859,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4531\/revisions\/24859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/qa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}