Misconception #6: If you wear a condom, you won't get HPV.

I hear about people who love to talk about condoms as an ultimate solution to everything. Yes, condoms might help to a degree. Studies even suggest that condoms can actually help people "clear" the virus once someone already has it (and note that clearing is defined in different ways within the mentioned studies).

But look at the numbers. The potential for protection that condoms provide is not good, statistically speaking, because condoms aren't designed for preventing the spread of HPV. They're designed for preventing pregnancy. The probability that you will still get HPV even if you use a condom every time you have sex is unacceptably high. If condoms failed that much at preventing pregnancy, people wouldn't use them for that purpose nearly as often as they currently do.

According to the CDC’s Report to Congress: Prevention of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection:

The available scientific evidence is not sufficient to recommend condoms as a primary prevention strategy for the prevention of genital HPV infection.

And: Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and family physician, said this at the hearing:

The scientific evidence is clear that condoms provide little protection from
infection by HPV. Yet agencies and organizations are fighting to keep that
fact from the public.

So hey there, this is reality speaking: Unless you wear a wetsuit as a condom, it's impossible for a condom to serve as a barrier for all the skin that can transmit HPV during sexual contact. Keep in mind that you don't have to have penetrative sex to get HPV, either. The virus can be transmitted through oral sex, use of sex toys, and any type of skin-to-skin contact, so even lesbians are at risk. And ask yourself this: do you wear a condom when you're intimate but not having intercourse?

This is Post #6 in the series, Debunking HPV Myths. For other parts of the series, click here.