Condoms, those essentials. History, rarities and advantages

Condoms, those indispensable elements…. It almost goes without saying that the condom, condom, prophylactic (call it what you like) is an element essential in sexual relations. Whether to prevent the spread of venereal diseases or to avoid unwanted pregnancies. The importance of its correct use will never be stressed enough, so we will only give these three pieces of information:

• The condom has prevented 50,000,000 infections of HIV (AIDS)
• Every year between 6,000,000,000 and 9,000,000,000 condoms are sold in the world.
• The condom is included in the list of essential medicines of the World Health Organization.

Its already very long existence is full of curiosities and changing circumstances. It was both an oddity and an indispensable implement, or an unnatural depravity (as in the time of the Spanish inquisition). It has gone through all the considerations throughout history. But today it is irreplaceable, even in the relations with escorts.

pharaonic condom

The oldest condom known to date was found in none other than the mythical tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. They assign it 3,500 years old and can be seen in the Cairo Museum. Whether it was used for birth control or not is a mystery, as the ancient Egyptians were a people who encouraged fertility, and even had a God of reproduction. Was Min o Menu, always represented with a large erect penis. His cult dates back to Egyptian predynastic times, but already in the golden age of the empire his powers were attributed to another God, Amun-Ra.

That is to say that in that remote antiquity, nobody imagined that these rare gadgets, prophylactics or condoms, would be irreplaceable in sexual relations.

Condoms not yet essential, in evidence

The first description of a condom appears published in 1564 by Gabriello Fallopio, an anatomist known for precisely describing the Fallopian tubes.

Centuries away from condoms being those indispensable elements that are irreplaceable today, this scientist spoke of a flax sheath that was used to prevent the spread of syphilis. He said he tested the invention on 1,100 men, who obtained absolute protection against syphilis, which was an epidemic throughout Europe in that century. But there is no evidence of this fact, which many consider false.

Trap condoms for rapists 

Sometimes condoms, those indispensable protection elements, were not only conceived as protection against diseases. The "rape condom" was designed in 2010 by a South African doctor named Sonnet Ehlers. After tending to a recently raped victim, she heard him say: "I wish I had teeth down there...". And it occurred to him to create a kind of latex sheath with hooks inside. It is inserted into the vagina like a tampon.

In case of unwanted penetration, the aggressor's penis is trapped by this surface with "teeth" and causes the rapist great pain. And as long as this condom-clamp is clinging to the member, he won't even be able to urinate. They will have to remove it with a light surgery, which will force him to go to a medical center, and there he will be trapped. The invention, still to be further developed and not yet sold, was baptized as “Monkfish-aXe”. It is still highly disputed by specialists, who affirm that it causes psychological damage to those who it claims to protect.

Condom by his (false) name

The first use of the condom for contraceptive purposes was said to have been prescribed by a supposed Lord Condom. It was, perhaps, a doctor for Charles II of England, who perhaps invented it in the middle of the 17th century to neutralize the monarch's disasters, which filled London and the entire kingdom with bastard children. But a famous expert in sexual health and contraception, the American Norman E. Himes, after decades of research, was able to determine in the first half of the last century that all this was a hoax. Prophylactics or condoms would still not be irreplaceable in sexual relations.

In the 18th century, the famous writer Giacomo Casanova, known for his love conquests and who gave his last name to refer to all great seducers, often mentioned condoms in his memoirs.

Old-fashioned “green” condoms

The earliest known Western condoms were made from greased lamb or pig casings, and had a cord to attach to the penis. Condoms were not those indispensable elements of today. A few are preserved dating from 1813, found in Lund (Switzerland). The oldest of all came with an instruction manual in Latin, which recommended immersing it in warm milk before using it. According to the instructive thus, sexually transmitted diseases would be avoided.  

condoms of the future

Likewise, the prophylactic was not widely used until the vulcanization of rubber was invented in the mid-19th century. From there they were manufactured in series and at a much lower cost, already made of latex. Today there are large investments to make them cheaper and allow greater sensitivity. Or to impregnate them with spermicidal substances, and create new prototypes of female condoms. Of course, the United Nations through the World Health Organization emphasizes what it believes is most important: that they be used much more, especially in populations still highly exposed to AIDS. For example, in Africa.

Meanwhile, researchers from MIT developed a hydrogel that could be used to make condoms safer and more comfortable.

They explained that the method consists of adding a layer of hydrogel (a polymer that contains a large amount of water and is soft) to the different elastic materials that make up the product, such as rubber, latex and silicone. And drug substances can be added to the hydrogel, such as antiallergics, for example.

Surely that will be the future of prophylactics or condoms, irreplaceable in sexual relations.