expiration date?

[coryrain.livejournal.com]

Hello again ladies. I posted this on a sex advice community and haven't recieved any replies so I thought I would try here since all of you are so helpful!

My boyfriend and I had sex yesterday. It wasn't until after we were finished that I realized that our condoms were "expired"
What does that mean? How can condoms expire? They're just latex. Does it mean the lube expired? It still worked just fine, no problems getting it on and it didn't tear. Hmmm, I'm curious. Should I be worried that the condom didn't do its job?

Comments

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

Latex breaks down over time and becomes more brittle and easier to tear or break.

[bluejupiter.livejournal.com]

So long as it didn't tear, you should be fine. But don't use any more of those condoms. :D

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

I used to work in a family planning clinic. We got asked that all the time! It's the lubrication or spermicide that deteriorates first, then the latex. It depends how much out of date they are. If it's days or weeks, things are usually ok. If it's months, it's more likely to cause problems. Because obviously, things don't just stop working after the date shown. If it didn't split, there's no reason to worry though. Latex is still pretty strong stuff and takes ages to deteriorate.